Sexual encounters where one party uses deception or deceit to obtain consent could be non-consensual. [ 33 ]  As such, if A gives consent to have sex with B, but B has lied about a pertinent issue, A has not given fully informed consent. Deception could include false statements about using contraception, age, gender, whether one is married, religion or employment, sexually transmitted infections testing status, giving the impression that one is someone's partner, or that one is single, and falsely making the person think that a sexual activity is some type of medical procedure. [ 33 ]  Examples include a California man who snuck into the bedroom of an 18-year-old woman right after her boyfriend left the bedroom, so she thought he was her boyfriend; an Israeli man who lied and told a woman he was a pilot and a medical doctor to have sex with her; and a US man who falsely claimed to be an NFL football player as a way to get sexual encounters. [ 33 ]


In Alexandra Sims' article entitled "Trans people could 'face rape charges' if they don't declare sexual history, warns trans activist", she states that the UK  Sexual Offences Act  requires transgender people to tell partners about their gender history as part of its requirements that people making sexual consent decisions have access to information so that they can make informed consent about whether to have sex; trans activist Sophie Cook states that the law is an infringement on trans peoples' human rights and on their privacy. [ 34 ]


Professors Cindy Struckman-Johnson, David Struckman-Johnson, and Peter B. Anderson define sexual coercion as when an individual engages in sexual activity as a result of “continual arguments, pressure, or abused authority” even with little to no genuine desire to do so. [ 35 ]  They state that their classification of sexual coercion Levels 3 and 4, purposely intoxicating or using physical force, [ 36 ]  meet the legal definition of  rape  in many  American   states , [ 37 ]  while Levels 1 and 2, such as changing the receiver's mind through persistent touching or repeated requests, [ 38 ]  do not. [ 37 ]  In the  State of California , the standard for coercion in law is "a direct or implied threat of force, violence, danger, or retribution sufficient to coerce a reasonable person of ordinary susceptibilities to perform an act which otherwise would not have been performed, or acquiesce in an act to which one otherwise would not have submitted". [ 39 ] [ 40 ]


Tactics primarily used in an attempt to convince someone to have sexual relations with the perpetrator are persistent kissing and touching, repeated requests, emotional manipulation, and intoxication. [ 35 ]  Some of these tactics alone would be considered sexual harassment. [ vague ]  Although someone can use these techniques to manipulate a prospective partner into sexual activity, men are more likely to use these techniques than women. [ 35 ]


There is an increase in prevalence of sexual coercion due to the sociocultural environment with people, especially adolescents, having constant exposure to sex and sexual themes through mainstream media and the internet. [ 41 ] [ 42 ]  This results in sex and consent being seen as more of an informal activity, instead of something that needs specific communication. [ 41 ]  The sociocultural environment includes gender norms and gender socialization. [ 41 ] [ 43 ]  Boys are raised socially to be dominant and powerful, which affects the way men view their masculinity when their partner doesn’t want to engage in sex. [ 43 ]  Gendered socialization also promotes the expectation that women should be submissive and acquiesce to their partner’s wishes. [ 42 ] [ 43 ]  These strict gender norms promote the use of sexual coercion by men as a normal part of heterosexual relations. [ 43 ] [ 44 ]  These behaviors are sometimes amplified when the concept of historical sexual relations comes into play. [ 41 ]  These issues may be further exacerbated within committed relationships because of the assumption that, if someone consented to sexual activity before, they will always consent. [ 41 ] [ 43 ]  When it comes to same-sex relationships, less research has been conducted, but in a sample of gay and lesbian participants 52% reported experiencing at least one incident of sexual coercion within their lifetime. [ 45 ]


Initiatives in sex education programs are working towards including and foregrounding topics of and discussions of sexual consent, in primary, high school and college Sex Ed curricula.  In the UK, the Personal Social Health and Economic Education Association (PSHEA) is working to produce and introduce Sex Ed lesson plans in British schools that include lessons on "consensual sexual relationships," "the meaning and importance of consent" as well as " rape myths ", [ 46 ]  while the  Schools Consent Project  delivers sexual education workshops to pupils aged 11–18, covering topics such as harassment, revenge porn and sexting. [ 47 ]  In the U.S., California-Berkeley University has implemented affirmative and continual consent in education and in the school's policies. [ 48 ]  In Canada, the Ontario government has introduced a revised Sex Ed curriculum to Toronto schools, including new discussions of sex and affirmative consent, healthy relationships and communication. [ 49 ]  Many universities have instituted campaigns about consent. Creative campaigns with attention-grabbing slogans and images that market consent can be effective tools to raise awareness of campus sexual assault and related issues. [ 4 ]


The Guardian  reported that Oxford and Cambridge have added sexual consent workshops; one such workshop included a "quiz about the rates of sexual or gender crimes" and a discussion of three fictional "scenarios of sexual contact", including a story of groping at a party, a relationship in which one partner stopped participating, but the other person, who was sexually excited, continued to proceed to new sex acts, and a case in which a couple was drunk and had sex. [ 50 ]  The aim of the workshop was to consider if consent was asked for and obtained in these scenarios. [ 50 ]  While Sydney University has introduced an online sexual consent course, Nina Funnell states that it has been criticized by students, professors and sexual assault prevention leaders as "tokenistic", inexpensive, and ineffective in changing student attitudes or actions. [ 51 ]


Some UK universities are launching  bystander intervention  programs that teach people to intervene when they see potential sexual misconduct situations, for example, by moving a male friend at a party away from an intoxicated woman he is talking to, if she seems unable to consent to his advances. [ 52 ]  One challenge with bystander education programs is that a study has shown that white female students are less likely to intervene in a hypothetical situation where they see an intoxicated black woman being led towards a bedroom at a party by a non-intoxicated male, as white students feel "less personal responsibility" to help women of colour and they feel that the black woman is deriving pleasure from the situation. [ 53 ]


The  Canadian Federation of Students  (CFS) created the "No Means No" campaign in the 1990s to increase awareness by university students about "sexual assault, acquaintance rape, and dating violence" and decrease the incidence of these issues. The CFS developed a “No Means No” campaign that included research on sexual assault and producing and distributing buttons, stickers, posters and postcards with the slogan and other information. According to the CFS, "No Means No" to set in place a no tolerance approach to sexual violence and harassment and educate students about these issues. [ 54 ]


Concerns about the "no means no" approach developed, however, because some people cannot say no, either because they are not conscious, intoxicated or facing threats or coercion, with the coercion issue being especially important in cases where there is a power imbalance between two people in a sexual encounter. To address these concerns, there was a shift from 'no means no' to 'yes means yes' (affirmative consent), to ensure that people were not having sexual actions taken on them due to not speaking up or not resisting. [ 55 ]  Amanda Hess states that a person may not be able to say no, or they may be intoxicated or passed out, or they may freeze up from fear. [ 56 ]


Sherry Colb criticizes the "no means no" approach on the grounds that it makes sexual contact the "default" option when two people have agreed to be in private in a date-like situation, at least until the woman says "no" to the other person's advances. Colb says that under the "no means no" approach, a man who is in private with a woman in a romantic context can undress her and penetrate her if she does not say "no", even if she is staring ahead and saying and doing nothing, which Colb says treats being quiet or not moving as an invitation to sex. [ 57 ]  She says that under a "no means no" approach, there is not a metaphorical "Do Not Trespass" sign on a woman's body, and as such, women have to fear that accepting a date and being in private with the partner could lead to unwanted sex. [ 57 ]


Dr. Ava Cadell suggests that women in sexual encounters tell their partner that they want to use a code expression or  safe word  to tell the other participant to stop the sexual contact, such as "Code Red". She says the words "no" and "stop" "have been used frivolously, playfully, and teasingly in the past and are not always taken seriously.” [ 58 ]


Affirmative consent ("yes means yes") is when both parties agree to sexual conduct, either through clear, verbal communication or nonverbal cues or gestures. [ 59 ]  With "yes means yes", a person can still say "no" after an initial yes. "Yes means yes" was developed by a group of women at the US liberal arts school  Antioch College  in 1991, who "...successfully petitioned for a conduct-code amendment that explicitly defined sexual consent as requiring an enthusiastic “yes” from everyone involved. [ 60 ]  Prior to this, sex was considered consensual as long as neither party said “no.”" (the "no means no" approach). As of 2014, at Antioch College, students must "...get explicit verbal permission before making any sexual advance", asking "'Can I do this?' And the [other] person has to respond verbally, 'Yes.' And if they don't, it's considered nonconsent, and that's a violation of...[college] policy"; a pre-arranged hand signal can also be used if the students made a "prior verbal agreement". [ 22 ]


The "yes means yes" approach involves communication and the active participation of people involved. This is the approach endorsed by colleges and universities in the U.S., [ 61 ]  who describe consent as an "affirmative, unambiguous, and conscious decision by each participant to engage in mutually agreed-upon sexual activity."  Claremont McKenna College Dean of Students Mary Spellman says "yes means yes" can be expressed nonverbally by determining "[i]s the [other] person actively participating?...Are they touching me when I am touching them? Are they encouraging me when I'm doing various different things? Those would all be signs that the person is an active participant in whatever is going on." [ 22 ]


According to Yoon-Hendricks, a staff writer for Sex, Etc., "Instead of saying 'no means no,' 'yes means yes' looks at sex as a positive thing." Ongoing consent is sought at all levels of sexual intimacy regardless of the parties' relationship, prior sexual history or current activity ("Grinding on the dance floor is not consent for further sexual activity," a university policy reads). [ 59 ]  By definition, affirmative consent cannot be given if a person is intoxicated, unconscious or asleep.


There are three pillars often included in the description of sexual consent, or "the way we let others know what we're up for, be it a good-night kiss or the moments leading up to sex."


They are:


To obtain affirmative consent, rather than waiting to say or for a partner to say "no", one gives and seeks an explicit "yes". This can come in the form of a smile, a nod or a verbal yes, as long as it is unambiguous, enthusiastic and ongoing. Denice Labertew of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault says that while the words used in "yes means yes" may vary, the main idea is that both people are agreeing to do sex acts. [ 59 ]  She says that "yes means yes" requires a major change in how we think of sexual assault, as it requires men and women to agree to and actively participate in sex. [ 59 ]  T.K. Pritchard says that even after consent is given, participants in an encounter should be "constantly checking in", and that there should be checking in before sexual contact, during sex, and after sex, to ensure consent was given. [ 62 ]  Lauren Larson states that a person should check in with their sex partner before kissing or sex, and also, even during sex, when they change the speed of an action, switch to a different position, or move their hands to a new body area. [ 63 ]


Even in a "yes means yes" paradigm, if a partner asks in a way where there is not room for a "no", or if they get a no and then use guilt to manipulate the person, that can be considered sexual coercion rather than consent; other examples include if a partner seeking sex complains that their need for sex is not being met, shows passive-aggressive behaviour, or persistently asks again and again until they get a "yes". [ 19 ]  Conn Caroll states that social conservatives may support the "yes means yes" laws, as the increased risk of being found guilty of sexual misconduct will lessen student interest in "hook up culture" and create an incentive for men to form long-term, committed relationships with women, rather than just seeking out one-night stands. [ 64 ]


In a  Time  article,  Cathy Young  states that the California "yes means yes" law is unlikely to make sexual predators less likely to attack or keep  victims safe; she says it creates unclear and capricious rules on sexual activity and moves the burden of proof to those who are accused, who are typically male. [ 65 ]  Young states that when the  San Gabriel Valley Tribune  asked a lawmaker how an innocent accused person could prove that he obtained consent, she was told “Your guess is as good as mine.” [ 65 ]  A judge overruled a University of Tennessee-Chattanooga ruling that a male student did not obtain consent; the judge wrote that "...[a]bsent the tape recording of a verbal consent or other independent means to demonstrate that consent was given, the ability of an accused to prove the complaining party's consent strains credulity and is illusory". [ 66 ]


Robert Shibley notes that Jonathan Chait has expressed concern that colleges with "yes means yes" rules are removing due process; Shibley argues that fairness and consistency are needed in disciplinary systems; he states that even though college tribunals are not law courts, they still have elements of court trials, as they are based on an allegation, an investigation is done, a hearing is held, evidence is brought forward, sentences are handed down, and there is an appeal that can be made. [ 67 ]  Shibley states that accused do not have core protections and he states that the college does the investigation, judges the case in the trial, and hears the appeal, which means there is not a separation of functions. [ 67 ]   Camille Paglia  calls "yes means yes" laws "drearily puritanical" and totalitarian. [ 68 ]  In "Consent: It's Not Sexy", Victoria Campbell criticizes affirmative consent on the grounds that it "...values proof and evidence over the  lived experience  of those involved" and it turns sex into a contractual activity in a manner akin to the way marriage traditionally provided contractual consent to sex. [ 69 ]  Sarah Nicole Prickett criticizes affirmative consent because these rules are premised on the idea of feminine passivity; under this cultural paradigm, she says that if a woman shows sexual interest during an encounter, she is seen as "slutty or crazy" or as showing "too much" sexuality. [ 69 ]


In "When Saying ‘Yes’ Is Easier Than Saying ‘No’", Jessica Bennett says that one challenge is " gray zone sex " where a woman says yes to an initiator in a sexual encounter when she "desperately" means "no", engaging in what she calls "begrudgingly consensual sex" because saying yes is easier than explaining a "no" or exiting the situation, and because Western culture teaches women to be "‘nice’ and ‘quiet’ and ‘polite" and to "protect others’ feelings" at the expense of the woman's own feelings and desires. [ 70 ]  Julianne Ross states that in a Western society where sexual narratives focus on male desire, what women want can be deemed less important; as such, in this context, women in heterosexual encounters may feel a pressure to say yes to certain sex acts for fear that they may be criticized as a "prude" if they do not agree, or because the women want to fit into social expectations in their group, or because they are seeking validation. [ 71 ]


A variant of "yes means yes" consent is enthusiastic consent. Project Respect states that "'positive sexuality' needs to start with enthusiastic consent" in which a person is as "excited and into someone else's enjoyment" as they are, an engaged partner. [ 72 ]  Planned Parenthood says that enthusiastic consent can be seen when a partner is "...happy, excited, or energized". [ 73 ]  Australia's NSW Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Pru Goward has called for an enthusiastic consent, which has been defined as an approach that helps to ensure that both participants want to be in the encounter. [ 74 ]  A sexual assault survivor who supports the enthusiastic consent model states that "...if it's not an enthusiastic yes, then it's not enough." [ 74 ]  Dr Nicola Henry stated that "legislating and determining 'enthusiastic' [consent] in a court would be challenging". [ 74 ]  Benedict Brook defines "enthusiastic consent" as “yes mean yes” with more vigour and with "constant checking in between partners that all is well." [ 75 ]


Gaby Hinsliff, writing for  The Guardian  wrote that "enthusiasm, the unmistakable sense of not being able to keep your hands off each other [in an encounter]...is harder to mistake for anything else. And if it was there, but suddenly evaporates – well, you could always ask what's wrong. If those two words kill the mood dead, it almost certainly wasn't the right mood to start with." [ 76 ]  In Robyn Urback's article "To McGill activists, a 'yes' doesn't mean consent", she states that the "Forum on Consent hosted at McGill suggests that a meek “yes,” or a nonchalant “yes,” or a “yes” without emphatic body language does not constitute consent. According to the panel “It must be loud and clear"". [ 77 ]  Charles Sturt University's sexual consent program leader Isabel Fox, an enthusiastic consent advocate, says that "Our tag [slogan] is 'It is not a yes unless it's a hell yes'." [ 78 ]


The "enthusiastic consent" model has been criticized by asexual people and  sex workers , as people in these categories may choose to have sex with people even though they are not "particularly wanting it or enjoying it themselves". [ 79 ]  Lily Zheng states that while enthusiastic consent is good theory, it is a "nightmare in real-life intimacy" and she says that since it cannot "...move beyond guesswork, cues and assumptions [it] plays right into normative — straight, white, cisgender, middle-class — ideas about society", which means it does not work well for Asians, blacks, queer communities and other racial or sexual minorities. [ 80 ]  Zheng states that the enthusiastic consent model is "so vague" that "determining whether or not a real interaction was “enthusiastic” or not becomes next to impossible". [ 80 ]  Julianne Ross states that consenting adults may have sex that they both want to have without giving "enthusiastic consent", such as couples having sex to get pregnant or couples who want to please each other. [ 71 ]  One challenge with getting people to give enthusiastic consent in the bedroom is that women may be reticent to speak about their  sexual desires  because of a fear that they may be "slut-shamed". [ 71 ]


A widely-acclaimed educational video about sexual consent is "Tea Consent", [ 81 ] [ 82 ] [ 83 ]  created in 2015 by Blue Seat Studios, [ 84 ]  a  Providence, Rhode Island –based non-profit using hand-drawn animation seeking to teach serious subjects with humour and compassion. [ 85 ]  Written by Emmeline May (alias Rockstar Dinosaur Pirate Princess), drawn by Rachel Brian, and originally voiced by Graham Wheeler, the video uses offering someone a cup of tea as an analogy to asking if someone wants to have sex, [ 81 ] [ 84 ] [ 86 ]  emphasising that person A should not force person B to drink tea, even if B previously wanted tea or was not sure yet if they wanted tea, and that B cannot answer the question whether they (still) want tea if they are unconscious. [ 81 ] [ 82 ] [ 84 ] [ 86 ] [ 87 ]  "Tea Consent" was originally produced for an awareness campaign of  Thames Valley Police  and Thames Valley Sexual Violence Prevention Group, [ 84 ] [ 86 ] [ 88 ]  and several versions of it (especially with a British accent, leading to connections with  British humour  and the perceived  Britishness of tea [ 86 ] [ 88 ] ) were subsequently picked up by numerous sex educators, universities, governmental organisations, sexual violence prevention groups and rape crisis centres, and endorsed by celebrities. [ 83 ] [ 84 ] [ 88 ] [ 87 ]  Praised for using simplicity, clarity and humour in tackling a serious topic, [ 81 ] [ 88 ] [ 87 ]  it received several awards, [ 85 ]  had been translated into 25 languages and viewed at least 75 million times by October 2016, [ 83 ]  and was later viewed approximately 150 million times across platforms according to Blue Seat Studios. [ 85 ]  Samantha Pegg argued that "Tea Consent" has its limitations, as it does not address scenarios such as drunken consent, conditional consent, youth, disability or abuse of trust, but 'the value of getting the basics of consent out to a wider audience cannot be underestimated.' [ 89 ]


By contrast, an April 2021 video called "Moving the Line" by the Good Society commissioned by the Australian government for sex education in schools, which uses milkshake to explain consent, was widely criticised by experts, campaigners and politicians. Key elements in the negative responses were confusion, lack of clarity and no explicit mention of sex, leading the video's humour and message to be misunderstood. Several commentators argued that "Tea Consent" set a much better example. The milkshake video was subsequently removed. [ 81 ] [ 90 ] [ 91 ]


In August 2016, the U.S. sex education organisation  Planned Parenthood  coined the acronym "FRIES" to sum up essential elements of consent: [ 92 ] [ 93 ]


Understanding consent is as easy as FRIES. Consent is:


By 2020, several British universities had adopted the FRIES concept. [ 94 ]


In legal theory, there are two main models in legislation against rape and other forms of sexual violence:


The primary advantage of the coercion-based model is that it makes it difficult to make a  false accusation of rape or assault , and thus provides decent protection to the legal position and social reputation of suspects who are innocent. [ 95 ]  The consent-based model has been advocated as a better alternative for enhanced legal protection of victims, and to place a larger responsibility on potential perpetrators to actively verify or falsify before initiating sex whether a potential victim actually consents to initiating sex or not, and abstaining from it as long as they do not. [ 95 ]


On 15 June 1992, the second  Mulroney government  under the direction of Minister of Justice  Kim Campbell  passed a no-means-no bill into law. [ 96 ]


In 2003, the  European Court of Human Rights  ordered all 47  Member states of the Council of Europe  (CoE) to take a consent-based approach to cases of sexual violence on the grounds of  Article 3  and  Article 8  of the  European Convention on Human Rights ; [ 95 ]  this was the result of its ruling in the  M.C. v. Bulgaria  case. [ 97 ]  The  Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol)  was adopted by the  African Union  (AU) in 2003 (in effect since 2005), which recognised 'unwanted sex' separately from 'forced sex' as a form of violence against women that is to be effectively prohibited by all  55 member states . [ 98 ]


In the 2006 Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v. Peru case, applying to all 35  Member states of the Organization of American States  (OAS), the  Inter-American Court of Human Rights  stated the following: 'The Court, following the line of international jurisprudence and taking into account that stated in the  Convention to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence against Women [Belém do Pará Convention] , considers that sexual violence consists of actions with a sexual nature committed with a person without their consent (...)'. [ 99 ]


The  Council of Europe 's 2011  Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention)  contains a consent-based definition of sexual violence in Article 36. [ 100 ] : 6   This mandates all Parties that have ratified the Convention to amend their legislation from a coercion-based to a consent-based model. [ 100 ] : 9


As of 2018, a consensus is emerging in international law that the consent-based model is to be preferred, stimulated by  inter alia  the  CEDAW Committee , [ 101 ]  the UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women, [ 102 ]  the  International Criminal Court  and the  Istanbul Convention . [ 100 ] : 8, 10–11   However, there were no internationally agreed upon legal definitions of what constitutes sexual consent; such definitions were absent in human rights instruments. [ 100 ] : 10


In June 2020, the  Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention  (Brå) reported that the number of rape convictions had increased from 190 in 2017 to 333 in 2019, a rise of 75% after Sweden adopted a consent-based definition of rape in May 2018. Brå was positively surprised by this greater-than-expected impact, saying 'this has led to greater justice for victims of rape,' and hoping it would improve social attitudes towards sex. [ 103 ]


According to the Indian Evidence Act, in a rape trial, if a woman claims there was no consent to the sexual act then the Court presumes that consent was absent. [ 104 ]


In 2003, sex therapist Dr.  Ava Cadell  suggested that celebrities and professional athletes ask partners in sexual encounters (she uses the slang term " groupies ") to sign a sexual consent form, which she calls the sexual encounter equivalent of the  prenuptial agreements  that are signed before some marriages. Dr. Cadell says that like a prenup, a sex contract can reduce litigation. [ 105 ]  The advocacy group named The Affirmative Consent Project is providing 'sexual consent kits' at US universities. The kits include a contract which the parties can sign, stating that they consent to having sexual relations. The kits suggest that the couple take a photo of themselves holding the contracts. [ 106 ]


NYU law professor Amy Adler commented about the depiction of consent contracts in the novel  Fifty Shades of Grey ; she states the signing of the legal contract before sex could help to avoid uncertainty in sexual encounters. [ 107 ]  In Emma Green's article about the film, entitled "Consent Isn't Enough: The Troubling Sex of Fifty Shades", she disagrees with consent contracts as a solution on the grounds that "even explicit consent" may not be enough in hard-drinking college dorm environments where most students have little experience with negotiating sexual permission. [ 107 ]


Toronto sexual consent educator Farrah Khan disagrees with the idea of consent involving a signature on a contract, as she argues that it is an "ongoing conversation" that involves listening to one's sexual partner. [ 108 ]  David Llewellyn, who started the Good Lad Initiative at Oxford University, says that consent contracts could give participants the mistaken sense that once the consent contract is signed, they cannot withdraw consent and stop the encounter. Llewellyn states that even with a signed consent contract, both partners should ensure ongoing enthusiastic consent to sex, because he says consent is fluid and changeable. [ 58 ]


In the 2010s, smartphone apps have been developed to give couples the ability to electronically consent to sexual relations. Apps include We-Consent, Sa-Sie, LegalFling and Good2Go. LegalFling uses  blockchain  and sets out each person's terms and conditions, such as requiring condom use or agreeing to specific acts. [ 109 ]  However, concerns have been raised about these "consent apps". The Good2Go app gives a record of sexual consent that the company claims can be used as evidence of consent and capacity, from an intoxication perspective, for consent; however, the app was removed from sale because both men and women did not like clicking on a smartphone in the bedroom to record their consent. [ 76 ]  A lawyer states that legally, apps are redundant and could only serve as circumstantial evidence, because they generally do not take into account a person's right to withdraw consent at any point in the sexual interaction. [ 110 ]


In Reina Gattuso's article entitled "Seven reasons consent apps are a terrible idea", she criticizes consent apps on the grounds that: a person can withdraw consent at any point, including minutes after clicking yes on the app; the binary yes or no approach of the apps simplifies the complexity of consent; the app cannot legally confer agreement to each change in sex acts; they make consent too much about legal proofs and setting down evidence; and they change what should be a continuous process of communication into a quick action. [ 111 ]  Cricket Epstein states that using consent apps have a " victim-blaming " mentality that suggests that the person who is asked to click on the app may become a false accuser; as well, she says the app may protect perpetrators, because once agreement is clicked on the app, it will be harder for a complainant to say that she or he had sex acts done without consent. [ 112 ]


Activists and educators promote "consent culture" by setting up consent education programs to publicize issues and provide information, hiring consent educators (or volunteers), using consent captains or consent guardians in entertainment venues, and introducing initiatives such as safety code words for bar patrons experiencing unwanted sexual attention. Some activists on campus hold "consent days" where there are panels and discussions on sexual consent and hand out t-shirts and condom packages with pro-consent messaging to build awareness. [ 113 ]  At Whitman College,  students founded All Students for Consent, which answers students' questions about seeking consent in intimate encounters. [ 113 ]


The US non-profit organization Speak About It (SAI) hires consent educators to lead workshops on "sex, sexuality, relationships, consent, and sexual assault" for high-school and college students. [ 114 ]  SAI consent educators have included gender studies and women's studies students, university graduates interested in  social justice , sexual health educators, domestic violence prevention advocates, and theater professionals. SAI's hiring for the consent educator positions is inclusive of diverse "gender identities, racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, and sexual experiences." [ 114 ]  Yale University hires Communication and Consent Educators, who are students who lead workshops and training and start conversations about sex and consent. [ 115 ]


In January 2018, sexual consent educator  Jaclyn Friedman  wrote an article about the news commentary regarding comedian  Aziz Ansari  and sexual consent. [ 116 ]  Friedman called for the need to "better educate young people in this country about sex, consent, and pleasure" by using consent education to teach about sexual communication, awareness of body language, and the need for checking in (if it not clear that the partner is enjoying the activities). [ 116 ]  The Consent Academy in Seattle is a collective of sex therapists, counsellors and educators who teach "consent culture", provide one-one-one consultations, review consent policies, and provide "consent advocates" for hire. [ 117 ]


The Victoria Event Center has hired Tanille Geib, a sexual health educator/intimacy coach, to serve as Canada's first “consent captain” [ 118 ]  and stop sexual harassment and sexual assault at social activities. [ 119 ]  The consent captain intervenes if she sees people who are getting stared at, harassed, or touched without consent. She talks to the person who is feeling uncomfortable and then, if the first person agrees, speaks to the individual whose conduct is unwanted. [ 119 ]


Like a regular  bouncer , the consent captain warns the person engaging in unwanted behavior that those acts are not tolerated in the venue; if the unwanted acts continue, she may "eventually ask them to leave". The consent captain also checks on people who are intoxicated, to prevent people from taking advantage of their impaired state. Since the consent captain is, in this case, a sexual health educator, she is better able to notice risk situations regarding consent and harassment that regular bouncers might not notice. [ 119 ]  Geib says that since the  #Me Too  movement, people have become aware that "there's this whole grey cloud area around what acting in consent and consensual relationships are.” [ 118 ]  Geib says that her role is not to police the patrons, but is rather to start conversations about creating a "consent culture". [ 118 ]


In Seattle, the Consent Academy hires out "consent advocates" for events and parties, who act to deter incidents and to help those who experience unwanted contact. [ 117 ]


The House of Yes nightclub hired a "consenticorn", a staffer who acts as a "dance-floor monitor" (also called a "consent guardian") for the venue. [ 120 ]  The consenticorns roam the venue during the sex-themed party wearing a lighted unicorn horn (to aid guests in finding the consent staffer), distribute condoms and ensure that guests comply with the rules on condom use and mandatory "express, verbal consent" for all physical contact. [ 121 ]  The consenticorns were trained by Emma Kaywin, a sexual-health educator; the goal is not to "police but [rather] to educate" the clubgoers. [ 121 ]  Arwa Mahdawi from  The Guardian  praised the House of Yes' initiative, saying the "...stricter we are about consent, the more fun everyone can have.” [ 120 ]


Slovenian philosopher  Slavoj Žižek  states that the consenticorn approach does not understand "human sexuality" as these venues are "creating spaces that fail to acknowledge the nuances of intimacy and pleasure" by enforcing "tight control" that is delegated to an "external hired controller". [ 122 ]  As well, Žižek asks how the consent guardians will be able to tell the difference between "consensual sadomasochism" and "exploitative" behaviour. [ 122 ]


For bar patrons who are feeling uncomfortable with the behavior of their date, such as a person who is getting touched without their consent, some venues have a safety code system that enables patrons to alert staff. [ 119 ]  Some bars have posters in washrooms and drink coasters informing patrons that if they need to signal a bartender that they feel unsafe with their date (or any other bar patron), they can use a codeword (a fictional mixed drink name, for example), and then bar staff will escort the patron out of the venue to make sure they get safely to their taxi. [ 119 ]


In the television and film industry, in 2018, some production companies began hiring an " intimacy coordinator " to ensure that actors' and actresses' consent is obtained before shooting romantic scenes and simulated sex scenes. [ 123 ]  To address concerns about the "vulnerability...and the massive power balance that can happen when a powerful showrunner or director asks an actress or actor...to get naked and simulate sex for the camera",  HBO  hires an intimacy coordinator for these scenes. The intimacy coordinator is a mix of an  acting coach  (who makes sure that scenes look realistic) and an advocate for actors and actresses who ensures that the onscreen performers' boundaries are respected and that their physical and emotional comfort is protected. [ 123 ]


Legal scholar Robin West stated in a 2000 article that the use of consent as an ethical premise for life decisions may increase happiness in the world, except for women. She states that women technically consent to many of the life experiences that lead to misery for women, such as pregnancies they did not wish to have, marriages to spouses who beat them, or jobs where a boss sexually harasses them, since they consented to the sex, marriage or taking the job, respectively (even if they did not want the adverse results, such as on-the-job harassment). West states that if we make consent the key ethical standard in life, then all of these negative experiences for women will be not able to be criticized, as people will say that the woman chose of her own free will to enter that situation. [ 107 ]


Donna Oriowo states that "...when we talk about consent, we very rarely are talking about black women or women of color", and the focus is usually on white women, with black women accusers continuing to face doubt and blame due to tropes depicting black women as "...over-sexed and only want[ing] sex." [ 124 ]  Some younger feminists argue that consent is not truly possible when there is a power disparity between partners in an encounter;  Laura Kipnis  disagrees, arguing that it is "...precisely the dynamics of power—of status, money, appearance, age, talent—that create desire" between people in a sexual context, with desire being one of the elements Kipnis thinks we should focus on. [ 125 ]


Kate Lockwood Harris argues that consent initiatives, such as "no means no" and "yes means yes" use views about communication which she sees as false myths, such as the claim that communication during sex can and should be a binary, unambiguous "no" or "yes". Harris states that by calling for this type of response, anti-assault advocates are lowering the complexity of communication competence between the two people and lessening the opportunities to make consent a political act. [ 126 ]


Jed Rubenfeld  of  Yale Law School  wrote in a review that consent should not be the main criterion to judge whether a sexual contact is legal or not. First, in stark contrast to other legal areas (e.g. qualification for a mortgage or an insurance, see  misrepresentation ), there is generally no requirement to be truthful before obtaining sexual consent. Though  rape by deception  is punishable, it usually does not refer to honesty in relationship matters. Likewise, laws do not offer any recourse in case sexual consent has been given based on false premises. His second point is that rape laws intend to protect sexual autonomy, but yet the only thing that can override somebody's autonomy is  coercion , or exploiting somebody's incapacitation. By their strict definition, non-consensual situations only imply a disagreement, and thus, they can be resolved by simply walking away. Therefore, in Rubenfeld's view, the defenselessness of a person, or the use (or threat) of force, is the only criterion which can define rape in a logical way. [ 127 ]


Non-consensual condom removal , also called "stealthing", is the practice of a man covertly removing a  condom  when his sex partner has only consented to  safer  condom-protected sex. [ 128 ]  Alexandra Brodsky wrote an article in the  Columbia Journal of Law and Gender  calling for "stealthing" to be legally considered as a kind of sexual assault, but also reviewed the difficulties in doing so: In all legal areas, breaking an agreement usually is not considered a crime, and that misrepresenting one's true intentions does not make a sexual act illegal. Thus, the most successful argument for making stealthing punishable would be the inherent pregnancy and  infection risk  of unprotected intercourse. [ 129 ] [ 130 ]  The women who experienced "stealthing" had to pay for emergency contraception and faced concerns about pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections, and some women felt that it was a type of rape. Stealthing is a type of  domestic violence  that is called "reproductive coercion"; it includes taking off condoms or poking holes in condoms. [ 130 ]


The reversed scenario, in which a woman attempts to become pregnant without the man's consent, is known as "Reverse stealthing" or  sperm theft . It can include lying about use of contraception or sabotaging birth control (such as by poking holes in a condom), or self-inseminating with sperm retrieved from a condom. [ 131 ] [ 132 ]  It raises interesting questions in that regard – in normal stealthing, the victim can still seek an abortion, while here, the male partner ends up being victimized twice over as he cannot force her to end her pregnancy, or refuse to make  child support  payments.


Mia Mercado states that " revenge porn " posted online or otherwise disseminated by former partners without permission and “leaked celebrity [sex] photos” that are hacked or stolen from stars' phones are "non-consensual pornography". [ 133 ]  She says that these two activities are a "form of sexual assault and should be treated as such", noting that revenge porn is an offence in 34 US states with legislation pending (in 2017) in other states. [ 133 ]


Concepts of affirmative consent are more challenging in  BDSM  encounters, particularly in settings where the participants agree to " consensual non-consent ", also called meta-consent and blanket consent, a mutual agreement to be able to act as if consent has been  waived . It is an agreement where comprehensive consent is given in advance, with the intent of it being irrevocable under most circumstances. This often occurs without foreknowledge of the exact actions planned. [ 134 ] [ 135 ]  Even if two participants in a BDSM encounter agree that they consent to violence, in Canada, the law limits what violent sexual act people can consent to; specifically, Canadians cannot consent to getting seriously injured. [ 136 ]


Ezra Klein  supports California's "yes means yes" law for the state's colleges on the grounds that there are too many sexual assaults; as such, he endorses broad new legal measures like California's newly created law. [ 137 ]   While he acknowledges that the law impinges on the personal sexual lives of people, he says that to work, the new law needs to have "overreach", so that it will create a "cold spike of fear" among college men about whether a sexual encounter is consensual. [ 137 ]  Klein states that cases where it is unclear whether consent was or was not given will be a necessary part of the law's effectiveness, as these cases will help to reduce sexual assaults, as students become aware of the disciplinary process and the consequences for those found guilty. [ 137 ]  Freddie deBoer states that if "yes means yes" becomes widespread, it would lead to a lower standard of proof being available to law enforcement and justice institutions which have thus far shown evidence of using racial or class-based prejudice when assessing and trying cases (e.g.,  driving while black ); this could lead to "yes means yes" charges and punishments falling disproportionately on students of color or those from working-class backgrounds. [ 137 ]


Michael Segalov states that young gay men do not learn much about consent and sexual boundaries because most "were never taught the language with which to explain or understand" their experiences and there are typically few LGBT+ role models in their community or family to seek advice from. [ 138 ]  Segalov states that hookup apps may create consent challenges because some men have a feeling of "entitlement" when they arrive at the hookup partner's place, and a sense that the encounter's sexual interaction has been "prearranged" online. [ 138 ]


Christopher Robinson states that some queer "spaces continue to normalize, and even encourage, sexual violence", including "groping, drunk affection, and blatant sexual assault", because the "direct sexualization" in these venues leads some men to view the sexual harassment they commit as a "compliment" to the recipient. Robinson says that the "transgressions [are re-positioned] as charm" by the harassers, with the recipients of the unwanted contact being expected to "ignore and endure" the groping. [ 139 ]  Robinson says that this atmosphere may undermine the  safe space  that gay bars were supposed to be providing for queer people. [ 139 ]


John Voutos states that for queer people, there are number of challenges with communicating consent, including "[s]ex-on-premises venues, queer clubs", online dating, the "non-verbal, semi-ambiguous communication of the  hanky code " (in which a color-coded system indicates preferred sexual fetishes, what kind of sex they are seeking, and whether they are a top/dominant or bottom/submissive) and  cruising for sex . [ 140 ]  Brodie Turner, the organizer of a 2019 Consent Festival, says that the lengthy history of "LGBTIQA+ silencing" and erasure from sex education and the lack of media depictions of "healthy [LGBTIQA+] relationships" mean that LGBTIQA+ people do not know about consent or have a sense that it is their right. [ 140 ]


Philip Henry states that the male gay community tolerates and even encourages non-consenting grabbing and groping of butts and crotches in gay venues because the boundaries of consent are blurred in the gay club environment, particularly when there is drinking and semi-nude patrons dancing. [ 141 ]  He says that when a gay man does experience unwanted groping and expresses concern, he is often told to "calm down" or that groping "comes with the territory” in a gay venue. [ 141 ]  Gay men in the  chemsex  scene, where couples or groups consume  GHB  or  crystal meth  prior to extensive sex, have stated that consent is not clearly defined and there can be a perception that anyone at a "party and play" get-together is assumed to consent. [ 142 ]


In an article in  Advocate , Alexander Cheves argues that when a person enters a dark backroom of a gay bar, "you waive a degree of consent", because "[g]ay men go back there to get groped." [ 143 ]  Cheves states that for people going into a backroom, the onus is on them to "gently push" an unwanted hand away from their body. [ 143 ]  In "Discussing Consent in Gay Spaces Requires Nuance, Not Sex Panic", Rennie McDougall states that adding modern consent approaches to gay spaces such as gay bars and saunas would have a negative effect on gay men's sexual interactions, because non-consensual but non-threatening hands of a stranger on a bottom, chest or crotch can be a "positive part of sexual discovery" for gay men. [ 144 ]


Jo Jackson says that in the queer female community she has had experiences where venue participants put their hands on her body (near her thigh) and touching her breasts without consent, but she said nothing because she felt at the time that these actions were part of "a soft charade of seduction". [ 145 ]  She states that the queer female community has "butt-grabbing, dudeish remarks, and aggressive, persistent come-ons" and she says there is a sense that being aggressive or using “sexual energy to wield power is...hot”. [ 145 ]   She says some women feel a sense of "entitlement" to touch that blurs the concept of consent. Another issue is that queer women often grow up only exposed to media representations of heterosexual dating, so young queer females may lack a vocabulary for women-on-women dating and an understanding of the social cues for consent. [ 145 ]


In "Why Yes Can Mean No", Jordan Bosiljevac states that "yes" does not necessarily mean consent for "...poor, disabled, queer, non-white, trans, or feminine" people; she states that consent approaches are a form of privilege created for well-to-do, hetero, cis, White, able-bodied people. [ 146 ]  An article about queer students at McGill University states that in queer sexual encounters, there is not a set script of activities, as with heterosexual sex, and queer sex is more exploratory; as such, there are more discussions about consent between queer partners about every step and act. [ 147 ]  However, Rebecca Kahn states that in queer encounters where one person is cis-gender and one person is trans, the cis person may have more power in the relationship that can give the trans person "...feelings of fear, or more subtly,...a desire to please the more privileged partner" in the encounter; Kahn says that to address these power differentials, the privileged partner should make sure the marginalized person feels comfortable by letting them know that consent is not assumed. [ 147 ]  Asexual people may feel pressured to consent to having sex when they are in a relationship. [ 148 ]


Sexual consent  plays an important role in  laws regarding rape, sexual assault  and other forms of  sexual violence . In a  court of law , whether or not the  alleged victim  had freely given  consent , and whether or not they were deemed to be capable of giving consent, can determine whether the alleged perpetrator is guilty of  rape ,  sexual assault  or some other form of  sexual misconduct .


Although many  jurisdictions  do not define what sexual consent is, almost all jurisdictions in the world have determined an  age of consent  before which children are deemed incapable of consenting to sexual activity; engaging in sex with them thus constitutes  statutory rape  (see  laws regarding child sexual abuse ). Many also stipulate conditions under which adults are deemed incapable of consenting, such as being asleep or unconscious,  intoxicated by alcohol or another drug , mentally or physically disabled, or deceived as to the nature of the act or the identity of the alleged perpetrator ( rape by deception ). Most disagreement is on whether rape legislation for otherwise healthy adults capable of consent should be based on them not having given consent to having sex, or based on them being forced through violence or threats to have sex. Some legislation determines that, as long as no coercion is used against them, people capable of consenting always automatically consent to sex ( implied consent ), whereas other laws stipulate that giving or withholding consent is something which only capable individuals can do on their own volition ( freely given or affirmative consent ). The 2000s and 2010s have seen a shift in favour of consent-based legislation, which was increasingly considered as providing better guarantees for the legal protection of (potential) victims of sexual violence.


The primary advantage of the coercion-based model is that it makes it difficult to make a  false accusation of rape or assault , and thus provides decent protection to the legal position and social reputation of suspects who are innocent. [ 1 ]  This line of reasoning stems from a time (dating at least as far back as the 18th century) when sex was regarded as a private matter that the state and society should mostly not interfere with, and concerns about sexual violence were mostly limited to male-on-female rape, which was firstly regarded as an offence to public morality, especially the female victim's family (her father, husband or master). [ 1 ]  In the decades of the later 20th and early 21st century, the focus of sexual violence has shifted towards individual sexual autonomy, the scope has broadened beyond the act of intercourse, the set of potential victims and perpetrators has been expanded to include all genders, strangers as well as acquaintances and people close to the victims including intimate partners and even spouses, while social and legal attitudes have changed in favour of more active societal and state intervention in sexual violence and the attainment of justice. [ 1 ]  Individuals and human rights organisations increasingly criticised the coercion-based model for a variety of reasons, such as the requirement for the victim to actively resist an assault (thereby failing to address cases where victims are unconscious, intoxicated, asleep or suffer from  involuntary paralysis – also known as "freezing" [ 2 ]  – due to fear or other state of helplessness, and thus unable to resist an assault) or not wear certain kinds of clothes to not 'provoke' an assault (shifting the responsibility for the crime from the perpetrator unto the victim), or the focus on physical violence (thereby failing to consider that a perpetrator sometimes needs to use little to no physical violence in order to conduct an assault, e.g. when the victim is unconscious, intoxicated, asleep or involuntarily paralysed; and also failing to address  mental and psychological harm caused by rape and assault ). [ 1 ]  The consent-based model has been advocated as a better alternative for enhanced legal protection of victims, and to place a larger responsibility on potential perpetrators to actively verify or falsify before initiating sex whether a potential victim actually consents to initiating sex or not, and abstaining from it as long as they do not. [ 1 ]


In contrast, legal scholar  Jed Rubenfeld  argued in a 2013 review that rape laws intend to protect sexual autonomy, yet the only thing that can override somebody's autonomy is coercion, threats, or abusing a state of defenselessness. [ 3 ] [ page needed ]  Strictly speaking, Rubenfeld (invoking  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Berkowitz  1994) claimed that any non-consensual situation can be resolved by standing up and leaving the premises, as he deemed  rape paralysis  to be nonexistent. [ 3 ] : 67–68   In civil law, consent is viewed as invalid if it has been obtained by deception. Consent-based rape laws, however, generally do not require either sexual partner to be truthful before obtaining consent. If sexual consent can be obtained by lies or withholding information, the autonomy of the partner is violated. [ 3 ] [ page needed ]


As of 2018, a consensus is emerging in international law that the consent-based model is to be preferred, stimulated by  inter alia  the  CEDAW Committee , [ 4 ]  the UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women, [ 5 ]  the  International Criminal Court  and the  Istanbul Convention . [ 6 ]  However, there were no internationally agreed upon legal definitions of what constitutes sexual consent; such definitions were absent in human rights instruments. [ 7 ]


In international law, one of the earliest definitions of rape based on a lack of consent, accompanied by a description of consent, can be found in  Prosecutor v. Kunarac  (decided on 22 February 2001 at the  International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia  or ICTY):


In light of the above considerations, the Trial Chamber understands that the  actus reus  of the crime of rape in international law is constituted by: the sexual penetration, however slight:


This description of consent was adopted almost verbatim in Istanbul Convention Article 36: "Consent must be given voluntarily as the result of the person's free will assessed in the context of the surrounding circumstances". [ 9 ]  The 2021 Model Rape Law featured the same consent description under IV.D.(c) and V.A.17. [ 10 ] : 7


Rule 70 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (published in 2002) of the  International Criminal Court  (which rules on military conflicts between states) gives a summary of illegitimate inferrals of consent that defendants might try to use to claim they had consent:


Rule 70: Principles of evidence in cases of sexual violence


In cases of sexual violence, the Court shall be guided by and, where appropriate, apply the following principles:


In June 2021, the then  United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women   Dubravka Šimonović  published a Model Rape Law, intended as a "harmonisation tool" for "implementing international standards on rape, as established under international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, including as interpreted in the jurisprudence of relevant tribunals and soft law produced by expert mechanisms." [ 10 ] : 1, 3  [ 12 ]  It stated  inter alia : "Rape is an act of sexual nature committed without consent. Definitions of rape should explicitly include lack of consent and place it at its centre, stipulating that rape is any act of sexual penetration of a sexual nature by whatever means committed against a person who has not given consent." [ 10 ] : 6   Its section "On consent" combined the Istanbul Convention's description of consent with Rule 70's illegitimate inferrals of consent, adding that "consent need not be explicit in all cases". [ 10 ] : 7   It proposed an international  age of consent  at 16, not to criminalise "consensual sexual relations between children younger than 16", and a  Romeo and Juliet law  around the age of consent threshold. [ 10 ] : 7   The Model Rape Law stated that "[l]ack of consent is presumed where rape was committed by force, or by threat of force or coercion", [ 10 ] : 7   or whenever a person was "incapable of giving genuine consent" for a wide range of reasons, including but not limited to being younger than age 16, "unconscious, asleep, or seriously intoxicated as a result of drugs or alcohol consumed voluntarily, involuntarily or unknowingly", or abused by the perpetrator's "relationship or position of power or authority over the victim". [ 10 ] : 7–8


The  Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol)  was adopted by the  African Union  (AU) in 2003 (in effect since 2005), which stipulates that "States Parties shall take appropriate and effective measures to enact and enforce laws to prohibit all forms of violence against women including unwanted or forced sex whether the violence takes place in private or public." Thus, 'unwanted sex', separately from 'forced sex', was recognised as a form of violence against women that is to be effectively prohibited by all  55 member states . [ 13 ]


ASEAN  (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), comprising  10 Asian states , adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and Elimination of Violence against Children in ASEAN on 9 October 2013. [ 14 ]  In its ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence against Women (ASEAN RPA on EVAW), adopted in November 2015, [ 15 ]  "rape" was described as "engaging in the non-consensual vaginal, anal or oral penetration of a sexual nature of the body of another person with any bodily part or object, including through the use of physical violence and by putting the victim in a situation where she cannot say no or complies because of fear"; "attempted or completed sexual acts with a woman without her consent" and "intimate touching without consent" were also recognised as forms of "sexual violence". [ 14 ] : 66–67  [ b ]  The ASEAN RPA on EVAW called on all 10 member states to criminalise marital rape; 4 of them had already done so as of February 2016. [ 14 ] : 8, 51–53, 60   De Vido (2018), who likened it to the Istanbul Convention, [ 15 ]  stated: "The framework extremely promising, although the action plan is a non-binding act and the implementation relies on an intergovernmental body." [ 16 ]


In 2003, the  European Court of Human Rights  ordered all 47  Member states of the Council of Europe  (CoE) to take a consent-based approach to cases of sexual violence on the grounds of  Article 3  and  Article 8  of the  European Convention on Human Rights . [ 1 ]  This was the result of its ruling in the  M.C. v. Bulgaria  case, namely: "In accordance with contemporary standards and trends in that area, the Member States' positive obligations under Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention must be seen as requiring the penalisation and effective prosecution of any non-consensual sexual act, including in the absence of physical resistance by the victim." [ 17 ]


The  Council of Europe 's 2011  Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention)  contains a consent-based definition of sexual violence in Article 36. [ 18 ]  This mandates all Parties that have ratified the convention to amend their legislation from a coercion-based to a consent-based model. [ 19 ]  Since the Istanbul Convention entered into force in August 2014, some Parties have fulfilled their obligation for sexual violence legal reform; [ 19 ]  as of April 2020, 26 Parties had yet to do so, while 12 signatories still needed to ratify the Convention first. [ 20 ]   Belgium  already had a consent-based definition since 1989, the  Republic of Ireland  already since 1981, with a further amendment passed in February 2017. [ 7 ]  The  United Kingdom 's four constituent countries  England and Wales  (one jurisdiction),  Northern Ireland  and  Scotland  separately introduced consent-based legislation in the 2000s [ 9 ]  despite the UK not having ratified the convention as of 2018. [ 7 ]  In 2013 and 2016 respectively,  Croatia  and  Austria  have introduced separate laws for sexual violence committed by coercion and sexual violence committed by lack of consent, treating the latter as a lesser offence with a lower maximum penalty; [ 21 ]  this is known as the "two-tiered approach". [ 22 ] : 7


As of January 2024, the  European Union  (EU) is in the process of drafting a  directive  on combating violence against women and domestic violence, in effect an EU-wide application of the principles of the  Istanbul Convention  (already signed by all member states and the Union itself, and ratified by the vast majority). [ 23 ]  In 2023, the  European Parliament  approved a concept text for the directive containing a definition of rape based on a lack of consent. [ 23 ]  Next, a qualified majority of member states within the  European Council  was required for its adoption; as of early January 2024, 12 states were in favour, 10 were opposed and 5 yet undecided. [ 23 ]  If passed, the directive could lead to a harmonisation of legislation across the Union following a consent-based approach to sex crimes. [ 23 ]


In the 2006  Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v. Peru  case, applying to all 35  Member states of the Organization of American States  (OAS), the  Inter-American Court of Human Rights  stated the following: "The Court, following the line of international jurisprudence and taking into account that stated in the  Convention to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence against Women [Belém do Pará Convention] , considers that sexual violence consists of actions with a sexual nature committed with a person without their consent (...)". [ 24 ]  Similarly, in the Declaration on Violence against Girls, Women, and Adolescents and Their Sexual and Reproductive Rights (19 September 2014), the MESECVI Committee (which monitors compliance to the Belém do Pará Convention) defined "sexual violence" as "actions with a sexual nature committed with a person without their consent, which besides including the physical invasion of the human body, may include acts that do not imply penetration or even any physical contact whatsoever," referring to the  Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v. Peru  judgement. [ 25 ] : 5–6   It listed "display of the body without the victim's consent" as one of several "forms of sexual violence against women [which] are still insufficiently documented and punished throughout the entire region [the Americas]", [ 25 ] : 8   and invoked the illegitimate inferrals of consent listed in Rule 70 of the ICC's Rules of Procedure and Evidence. [ 25 ] : 11, 13


Consent-based provisions in some criminal codes of some former British colonies have descended from Section 375 of the British Colonial Penal Code of 1860.


In this situation, called the "Two-Tiered Approach" by the May 2020  UN Women  EGM report, [ 22 ] : 7   countries have two separate laws against sexual violence: one for sexual violence committed with coercion, one of sexual violence committed without coercion but also without consent; the latter counts as a lesser crime, and is punished less severely. [ 22 ] : 7  [ 21 ]  Both the EGM report and Amnesty 2018 report cited Austrian legislation as an example of this two-tiered approach, and have criticised it, because they argued survivors ought to be given the same level of legal protection. [ 22 ] : 7, 14  [ 21 ]  This is different from countries that cover all sexual violence within a single law based on a lack of consent, but may add extra penalties if the nonconsensual sexual act was accompanied by some form of coercion.


All 55 sovereign states of Africa are  members  of the  African Union ; except Botswana, Egypt, and Morocco, all have signed the  Maputo Protocol , which requires member states to effectively prohibit "all forms of violence against women including unwanted or forced sex". [ 13 ]  The following states have not yet introduced consent-based legislation:


All 35 sovereign states in the Americas ( Cuba's status being unclear ) are  members  of the  Organization of American States . Excluding Canada, Cuba and the United States, 32 of them have signed and ratified the  Belém do Pará Convention , which the  Inter-American Court of Human Rights  in 2006 ruled to be consent-based, [ 24 ]  with its follow-up mechanism MESECVI in 2014 declaring the same. [ 25 ] : 5–6   The following states have not yet introduced consent-based legislation:


Asia does not have a continent-wide legal system.  ASEAN , comprising  10 Asian states , signed the 2013 Declaration on Violence against Women and Children. [ 14 ] : vi   The 2016 ASEAN RPA on EVAW recognised several forms of sexual violence based on a lack of consent, [ 14 ] : 66–67  [ b ]  and called on all 10 member states to criminalise marital rape; 4 of them had already done so as of February 2016. [ 14 ] : 8, 51–53, 60   The following states have coercion-based legislation:


The  Penal Code of Japan  was revised in June 2023 to define many scenarios and circumstances in Article 176 (including nut not limited to coercion used by the suspect) that may render a person incapable of consenting to various sexual acts described in Article 177 ("Nonconsensual sexual intercourse etc."). [ 123 ]  There is no freely given or affirmative consent. Before June 2023, Article 177 described "forcible sexual intercourse" as "A person who, through assault or intimidation forcibly engages in vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse or oral intercourse (...) with another person". Article 178 further implied that victims of sexual assault were required to resist their attackers. [ 124 ]


However, even if the composition requirements have changed and have been broadened than before, it does not change that it's not guilty without evidence. So there are voices calling for the expansion of victim support is required, such as strengthening the evidence preservation system of test kits to leave objective evidence, medical institutions that can collect evidence 24 hours a day, and one-stop support centres. [ 125 ]


In addition, since the burden of proof is not different from that of the prosecution. So there are voices calling for a polite and careful investigation to visualise the crackdown to prevent false accusations, the right to join lawyers, and shorten the arrest period.


Japanese lawyers expressed concern that the eight newly prepared articles are a mixture of clear requirements and ambiguous requirements, adding that "the subject of punishment has virtually widened and could be framed". [ 126 ]


Article 297 (Rape) of South Korea's Penal Code states: "A person who, through violence or intimidation, has sexual intercourse with a female". Article 298 (Indecent Act by Compulsion) states: "A person who, through violence or intimidation, commits an indecent act on another". Article 299 (Quasi-Rape, Quasi-Indecent Act by Compulsion) states: "A person who has sexual intercourse with a female or commits an indecent act on another by taking advantage of the other's condition of unconsciousness or inability to resist", implying that in other circumstances a victim should resist a sexual assault until overcome by the perpetrator's superior force. [ 127 ]  For this reason, criticism has been raised that it's difficult to punish forced sexual activity without consent. Although Supreme Court of Korea has moved closer to consent-based with the precedent that looks more broadly at the definition of "assault or intimidation", some lower court judges continue to rule against that precedent. [ 128 ]


The  Supreme Court of Korea  ruled that marital rape (described as "forced sex with a spouse") was illegal in 2013. [ 129 ]


Actually, several attempts have been made to revise the criteria for rape from the presence or absence of "assault or intimidation" to "consent", because of the criticism about the current Penal Code of South Korea, but they have failed. [ 130 ]


The opponents of the law's amendment have raised concerns that the number of people affected by  False accusation of rape  will increase. In fact, criticism has been raised that the principle of  presumption of innocence  is not properly observed in South Korea, and the damage caused by the false accusation of sexual violence actually exists. [ 131 ] [ 132 ]  In addition, false accusation of sexual violence has increased rapidly in South Korea. [ 133 ]  The opponents of the revision of the law argue that false accusation of sexual violence will be easier if the law is revised.


Most sovereign states in Europe are  members  of the  Council of Europe  (except for Belarus; the  disputed  Vatican City; and the transcontinental states of Russia and Kazakhstan, see Asia) and have signed the  Istanbul Convention  (except Azerbaijan), and, once ratified, have the legal obligation to adopt consent-based legislation. The following states have yet to do so:


These European countries currently have coercion-based legislation, but have ratified the  Istanbul Convention , which obligates them to introduce a consent-based definition of sexual violence. [ 19 ]  Therefore, both the legislative and executive branches of government in these countries have been making efforts to draft legislation that complies with the Convention.


The  United States  do not have a uniform legal definition of sexual violence, as  states  may define this differently, [ 1 ]  but on the federal level the  FBI 's  Uniform Crime Report  (UCR) amended its definition of rape on 1 January 2013 from the coercion-based " carnal knowledge  of a female forcibly and against her will" to the consent-based "Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim", removing the requirements of force, the victim to be female, and the penetration to be vaginal. [ 169 ]  Some U.S. states (or other jurisdictions such as  American Samoa ) recognise penetrative sex without consent by the victim and without the use of force by the perpetrator as a crime (usually called 'rape'). Other states do not recognise this as a crime; their laws stipulate that the perpetrator must have used some kind of force (physical violence (that results in demonstrable physical injury), threats against the victim or a third party, or some other form of coercion) in order for such nonconsensual penetrative sex to amount to a crime. [ 170 ]  Similarly, some states (or other jurisdictions such as the  Military ) recognise non-penetrative sex acts (contact such as fondling or touching a person's intimate parts, or exposure of a body or sexual activity) without consent by the victim and without the use of force by the perpetrator as a crime, while other states do not. [ 170 ]  In 2024, the United States federal  Department of Health and Human Services  banned hospitals from  performing non-consensual breast, pelvic, prostate, and rectal exams for "educational and training purposes"  by medical students, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants. [ 171 ]


State laws have given various definitions of what constitutes sexual consent, and which role it plays in determining whether or not an offence has been committed.


The  Uniform Code of Military Justice  (UCMJ) of the  United States Armed Forces  provides a definition of consent and examples of illegitimate inferrals of consent in § 920. Art. 120. "Rape and sexual assault generally" (g) 7 and 8:


(7) Consent.—


(8) Incapable of consenting. —The term "incapable of consenting" means the person is—


The  Catholic Church , governed by the  Holy See  in  Vatican City ,  updated Book VI  of its  1983 Code of Canon Law  in June 2021 (taking effect on 8 December 2021) for clearer rules on numerous offences, including sexual ones. The revision was the result of a long process commenced in 2009 to better prevent and address  Catholic Church sexual abuse cases , mostly committed by clerics against underage children entrusted in their care, but also against vulnerable adults, or other sexual offences the Church regards as  sinful  due to breaching the  clerical celibacy in the Catholic Church .  Pope Francis , archbishop  Filippo Iannone , and other officials stated that bishops had been too lenient in penalising offenders in the past, in part because of the vagueness of  canon law , and formally introduced  laicization  as a penalty for certain sexual offences. [ 216 ]


In  Catholic theology , the  Ten Commandments  are numbered so that the sixth commandment is " Thou shalt not commit adultery ". The Catholic Church's  interpretation of the sixth commandment  is much broader than just  adultery  ( extramarital sex ), and concerns a set of so-called "offences against chastity". The revised provisions on sexual offences are derived from this broad interpretation of the sixth commandment. The provisions in Canon 1395 §3. are coercion-based, as they require evidence of the use of "force, threats or abuse of his authority", while Canon 1398 §1. describes sexual offences in which the victim was deemed incapable of consenting (because of "habitually [having] an imperfect use of reason"). There is no freely given sexual consent for people deemed capable of consenting. [ 156 ]


Canon 1395 §3. states:


A cleric who by force, threats or abuse of his authority commits an offence against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue or forces someone to perform or submit to sexual acts is to be punished with the same penalty as in § 2 [i.e. punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants]. [ 156 ]


Canon 1398 §1. states:


A cleric is to be punished with deprivation of office and with other just penalties, not excluding, where the case calls for it, dismissal from the clerical state, if he:


In June 2020, the  Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention  (Bra) reported that the number of rape convictions had increased from 190 in 2017 to 333 in 2019, a rise of 75% after Sweden adopted a consent-based definition of rape in May 2018; reports of rape rose by 21% in the same period. Furthermore, the introduction of the new offence of 'negligent rape' – for cases where courts found consent had not been established, but that the perpetrator had not intended to commit rape – led to the conviction of 12 people. Bra was positively surprised by this greater-than-expected impact, saying "this has led to greater justice for victims of rape," and hoping it would improve social attitudes towards sex.  Amnesty International  regarded the results as evidence that other countries should also adopt consent-based legislation in order to protect (potential) victims of sexual violence better. [ 217 ]


Contrary to what some opponents of consent-based legislation have argued, "recent research in countries such as Britain where sex without consent is considered rape, shows that false accusations have not gone up dramatically." Oxford legal professor Jonathan Herring stated in January 2021 that the main remaining problems in the UK are proving "beyond all reasonable doubt" the victim did not consent, and that many juries "still believe in ' rape myths ', eg. that the victim who is drunk or in a club is consenting to sex." [ 168 ]


Most pre-modern laws were concerned with sexual offences as disturbances of the social order, especially of what a man might do to/with a woman he was not married to, regardless of whether she consented to it or not. [ 218 ] [ 219 ]  In some rare cases, however, pre-modern laws did consider the (lack of) consent of a person (particularly a woman) involved a relevant factor in determining whether or not a sexual offence had occurred. Examples include §190 and §191 of the  Hittite laws  (also known as the 'Code of the Nesilim'; developed  c.  1650–1500 BCE , in effect until  c.  1100 BCE ), [ 219 ]  and §12 of the  Middle Assyrian Laws  (developed  c.  1450–1250 BCE ; this one involves a combination of lack of consent on the one hand, and force on the other). [ 218 ] : 150


While progressive rape legislation is favoured by most legal experts and human rights instruments, as it offers higher protections to rape survivors than coercion-based legislation, [ 1 ]  there are numerous enforcement challenges related to consent-based rape legislation.


There are currently consent-based jurisdictions which do not define consent at all within their legislation, which has led to issues such as clothing worn being interpreted as 'consent'. [ 222 ]  Furthermore, in some legal systems, consent is not solely based on a person's clear agreement but also on the "contribution of the victim", i.e. how their actions, behavior or perceived level of participation or engagement are considered as contributing factors to determining whether consent was given. [ 223 ]  This approach blurs the distinction between a purely consent-driven system and one that factors in other influences, like coercion. [ 223 ]  Additionally, some jurisdictions allow for the consideration of the 'reasonable belief' of the offender of consent by the victim, [ 224 ]  which limits the effectiveness of such legislation.


Furthermore, there is the issue of which concept of 'consent' should be implemented. For example, scientific studies have been strong proponents for a holistically viewed definition which includes contextual cues and interpersonal dynamics. [ 225 ] [ 226 ]  However, this may be too broad for effective enforcement of consent-based legislation due to challenges with  legal certainty , a principle which holds that the law must provide those subject to it with the ability to regulate their conduct with certainty. [ 227 ]  On the other hand, the interpretation of consent in certain legal jurisdictions is too narrow, as it encompasses solely verbal consent. [ 228 ]


Rape myths  are a heavily discussed barrier to effective enforcement of  rape legislation  in general. However, consent-based legislation is particularly vulnerable to the potential negative consequences that such myths may have on its enforcement.
The prevalence [ 229 ]  of such myths in society poses a challenge for the enforcement of consent-based rape legislation. Firstly, they are a large problem in jury trials; as misperceptions of victim behaviour often lead to assumptions of 'false allegations'. [ 230 ]  Secondly, such myths and false stereotypes are present in law enforcement as well as in other actors within the  criminal justice system . [ 231 ]  This has numerous negative effects including prejudiced filtering out of rape complaints, deeming 'simple rape' cases as 'unfounded' and promoting the lack of credibility of victims through skewing false allegation statistics. [ 232 ] [ 233 ]  This prejudice within the criminal justice system against the "word of a woman" creates a great barrier to the effective enforcement of rape legislation, but particularly consent-based, as the latter often results in "he-said, she-said" type scenarios. [ 231 ] [ 234 ]


Another primary barrier to the effective enforcement of consent-based rape legislation concerns issues with the criminal justice system itself. Rape survivors are often wary of filing a complaint and participating in a trial. [ 235 ]  Contrary to the stereotype of rape survivors mainly wishing for retributive justice, several surveys have found a desire to protect others as the primary reason for reporting their offenders. [ 235 ]  Furthermore, many rape survivors face great personal obstacles within a trial setting: often being berated in aggressive cross-examinations, humiliated with inappropriate and irrelevant questions and intimidated by the assailant's friends and families in the courtroom. [ 236 ]  This dissuades victims from coming forward and filing complaints. Thus, in recent years, there have been attempts to shift more towards focusing on preventative means of reducing rape such as college bystander trainings. [ 237 ]


Sexual economics theory  is a highly controversial hypothesis found in the field of  evolutionary psychology . The theory purports to relate to how male and female participants think, feel, behave and give feedback during  sex  or relevant sexual events. This theory states that the thinking, preferences and behavior of men and women follow the fundamental economic principles. [ 1 ]  It was proposed by psychologists  Roy Baumeister  and Kathleen Vohs. [ 2 ]


Sexual economics theory enjoyed support from some in the fields of  social psychology  and evolutionary psychology during the  2000s , but is now regarded by many as an outmoded  fringe theory  based on  outdated western stereotypes of gender  which do not replicate cross-culturally. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]


Baumeister's proposal defines sex as a marketplace deal according to the highly controversial maxim (sometimes associated with a paraphrase of  Donald Symons ) that sexuality is "something that women have and men want". Baumeister claims that sex is a  resource  that women hold overall. According to this claim, women hold on to their bodies until they receive enough motivation to give them up, such as  love , commitment, time, attention, caring, loyalty, respect, happiness and money from another party. On the other side, men are the ones who offer the resources that entice women into sex. [ 1 ]


Sexual economics is based on  social exchange theory : it alleges that people are willing to give up something if they can get in exchange what they believe will benefit them more. [ 6 ]  The theory rests on the belief that typically one party is more eager to exchange resources for what the other party holds, thus causing a  bargaining power  imbalance. [ 7 ]  At this point, the party who is less willing to exchange what they have has a higher control in this relationship. In the example of a sexual relationship, if one side wants to have  sexual intercourse  less than the other, he or she can hold out until a more attractive offer is made. [ 8 ]  In the classic formulation of this theory based on western gender and sexual stereotypes, women are constructed as having a lower  libido  than men, and therefore are the ones who "hold out" and extract resources from men as a form of manipulation. This apparent modern and western trend is retroprojected onto previous times and non-western societies by many evolutionary psychologists, despite little to no evidence justifying such retroprojection and a great deal of evidence against it. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ]


In the view of  Mark Regnerus , the economic perspective is clear. The behavior he analyzed in the market place states that the majority rule is a political principle that often works in human society, but sex is an exception and minority rules work are applicable. [ 12 ]


This theory rests on the controversial belief that sexual activity is "naturally" more desirable for males than females in human societies. In some primates, male aggression against females has the effect of controlling  female sexuality  for the male's reproductive advantage. Furthermore, the evolutionary perspective provides a hypothesis to help explain cross-culture variation in the frequency of male aggression against women. Variables include the protection of women by family or community, male alliances, and male strategies for protecting spouses and achieving adulterous mating and male resource control. [ 13 ]


According to sexual economics theory, males and females are different both physically and physiologically. According to the model, men give women resources, and then women will allow sex to take place. Under the context of sex, the trade of sex and resources keeps happening (Baumeister alleges that female control of sexuality and male competition for mates are consistent traits through eras and cultures, in sharp contrast to the available ethnographic evidence [ 14 ] [ 15 ] ), and society has acknowledged that  female sexuality  has more value than  male sexuality . [ citation needed ]  For instance, men and women in the west have different feelings about their  virginity . Women are more likely to think of their virginity as a precious gift and cherish it, while men see their virginity as a shameful condition and want to get rid of it early in life. [ 16 ]  This is a culturally bound response, as in some societies virginity has little to no value and anxieties surrounding female sexuality do not apply. [ 17 ] [ 18 ]  The sexual economics theory, however, generally fails to deal with ethnographic data which dispute its core premises, instead assuming itself to be correct based on self-report data from western societies and projecting this modern data onto previous societies and other time periods.


It is also claimed that  prostitution  (the exchange of sex for money or equivalent items) may be a threat to women's status because sex is mostly considered as part of an intimate relationship instead of a contract. [ 19 ]


Some examples have been given by proponents of sexual economics theory which they allege support their claims. In a  violent relationship , women are often more likely to be victimized. In one study, the results showed that jealousy is the most frequently used explanation for domestic violence for women, [ 20 ]  but for men two emotions lead to violence. The first one involves destructive thoughts (also refers to "critical inner voice") dominant like "She's trying to fool you" or "You are not man enough if you don't control her in mind and body." The other element contains a detrimental illusion (also refers to "fantasy bond"), it brings a sense that another person constituted a whole within the subject, and is essential for their happiness. [ 21 ]


Several advances in promoting equality between sexes have been made (such as  abortion law  modification in some areas), but most agrarian or industrialized societies are still patriarchal societies. Men are thought of as stronger than women, especially physically. The expectation of being masculine and more powerful than women could be destructive for men by leading to violence. Therefore, proponents of this theory claim that a woman who has a violent partner might choose to offer sex to comfort and mostly distract them from abusing her. In this case, trading sex is considered as one useful way for women to escape emotional and physical abuse from men in a violent relationship. [ 1 ]


The punishment for  adultery  is different between different genders in some countries. In some cultures, adultery is considered a crime, and although punishments for adultery such as stoning are also applied to men, the vast majority of the victims are women. [ 22 ]  In some cultures, the wives' adultery can be a viable reason if the husband wants to divorce, however, husbands' adultery cannot justify divorce. This is held up as evidence for sex being considered a female resource, although the copious number of cultures which lack clear evidence of a sexual "double standard" [ 23 ]  are generally either ignored or proclaimed (typically without supporting evidence) as actually containing said "double standard".  David Barash , for instance, attempted to respond to  Christopher Ryan 's claims about  sexual egalitarianism in hunter-gatherer societies  by stating that the sexual double standard is a human universal, yet offered no documentation for this claim and did not engage with the past century of primary ethnographic sources which dispute it. [ 24 ]


Proponents of the sexual economic theory highlight countries such as the  Philippines , where the law differentiates based on gender: a woman can be charged as a criminal of adultery if she has had sexual intercourse with someone other than her husband, but a man can only be charged with crimes such as concubinage, either keeping his mistress at home, or co-habitating with her, or having sexual relationships under scandalous circumstances. [ 25 ]  The existence of many alternative patterns in pre-state societies is generally not mentioned by proponents of the sexual economic theory.


In some countries, there is a significant difference between men and women in the consumption of  pornography . [ 26 ]  Some researchers have attempted to provide evidence for sexual differences in libido by pointing out that men are more likely to view pornography compared to women, and there are more male users on pornography websites than female users. Pornhub, as one of the biggest pornography websites in the world, reported of the year at the end of 2019 [ 27 ]  that there were 32% female users in 2019, while 68% of Pornhub users were male, which means the number of male users was two times more than female users worldwide. [ 28 ]  While at first blush this finding seems to promote the universality of sexual economics, those utilizing the pornography argument for higher male libido as compared to women typically neglect to mention that there is significant variation between countries, with some nations having significantly more female than male Pornhub users, as well as the fact that even in western nations, the gap is closing rapidly. [ 29 ] [ 30 ]  They also struggle to account for the huge female overrepresentation in non-visual forms of erotica, such as  erotic novels .  [ 31 ] [ 32 ]


Human trafficking  is a global issue and has consistently existed for centuries, nevertheless, it entered public consciousness around the beginning of the twenty-first century . [ 33 ]  Human trafficking is the process of enslaving people and exploiting them. [ 34 ]   Sex trafficking  is one of the most common types of human trafficking. According to the data derived by The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime [ 35 ]  in 2016, 51% identified victims of human trafficking were women, children made up 28% and 21% were men. 72% of those who were exploited in the sex industry were women, while 63% of identified traffickers were men. [ 36 ]  Most victims are placed in abusive and coercive situations, but escaping is also difficult and life-threatening for them. [ 37 ]


According to The International Labor Organization, 4.5 million people are affected by sex trafficking in the world. [ 38 ]  Sex trafficking victims are often caught by various prosecuted criminal activities such as illegal prostitution. Besides the law, problems like long-lasting problems such as disease (AIDS), malnutrition, psychological trauma, addiction to drugs, and social ostracism against this group of people should be addressed as well.


Sex bribery is defined as a "form of quid pro quo harassment in a sexual relationship with the declared or implicit condition for acquiring/retaining employment or its benefit"  [ 39 ]  in an employment setting. A common example of sex bribery might come down to sexual activity or sexually related behavior accompanied by a reward such as a promotion opportunity or raise in payment. [ 40 ]  In a workplace, attempted coercion of sexual activity may under the threat of two major types of punishment: negative work performance feedback/evaluation and withheld chances of promotions and raises. [ 41 ]


According to the 2016 Personal Safety Survey, [ 42 ]  around 55% of women over 18 have experienced  sexual harassment  in their lifetime, including receiving indecent phone calls, texts, emails; indecent exposure; inappropriate comments about the person's body and sex life; having unwanted touching, grabbing and kissing; and exposing and distributing the person's text, pictures, and sexual videos, without the person's permission. It is a serious, widespread problem, and the person who has a sexual harassment experience can feel stressed, anxious and depressed, sometimes withdrawing socially, becoming less productive, and losing confidence and self-esteem. [ 43 ]


The modern phenomenon of higher female as opposed to male victimization from sexual harassment is sometimes used as a justification for  essentialist  views of sex differences in sexuality (such as by Donald Symons who argued in his 1979 book  The Evolution of Human Sexuality  that "only men rape", a claim which is now  universally condemned ), but most social scientists (especially those writing from a  third - or  fourth-wave  feminist framework) dispute this, pointing to institutionalized  patriarchy  as a more reasonable culprit than "male nature".


There are several controversial cases in today's society that are relevant to sex economic theory.


A  virginity auction  is a controversial auction often published online. The person who tries to sell his/her virginity is often a young female, and the winning bidder will have the opportunity to be the first who have intercourse with the person. It is a controversial topic for multiple reasons, including questions over the ethics of leveraging virginity as a "prize" in a patriarchal society, as well as issues of authenticity. [ 44 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ]  The person who auctions their virginity mostly do so for quick financial help [ citation needed ] . Sexual economics theorists attempt to use virginity auctions to prove that women use sex as a resource to trade financial help from men. While this would seem to indicate that such processes do occur in western culture, once again this theory faces severe criticism from anthropologists and sociologists who point to non-western counterexamples where virginity is not valued, or where men are expected to render sexual services to women in exchange for favors (such as the  Kabyle  Amazigh of  North Africa ).


Sugar baby  is another controversial case that exists in modern American society. A sugar baby and sugar daddy/mommy are in a beneficial relationship, which means sugar babies provide time and sexual services to please their partners, and sugar daddies/mommas give financial support back to sugar babies including helping them in student loans and also provide luxury lifestyles such as expensive items they couldn't afford on their own. According to the registered number on dating websites, [ 47 ]  sugar babies are mostly female and the number of sugar daddies is distinctly more than the number of sugar mommies. Supporters of sexual economics theory point to this discrepancy as evidence for the central theory that men "need" or desire sexual gratification more than women do, while critics note that in  patriarchal  societies where most wealth and access to resources are held by men, such transactional relationships are likely to develop.


The sexual economics theory has been highly controversial from the start, due to its basis in a  biologically deterministic  worldview and its overreliance on Roy Baumeister's theoretical framework as well as highly questionable  self-report  survey data. Sexual economics presupposes a highly reductionist understanding of both sexuality and economics, and (like many theories in evolutionary psychology) a retroprojection of highly culturally-bound western phenomena as some sort of "universal human norm". The basic framework that later developed into the sexual economics theory originated with neo-Darwinian anthropologists such as  Donald Symons , whose claims about human sexuality and especially  female sexuality  are extremely controversial and widely criticized. [ 48 ] [ 49 ]


While writers like Donald Symons and  David Buss  have attempted to universalize their findings, and even purported to find  cross-cultural  support for theories such as "sex is something that women have and men want", their research suffers from a multitude of both philosophical and empirical weaknesses. For instance, their samples neglect to include  matrilineal  or  matrilocal  societies, where sex differences in behavior are typically either minimized or reversed. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ]  Generally speaking, most samples which indicate the finding that men are more sexually motivated than women are from societies which are historically highly patriarchal, and hold (or held until recently) a highly negative attitude towards premarital sex, especially in women. Such societies tend to be large, populous states as opposed to smaller-scale  foraging  and  horticultural  societies, which are usually more liberal towards sexuality. [ 54 ] [ 55 ]  These studies almost always rely on quantitative self-report surveys, which are plagued with problems such as  social desirability bias  (maximized for women in cultures which have traditionally valued  virginity ), sampling issues and (in non-western cultures specifically) resistance or hostility to reveal personal information to outsiders. Cultural anthropologists working with  Boasian  methodology with an emphasis on  participant observation  and  non-judgmental ,  emic  evaluation of other societies have long warned of the dangers of reliance on quantitative methodology such as surveys (or any research method utilizing a primarily etic perspective) for adequately capturing the internal beliefs and behaviors of other cultures. [ 56 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ] [ 59 ]