Tweet
Software developers have been getting in on the sex act. The BBC reports the launch of the “We-Consent” smartphone app, which allows willing partners to make a twenty-second film clip in which they give their names and say they give consent for what is about to unfold. The app works only if the camera detects human faces and “both people involved are clearly heard saying yes.” Amazingly, this isn't even the first such app to appear.
Rape Crisis in England and Wales, whose policy appears to be the extinction of the human race, is of course lukewarm about the idea. Spokeswoman Katie Russell commented that “Someone saying yes to sex on camera does not necessarily prove that they have given their consent,” and “Consent must fully and freely be given by someone with the capacity to do so.” Yes, it is possible that one party has been bullied or been forced at knifepoint, but intimidation is possible even if both parties sit down for two hours and write a detailed contract, after which their only cravings will probably be for a sandwich and cuppa.
Ms Russell naturally couldn’t pass up the opportunity to repeat the mantra that false rape complaints are rare: “The concept seems to assume…that false accusations of rape are a common problem…[but] they’re absolutely not.” I’m no more enthusiastic about the app than she is, but for different reasons. I can only shake my head and say, “My god, has it really come to this?” The Rape Crisis response implies that, as much as it always insists that valid consent is necessary, no form of consent will ever be sufficient. Women must own the concept of rape. Women must define rape, and if any woman claims that it has happened, all of us – police and judges and the general public – must believe her. Men are not stakeholders in rape.
But we are, Ms Russell. Ask any participant in this forum.
Rape Crisis in England and Wales, whose policy appears to be the extinction of the human race, is of course lukewarm about the idea. Spokeswoman Katie Russell commented that “Someone saying yes to sex on camera does not necessarily prove that they have given their consent,” and “Consent must fully and freely be given by someone with the capacity to do so.” Yes, it is possible that one party has been bullied or been forced at knifepoint, but intimidation is possible even if both parties sit down for two hours and write a detailed contract, after which their only cravings will probably be for a sandwich and cuppa.
Ms Russell naturally couldn’t pass up the opportunity to repeat the mantra that false rape complaints are rare: “The concept seems to assume…that false accusations of rape are a common problem…[but] they’re absolutely not.” I’m no more enthusiastic about the app than she is, but for different reasons. I can only shake my head and say, “My god, has it really come to this?” The Rape Crisis response implies that, as much as it always insists that valid consent is necessary, no form of consent will ever be sufficient. Women must own the concept of rape. Women must define rape, and if any woman claims that it has happened, all of us – police and judges and the general public – must believe her. Men are not stakeholders in rape.
But we are, Ms Russell. Ask any participant in this forum.
Comment