It’s been a few years since the dangerous “affirmative consent” standard has made headlines. Many colleges and universities began adopting the standard about half-a-decade ago, following the state of California’s example.
The wording changes from state to state and from school to school, but it all boils down to narrowly defining consent in such a way that it is impossible for anyone to actually have – and prove – consensual sex. These policies inevitably shift the burden of proof from the accuser to the accused, meaning the accused has to prove they obtained consent for an encounter that they saw at the time as consensual.
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