Governor Jerry Brown signed the “affirmative consent” bill into law over the weekend, creating a standard that requires “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement” before engaging in sexual activity. The law is intended to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses, and was sponsored by incoming Senate President Kevin de Leon.
The new “yes means yes” standards will likely change the way that colleges address sexual harassment and sexual assault prevention training -- the law applies to any college or university that accept funding from the state of California.
How will new policies and prevention programs work? Is this law enforceable, or is it more about education? How could affirmative consent change the culture of sexual assault on California college campuses?
Guests:
Roxanne Neal, Director of new student and transition programs at UCLA
Sondra Solovay, California Attorney; Director of Product for Workplace Answers and its sister division, Campus Answers - which provides California-compliant workplace harassment training, diversity and discrimination training