By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--December 21, 2017
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Sweden is moving to change its rape law to shift the burden of proof from the victim to the alleged attacker, in a proposal that would require people to get explicit consent before sexual contact. Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin said the recent #metoo anti-harassment campaign “has shown that there is a need” for the new legislation, which is expected to be approved Thursday in Parliament.
Under current Swedish law, someone can be prosecuted for rape only if it is proven that they used threats or violence. Under the proposal, rape could be proven if the accuser didn’t give their explicit verbal agreement or clearly demonstrate their desire to engage in sexual activity. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the “historic reform,” which his coalition has been preparing since taking power in 2014, aims to shift the burden of proof from the victim of a rape or sexual assault to the alleged attacker.The obvious question: What exactly constitutes explicit consent? Do you have to get it in writing? Would the government produce a standard form that dudes could carry around in their wallets for women to sign?
To Whom It May Concern: I agreed on Wednesday the 9th to have sex with Sven. Don't arrest him. Sincerely, HelgaThen again, Sven could forge Helga's signature. What if she denied it was her signature? I guess you could bring in handwriting analysts at that point but it would get awfully messy. What about video consent?
"Hi! I'm Helga! See Sven here? He just asked me to have sex with him and I said yes! This consent is good for tonight only so if he tries anything tomorrow night that could be rape, but tonight I'm horny so what the hell!"That could be air tight. But what if Helga was drunk? What if Sven spiked her drink? She could claim later she didn't really understand what she was saying. What if Sven claimed to be a movie producer and told Helga she was just doing a video audition with lines he'd written for her? This could be very complicated! I actually have an idea that could simplify this whole thing, but a lot of you are not going to like it. Let me set it up with a story. Around 2003, you might recall that Kobe Bryant got accused of sexual assault by a woman he had sex with during a road trip. It turned out the sex was consensual, but he had never met the woman before that night and he didn't really know who he was bagging. In addition to getting in gigantic trouble with his wife, Bryant found himself with a difficult legal entanglement and lots of public scrutiny of the wrong kind Back then I was in the office discussing the matter with an employee of mine at the time. She was a 20-something female and a self-professed Christian. I offered the thought that it sucked for Bryant to be falsely accused, but that I knew of one foolproof way to avoid such a problem: Meet a woman, fall in love with her, commit your life to her in a marriage blessed by God, take that commitment seriously throughout your life - and have sex with her and only her. And you will not have to worry about anyone accusing you of sexual assault.
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