California and Colorado have affirmative consent laws (the only two I’m aware of). Other states are presenting similar bills. What is the difference between “no means no” and affirmative consent?
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This is fairly straightforward, affirmative consent means that you define consent not as a lack of refusal signaling acceptance, but as a positive indication to your consent. In other words, say someone comes up and kisses you, even though you didn’t refuse an any real way, affirmative consent means that you don’t have to prove you made some indication you didn’t want that kiss – it is up to the other person to prove that they did gain consent.
You see this in medical ethics, one of the things that TV shows consistently get wrong in medical dramas is that doctors are rarely seen getting affirmative consent to treat patients. If you actually show up to a hospital to seek treatment, you will notice that almost every healthcare worker you run into will first ask for your consent to do whatever you need them to do. No, showing up to the ER and checking in is not affirmative consent. A doctor can’t just start doing things to you assuming consent, and consent isn’t indicated by a lack of refusal. Consent is indicated by a patient who actually says “Yes, you may examine me.”
If you think about it, affirmative consent makes the most sense, it is assuming consent is not granted unless it is explicitly said so or indicated.
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