Violated: Sexual Consent and Assault in the Twenty-First Century: Julie L. Fennell: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Violated

Sexual Consent and Assault in the Twenty-First Century

Violated

Sexual Consent and Assault in the Twenty-First Century

Description

Statistically speaking, you or someone you know has experienced a sexual violation. There’s also a high chance that you or someone you know caused one. Perhaps these incidents had a clear perpetrator and victim. Or maybe you’ve encountered one of the more complicated situations where it’s not quite so obvious that one person intentionally hurt another. Violated focuses on that messy place of unintentional, thoughtless, or perhaps even reckless consent violations. It challenges us to rethink the way gender and dating norms, intentionality, and intoxication have come to frame our social understanding of sexual consent and discusses what you, your organizations, and your government can do to help reduce the scope of sexual violation. But more than anything, this book argues that we need to develop more realistic models of “good consent” for the world we actually live in.

Preface
PART I: HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Chapter 1. Quantum Consent
What Exactly Is “The Problem”?
Going Rogue: The Me Too Movement
Legal vs Ethical Standards
The Gender Chasm and Consent
Chapter 2. A Brief History of Rape
In the old days…
A Collective Offense Becomes an Individual One
“No” Means “No”
Which Came First: Culture or Laws?
Rape Laws in Other Countries
Rape Laws in America: A Sampling
Reforms and Their Challenges
Thinking Back to Think Ahead
Chapter 3.Double Standards and a Culture of Mistrust
It’s Not “Rape” If It Happens to a Man
Assumption 1: Men Are Always Asking For It, No One Knows When Women Are
Assumption 2: Women Just Aren’t a Threat
Assumption 3: Erections Equal Consent
This Is Actually a Problem for Everybody
The Fag and Slut Penalties
Trying to Negotiate Around Double Standards
Chapter 4. Toxic Cocktails of Anomie and Alcohol
Anomie and the Contemporary Land of Dating Confusion
Then vs. Now
“Would You Like to Have Sex With Me Now?”
…But Liquor Is Quicker
So Does Formal Sex Education, Like, Do Anything?
All The Other Places To Learn About Sex
Model Minority?: LGBTQ Folks and Sexual Negotiation Norms
Conclusion: Learning About Sex Is a Package Deal
Chapter 5.Lies, Statistics, and the Failures of Justice
Sexual Assault Is Common, But Not That Common… Probably
Adult Sexual Assault Statistics Compared to Other Serious Crimes
Reports to the Police and “False Allegations”
Conviction/Attrition Rates
Why Get Involved with the Criminal Justice Process?
PART II: REAL CHANGE
Chapter 6: The Harm Reduction Approach: Consent Hygiene and Actual Gender Equality
A Time and Place to Say “Yes” to an Unasked Question
Alternative Cultural Models
Consent Hygiene and the Culture of Intoxication
Is It Always Someone Else’s Fault?
The Harm Reduction Approach
Chapter 7.Race, Sexual Identity, and the American Criminal Imagination
Race, Victimization, and Reporting to the Police
Race, Offending, and the “Victim-Offender Dyad”
Race from the Defendant’s Perspective
The Other Minorities: LGBTQ Folks
Concluding Thoughts on Minorities and Sexual Assault
Chapter 8.Why Change the Law?
The Current Structure of the Legal System
The State of the Law
What Does the Law Really Do Anyway?
What Behavior Do We Want to Be Legally Actionable?
What Kinds of Legal Reforms Are Possible?
Chapter 9. Actual Legal Changes
Words Matter!
Mens Rea and Defining the “Crime” of Sexual Violation
Taking Mens Rea Seriously Isn’t a New Idea
What Acts and States of Mind Do We Actually Want Criminalized?
Grading States of Mind
Affirmative Defenses
Other Considerations
Wider Social Effects
Conclusion: Don’t Settle for Simple Solutions
Changing the Law Is Necessary, But Not Sufficient
We Need to Make a Collective Decision About Gender and the Foundations of Consent
Most of Us Will Never Sit on a Jury for a Sexual Crime
Band-Aid Solutions
In an Ideal World…
Bibliography

Product details

Published	Jul 16 2024
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	210
ISBN	9781538180877
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

In Violated, Fennell, a researcher who studies gender, sexuality, and demography, and Green, a practicing attorney who specializes in issues of consent, address the issues of sexual consent and sexual assault from a nontraditional perspective. They consider these issues from the broader context of alternate sexual lifestyles and varying degrees of consent and degree of force. They lay out a complex paradigm for the study and treatment of cases of sexual assault with recommendations for revising the laws regulating sexual assault. The authors are well qualified to address these issues. Additionally, their study is adequately indexed and well referenced with a lengthy bibliography. The text is easy to read and the various positions are clearly laid out. Libraries serving psychology, social work, sociology, and women’s studies departments should consider acquiring this volume. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Choice Reviews
Those new to this topic will find Violated readable, relatable, and gripping. Those who already know a thing or two will find a refreshingly subtle perspective, one that expertly applies a wide range of empirical research to contemporary, messy conversations about gender, sexuality, and consent. Violated has a definite point of view but it never condescends; readers are instead invited to rethink their assumptions alongside the authors. Reading Violated feels like having a frank conversation among smart and trusted friends about one of the most important issues of our time.

Lara Stemple, UCLA
Violated is an insightful investigation into the nuances of sexual consent. The authors draw from scientific data and popular media to effectively argue against a consent-assault dichotomy. Instead, they promote a spectrum of “consent hygiene” as their fresh take on how society might move forward to address sexual violations.

Malachi Willis, University of Glasgow