{"id":27811,"date":"2014-09-13T10:46:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-13T14:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=27811"},"modified":"2024-09-24T08:48:32","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T12:48:32","slug":"ohio-state-universitys-bureaucratic-approach-to-student-to-student-intimacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2014\/09\/13\/ohio-state-universitys-bureaucratic-approach-to-student-to-student-intimacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio State University’s bureaucratic approach to student-to-student intimacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

US colleges and universities are struggling to come up with new and innovative ways of regulating how their students interact in intimate situations. Ohio State University, for example, now requires that students who engage in sexual relations must agree on why<\/em> they want to have sex<\/a> to avoid the risk of sexual assault charges being brought:<\/p>\n

At Ohio State University, to avoid being guilty of \u201csexual assault\u201d or \u201csexual violence,\u201d you and your partner now apparently have to agree on the reason WHY you are making out or having sex. It\u2019s not enough to agree to DO it, you have to agree on WHY<\/a>: there has to be agreement \u201cregarding the who, what, where, when, why, and how this sexual activity will take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

There used to be a joke that women need a reason<\/em> to have sex, while men only need a place<\/em>. Does this policy reflect that juvenile mindset? Such a requirement baffles some women in the real world: a female member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights told me, \u201cI am still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of any two intimates in the world agreeing as to \u2018why.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio State\u2019s sexual-assault policy, which effectively turns some welcome touching into \u201csexual assault,\u201d may be the product of its recent Resolution Agreement<\/a> with the Office for Civil Rights (where I used to work) to resolve a Title IX<\/a> complaint over its procedures for handling cases of sexual harassment and assault. That agreement, on page 6, requires the University to \u201cprovide consistent definitions of and guidance about the University terms \u2018sexual harassment,\u2019 \u2018consent,\u2019 \u2018sexual violence,\u2019 \u2018sexual assault,\u2019 and \u2018sexual misconduct.\u2019\u201d It is possible that Ohio State will broaden its already overbroad \u201csexual assault\u201d definition even further: Some officials at Ohio State, like its Student Wellness Center, advocate defining<\/a> all sex or \u201ckissing\u201d without \u201cverbal,\u201d \u201centhusiastic\u201d consent as \u201csexual assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio State applies an impractical \u201cagreement\u201d requirement to not just sex, but also to a much broader category of \u201ctouching\u201d that is sexual (or perhaps romantic?) in nature. First, it states<\/a> that \u201csexual assault is any form of non-consensual sexual activity. Sexual assault includes all unwanted sexual acts from intimidation to touching<\/strong> to various forms of penetration and rape.\u201d Then, it states<\/a> that \u201cConsent is a knowing and voluntary verbal or non-verbal agreement<\/strong> between both parties to participate in each and every sexual act … Conduct will be considered \u201cnon-consensual\u201d if no clear consent<\/strong> … is given … Effective consent can be given by words or actions so long as the words or actions create a mutual understanding between both parties regarding the conditions of the sexual activity\u2013ask, \u2018do both of us understand and agree regarding the who, what, where, when, why, and how this sexual activity will take place?\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Update<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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Advice to college guys: avoid all college women. If you want to have sex, go to a prostitute and get a receipt. http:\/\/t.co\/sh9voKuJ9L<\/a><\/p>\n

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) September 13, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n