For those interested in both tech and the legal system… “When Prosecutors Believe the Unbelievable” is a Slate article about a criminal rape prosecution and conviction that hinged on data from cell phones. “Woman staged ‘rape’ scene with knife, vodka, called 9-1-1, police say” is about the contradiction between a crime victim’s testimony and Fitbit data (how did the police get hold of the Fitbit data? This ABC story has some info).
Related:
- Harvard Law School professor Nancy Gertner, a former Federal judge, says “women feel so oppressed that they cannot consent willingly” (Yale Alumni Magazine)
- Domestic Violence chapter of Real World Divorce
In the past, we simply assumed that young women should not have sexual relations before marriage, but now we understand that women, just like men, have sexual needs that should be fulfilled. Yes, there are a few lesbians who think ALL heterosexual intercourse is rape, but these are extremists – most women recognize that there are times when consensual premarital sex is fine, but they apparently don’t think that women are really capable of deciding for themselves when that is, due to oppression and so on. And many times, women have drunk themselves into a stupor – one might think that they do so expressly in order to loosen their own inhibitions so that they can engage in the sexual relations that they secretly crave, but of course there is a Catch-22 – once they are drunk enough to say yes, they are too drunk for that yes to legally count.
But, there is a way out of this conundrum. In our legal system, when people are judged not capable of giving consent we call those people “incompetent” and we appoint a guardian on their behalf. I think that is the system that is needed now for young women, since by their own confession they are not capable of giving informed consent, when they have had something to drink and even apparently if they are stone cold sober. If a gentleman wishes to have relations with a young lady, he will contact her sexual guardian (these could be university employees – already most universities have tons of employees whose jobs have nothing to do with teaching. Parents are obviously not suited since they will say “no” almost all the time) who will make a fair and unoppressed assessment of the situation and either give or not give consent on behalf of his or her ward. The guardian will assess how long the couple have known each other, how “hot” the guy is and how compatible they are, how long it has been since the lass last had relations, and so on and make a fair assessment of whether it would be in her best interest to have intercourse that evening. As a trained professional and disinterested party, the guardian would be well equipped to make sound decisions not tainted by social pressures, oppression, etc. Or he could render a compromise verdict specifying exactly which acts will and will not be permitted. The amount of alcohol or drugs the young lady has consumed will not be an issue, because when on duty the guardians will themselves be required not to drink or consume drugs that might affect their guardianship abilities and they will always make a clear eyed assessment of the situation. Are there any flaws in my plan?
The only possible flaw is it still doesn’t get rid of staged rape scenes.