Law Commons^™

Consent And Coercion, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan

All Faculty Scholarship

There are substantial disputes as to what sorts of behavior constitute coercion and thereby undermine consent. This disagreement was on full display during the public fray over Aziz Ansari’s behavior on a date. Whereas some commentators condemned Ansari’s behavior as nothing short of sexual assault, others believed his behavior did not rise to the level of undermining consent.

This Article claims that the way forward is to see that there are two normative functions for coercion, and each is at play with respect to consent. Sometimes coercion is about the blameworthiness of the coercer, and sometimes coercion is about the …

When Whispers Enter The Cloud, Heidi H. Liu

All Faculty Scholarship

With increased awareness of workplace harassment in recent years, the idea of enhanced reporting around sexual misconduct has gained traction. As a result, several technologies – from smartphone apps to well-publicized services – have been introduced with the goals of preventing, enabling reports of, and even predicting sexual misconduct at work, school and in public. But to what extent are these technologies secure and accessible to survivors? This Note documents the existing resources and proposes a framework focusing on privacy and participation for evaluating these tools intended to benefit survivors.

Sexual Consent And Disability, Jasmine E. Harris

All Faculty Scholarship

Our nation is engaged in deep debate over sexual consent. But to date the discussion has overlooked sexual consent’s implications for a key demographic: people with mental disabilities, for whom the reported incidence of sexual violence is three times that of the nondisabled population. Even as popular debate overlooks the question of sexual consent for those with disabilities, contemporary legal scholars critique governmental overregulation of this area, arguing that it diminishes the agency and dignity of people with disabilities. Yet in defending their position, these scholars rely on empirical data from over twenty years ago, when disability and sexual assault …