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The Normal Ones Take Time': Civil Commitment And Sexual Assault In R. V. Alsadi, Isabel Grant

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This comment addresses the issue of whether a woman who is civilly committed in a psychiatric facility can ever give a valid consent to sexual activity with someone employed by that facility to ensure her safety and protection. The paper argues that such a consent would be involuntary and invalid because it was obtained as a result of an abuse of a position of trust. It is argued that the imbalance of power between a civilly committed psychiatric patient and, in Alsadi, a security guard employed by the hospital is so significant that no meaningful or voluntary consent can be …