Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, is sponsoring HB98 which would create a third-degree felony offense of sexual conduct without affirmative consent.
Current Utah law defines sexual abuse as when “the victim expresses lack of consent through words or conduct.” The Consent Project defines affirmative consent as “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.”
Rep. Romero says requiring affirmative consent would give prosecutors another tool to look at when addressing sexual assault. Opponents say the bill could have unintended consequences.
Today we’ll talk about affirmative consent. Our guests are Rep. Romero and Julie Valentine, Associate Dean of and Professor in the College of Nursing at Brigham Young University.