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Yes means yes: a new legal standard for consent on Tuesday's Access Utah

Rep. Angela Romero looks at the camera. She has dark hair and is smiling.
Utah House of Representatives
Rep. Angela Romero (D-SLC) is the sponsor of HB98, which would raise the legal standard for consent.

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.

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Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.