Eye Contact and Taking Off Clothes: College Men’s Interpretations of Sexual Consent Nicole Bedera Sex on Campus 19 February 2016

Consent on Campus Historically, we have believed that a very small number of men commit almost all sexual assaults (Lisak and Miller, 2002) New research indicates that as many as 11% of men rape by the end of college (Swartout et al. 2015) Affirmative consent laws and trainings are a common response to widespread sexual violence perpetration (for example, California Legislature, 2014; Friedman and Valenti, 2008).

Research Questions How do college men think about sexual consent? How do college men connect ideas about sexual consent to their own sexual encounters?

Data & Methods 25-semi structured interviews on recent sexual encounters and attitudes about sexual consent Participants were… Heterosexual and sexually active 18 – 24 with a median age of 20 Freshmen (20%), sophomores (48%), juniors (12%), seniors (16%), and beyond (4%) White (76%), Black (12%), Asian American (8%), and non- white Hispanic (4%) Raised Catholic (52%), Jewish (20%), Protestant (12%), Islamic (4%), Mormon (4%), and non-religious (8%)

How do you get consent? 36% of respondents said that they always get verbal consent. “My personal favorite—just straight up ask them. Because I feel like that’s the quickest, easiest, and with the least amount of gray area.” Other respondents focused on gauging enthusiastic participation in sexual acts (34% of all mentioned strategies) “Switch off control. I’ll be on top of her for a little while and then I’ll kind of let up and see what she does.

How did they get consent? Verbal Sexual Signals: 13% of signals Verbal Nonsexual Signals: 8% of signals Physical Sexual Signals: 20% of signals Physical Nonsexual Signals: 39% of signals

Physical Nonsexual Signals increased breath rate – bringing me drinks – touching me drinking – dancing together – getting onto a bed – smiling texting me late at night – eye contact – increased heart rate moaning – hanging out with me all night – gasping – panting making faces – scratching me– being close to me – twitches texting late at night – closing her eyes – going to her house opening her mouth – becoming lubricated – arching her back being drunk – moving – holding me – making weird noises

What are these signals? Researcher: What was your first clue that she wanted to sleep with you? Ray: Eyes. Researcher: Eyes? Ray: Eyes. Researcher: What about them? Ray: It’s like an interest—a curiosity. It’s like when you look at someone with a curiosity to know more about them… I can see them like, “Hmm… What is that guy like in bed?”

What are these signals? “Um, moaning, usually that’s—that’s a good….” “She was moaning a lot and her eyes were closed and she-she gave me—I had a lot of scratches on my back, so I take it that she was into it.” “I guess moaning. Big indicator for me is eyebrows furrowing ‘cause that’s generally something you don’t really notice… when you’re doing it yourself, you don’t really notice.”

Who is communicating verbally? Verbal Communicator at Different Stages of Sexual Certainty

Conclusion Men are familiar with consent on campuses—including verbal methods for obtaining consent Men endorse a standard of sexual consent—including the use of verbal methods of obtaining consent In practice, men do not use verbal signals—or even physical sexual signals—as a strategy to obtain consent When men use verbal signals to ascertain sexual consent, the signals are primarily initiated by women

Acknowledgments

References California Legislature State Senate. Student Safety: Sexual Assault. S.B Friedman, Jackie, and Jessica Valenti Yes Means Yes! Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. Lisak, David, and Paul M. Miller “Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending Among Undetected Rapists.” Violence and Victims 17(1) Swarthout, Kevin M., Mary P. Koss, Jacquelyn W. White, Martie P. Thompson, Antonia Abbey, and Alexandra L. Bellis “Trajectory Analysis of the Campus Serial Rapist Assumption.” JAMA Pediatrics 169(12):