Concerning consent: Standards of permissibility in sexual relations

Oxford Journal of Legal Studies

Volumn 25, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 335-352

  Munro, Vanessa E ^a  

^a KING'S COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 27744493630     PISSN: 01436503     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ojls/gqi017     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. A. Wertheimer, Consent to Sexual Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2003) (hereinafter referred to as Consent).
2. Consent, 3.
3. See also S. Schulhofer, Unwanted Sex: The Culture of Intimidation and the Failure of the Law (Harvard University Press, 1998)
4. and D. Archard, Sexual Consent (Westview Press, 1998).
5. Consent, 7.
6. Consent, 4.
7. Consent, 38.
8. In support of this claim, Wertheimer points to empirical evidence suggesting that rape perpetrators tend to be disproportionately unattractive and unemployed, whilst rape victims tend to be aged within the range of 'reproductive value', which correlates to the range of sexual desirability - Consent, 76-77.
9. J. Dupré, Human Nature and the Limits of Science (Oxford University Press, 2001).
10. Ibid, 54.
11. Consent, 60.
12. R. Thornhill & R. Thornhill, 'The Evolutionary Psychology of Men's Coercive Sexuality' (1992) 15 Behavioural and Brain Sciences 363-421
13. J. Dupré, Human Nature and the Limits of Science, 68.
14. Consent, 62.
15. K. J. Stormo, A. R. Lang and G. K. Stritzke, 'Attributions About Acquaintance Rape: The Role of Alcohol and Individual Differences' (1997) 27 (4) Journal of Applies Social Psychology 279-305.
16. For further discussion, see also T. N. Bradbury and F. D. Fincham, 'Attributions in Marriage: Review and Critique' (1990) 107 Psychological Bulletin 3-13
17. and C. A. Cameron and G. K. Strizke, 'Alcohol and Acquaintance Rape in Australia: Testing the Presupposition Model About Responsibility and Blame' (2003) 33 (5) Journal of Applied Social Psychology 983-1008. I am indebted to Kathryn Holdsworth for our discussions in which she reminded me of this particular debate.
18. It is not uncommon for juries, for example, to express a reluctance to attribute blame to defendants in rape cases, despite the fact that they acknowledge the surrounding circumstances to be such as to rightfully render the defendant 'responsible'. For further discussion on this in one limited context, see E. Finch and V. Munro, 'Attribution of Blame and Responsibility in Rape Cases Involving Intoxicants: Findings of a Pilot Study', (2005) 45 (1) British Journal of Criminology (25-38).
19. J. Dupré, Human Nature and the Limits of Science, above n 7 at 66.
20. J. Barkow, J. Tooby and L. Cosmides (eds), The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture (Oxford University Press, 1992).
21. Consent, 63-64.
22. S. Pinker, How the Mind Works (W. W. Norton, 1997), 45. Quoted in Consent, 48.
23. D. Dripps, 'Beyond Rape: An Essay on the Difference Between the Presence of Force and the Absence of Consent', 92 Columbia Law Review 1780-1809, 1785 (1992).
24. D. Dripps, 'Beyond Rape: An Essay on the Difference Between the Presence of Force and the Absence of Consent', above n 19 at 1805.
25. R. West, 'Legitimating the Illegitimate: A Comment on Beyond Rape', 93 Columbia Law Review 1442-1459, 1448 (1993).
26. Consent, 34.
27. S. Schulhofer, Unwanted Sex: The Culture of Intimidation and the Failure of the Law, above n 2.
28. Consent, 32.
29. J. S. Mill, On Liberty in M. Warnock (ed.), Utilitarianism, On Liberty and Other Essays (Fontana, 1962), 189.
30. For further discussion on this, see O. O'Neill, Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics (Cambridge University Press, 2004), 31.
31. For further discussion of this distinction between episodic and programmatic choice, and its implications upon the operation of autonomy, see D. Meyers, Self, Society and Personal Choice (Columbia University Press, 1989).
32. Consent, 140.
33. Ibid.
34. Consent, 135.
35. E. Kittay, 'My Foolish Heart: A Response to Alan Soble's Antioch Sexual Offences Policy: A Philosophical Exploration' (1997) 28 Journal of Social Philosophy 153.
36. L. Pineau, 'Date Rape' in L. Francis (ed.), Date Rape (Penn State University Press, 1996).
37. E. Anderson, Value in Ethics and Economics (Harvard University Press, 1993).
38. C. MacKinnon, Towards a Feminist Theory of State (Harvard University Press, 1989).
39. A. Wertheimer, Exploitation (Princeton University Press, 1999).
40. M. Chamallas, 'Consent, Equality and the Legal Control of Sexual Conduct', 61 Southern Californian Law Review 777-862 (1988).
41. Consent, 139.
42. M. Chamallas, 'Consent, Equality and the Legal Control of Sexual Conduct', above n 35 at 836.
43. Consent, 139.
44. R. Dworkin, 'Foundations of Liberal Equality' in G. Peterson (ed.), The Tanner Lectures on Human Values (University of Utah Press, 1990).
45. See also R. Dworkin, 'Liberal Community', 77 California Law Review 479 (1989).
46. See, for example, K. Barry, The Prostitution of Sexuality (New York University Press, 1995).
47. This finding is drawn from interviews conducted by the author with outreach workers operating in the sex industry in the UK, Australia, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands over a 2 year period from 2002-2004. This research project was funded by The Nuffield Foundation, ref. SGS/ 00745/G.
48. I am much indebted to Julia Tolmie for drawing my attention to this research.
49. J. Raphael, Saving Bernice: Battered Women, Welfare and Poverty (Northeastern University Press, 2000), 49.
50. For further discussion of this survey, see J. Abma, A. Driscoll and K. Moore, 'Young Women's Degree of Control over their First Intercourse: An Exploratory Analysis' (1998) 30 (1) Family Planning Perspectives 14-17.
51. Consent, 229.
52. Consent, 5.
53. Consent, 185.
54. Consent, 187.
55. Consent, 230.
56. Consent, 229.