'Yes Means Yes' Bill Headed to Governor's Desk

By MIRNA ALFONSO

Senate Bill 967, commonly known as the “Yes Means Yes” or “Affirmative Consent” bill, is intended to eliminate college date rapes by forcing all colleges and universities in California -- including community colleges -- to adopt protocols for complaints.

Schools must adopt the protocols in order to continue receiving state funding.

As the bill reads, both parties must give spoken consent; silence is not considered consent and any sex act must be consensual THROUGHOUT the act.

“‘Affirmative consent’ means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity,” the bill reads.

“It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that he or she has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity.”

According to the bill, “lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent nor does silence mean consent.

“Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time.”

According to University of La Verne associate professor of Journalism, Elizabeth Zwerling, staff and faculty are undertrained in dealing with sexual assault allegations and over the years, students’ rights have been trampled.

“In California, an audit of four public universities’ sexual assault policies during the 2013-14 academic year found the universities did not sufficiently train faculty and staff in responding to and reporting incidents of sexual assault,” she wrote.

“The four universities -- UC-Berkeley, UC-Los Angeles, Cal State Chico and San Diego State -- also fell short in their sexual assault prevention education programs for students, particularly incoming students, according to the California State Auditor’s report released in June” wrote Zwerling in an article sh