Only yes means yes: Affirmative consent and the law

Despite UK law saying that both people need to give their consent to sex, the public isn’t always clear about what consent means.

This murkiness shows up in court too, where the notion of implied consent – making an assumption based on someone’s behaviour – is accepted. Victims often have to battle bias and prejudice as they try to prove they did not consent, which can be particularly difficult when they do not verbalise the word "no".

Right to Equality, a non-profit organisation committed to championing gender equality under the law, believes a clear "yes" to sex should be the legal standard for consent. In March, in partnership with creative agency CPB London and actress Emily Atack, they launched a campaign advocating to enshrine affirmative consent in UK law.

In this event at the Intellectual Forum, barristers Stephanie Hayward and Right to Equality founder Dr Charlotte Proudman will delve into the current deficiencies within the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and consider what a legal shift to affirmed consent might mean for survivors of sexual assault.

About the speakers

Dr Charlotte Proudman is the founder of Right to Equality and an award-winning barrister, Cambridge academic and campaigner fighting for women's rights in and out of court. Charlotte represents survivors of rape, domestic abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour in court, and she uses her knowledge and experience of the justice system to advocate for legal change to ensure protection and support for victims and survivors. For over a decade, Charlotte has fearlessly promoted gender equality under the law, successfully spearheading campaigns to change the law for women.

Stephanie Hayward was called to the Bar in 2011 and has since built an impressive repertoire prosecuting and defending a range of criminal offences, including serious violence, rape, and serious sexual offences (‘RASSO’), and fraud. She's the leader of Behind the Gown, an organisation pushing for equality at the Bar with the mission to lead an inclusive culture in which diversity thrives. To commemorate the centenary of women in law, she wrote, produced and presented the film "Retaining Women at the Bar. 1919 – 2019: is the past inhabiting the present?"

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Event Venue

Frankopan Hall, West Court, Jesus College, Cambridge, United Kingdom