Does 'No' Automatically Make it Rape?
A feminist, a Laker fan and a teacher struggles with determining where consent ends and rape begins.
Is it rape, a criminal act of violation, when you have willingly joined someone late at night? He hasn't drugged you or strong-armed you, as far as anybody knows. But sometime between entering the door and rushing out of that same door, you became uncomfortable with the sex and wanted it to stop. He didn't, and you're furious. You feel violated, and rightfully so. But is it rape? Did Kobe Bryant force this woman to have sex? Or to finish what they both had started?
Our view has been that "no" means "no"--provided the "no" has been effectively and clearly communicated in a way that any reasonable partner would have understood.
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