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Rape: Are We Protected by the Law?
By Emily Clifton '08
STAFF WRITER

As women, we face the possibility of sexual assault and rape from a different perspective than men. While some men face the same threat, we are often placed in questionable situations where our gender makes us a target: being alone in public places, especially after dark, or even at that fun holiday party at another college.

What happens when we are in a questionable situation? Should the worst happen, we expect to be protected by the law. This is not, unfortunately, always the case.

Traditionally, rape is defined as performing penetrative or enveloping sexual acts against another's will through violence, force, threat of injury, other duress, or where the victim is unable to decline due to the effects of drugs, alcohol and/or underage immaturity.

The concept of consent deals with the willingness of one or both parties to the act in question. On Monday October 30, 2006, the idea of consent was changed forever.

A three-judge panel of the Maryland Special Court of Appeals decided that Maryland law says a woman who gives consent prior to intercourse cannot withdraw her legal consent during the act.

The decision accompanied the overturning of a rape conviction in Baby vs. State of Maryland. Maouloud Baby is serving a five-year sentence.

During deliberation in the original trial, the jury had asked, “If a female consents to sex initially and, during the course of the sex act to which she consented, for whatever reason, she changes her mind and the… man continues until climax, does the result constitute rape?”

Circuit Court Judge Louise G. Scrivener told jurors Maryland’s law was unclear and would not provide a definite answer, that they would need to determine that themselves. The jury returned a guilty verdict.

The Special Court of Appeals, however, disagreed with the trial judge’s interpretation of the law. Current Maryland rape law is “not ambiguous,” said the ruling; if a woman consents prior to sex, she may not withdraw her consent during the act and accuse her partner of rape if he continues the act.

This has serious repercussions for women who initially consent to engage in sexual activities. What if the expected interaction becomes violent? Do we not then have the right to say no?

According to Maryland law, we do not.

Of course, women’s rights groups are very concerned about the new statute. “You should have the right to say no at anytime and that should mean no and if sexual acts continue after you’ve withdrawn your consent, they should be considered a crime,” said Jennifer Pollitt Hill, a member of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

It remains to be seen how many legal repercussions will ensue from this decision. Maryland is one of two states to uphold initial consent as sufficient consent such that any act ensuing is considered consensual. North Carolina is the other state with this law.

Beyond simply changing one’s mind for no apparent reason, there are other situations in which the ability to revoke consent should be a factor.

What if one participant finds out in the middle of the act that the other is infected with an STD? Do they not have the right to refuse? Or perhaps they find out their partner is not using protection when that was a provision of the consent given? The emotional tenor of the act may change, and one participant may want to end it.

Needless to say, the law has been interpreted in two states to prevent participants from revoking their consent. This is an issue that will affect us as women, and students should pay attention to this issue as it develops.