Noah Merrell
Guest Reporter
When it comes to sex “No Means No!,” in North Carolina that is not the case.
On May 16, 1977, Beverly Hester was sexually assaulted by a man after originally giving consent and revoking her consent during intercourse.
North Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled that that under the law, it was not rape if Hester told the man to stop after, not before sex began.
Since that case, there have been several other cases of rape charges that have been dismissed in court, and the assailant was let off without consequences.
North Carolina is the only state in the United States where consent cannot be revoked during intercourse. Some people believe that North Carolina is wrong in their decision to not take more action against sexual assault and think things should change.
“I think it is messed up,” freshman Liz Cole said. “I mean you should be able to take back consent at any time during intercourse.”
Although Cole believes you can revoke sexual consent anytime during sex, she does believe that after they have had sex with someone is when people no longer can revoke consent.
“You said yes at the time, so if you have finished, and then five minutes later decide to say you didn’t want to have sex with that person, you can’t just call it rape,” Cole said.
North Carolina is the only state that women cannot withdraw consent, while for most states, there is a grey area between sexual assault and consent.
“I think there should not be any state where any type of grey area is ok,” freshman Sara Mercer said.” If someone decides they do not to have sex any more than they should be able to stop.”
In 2015, North Carolina Sen. Jeff Jackson wrote a bill that would change the law, but it sat in the State House of Representatives to no effect.
There are eight states with clear stances on consent and sexual assault. Among these states include: South Dakota, Connecticut, California, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Kansas and Minnesota. Collectively, those states believe that consent can be withdrawn at any time during sex.
For Mercer, the grey area is a simple fix. She believes that every state should allow consent to be revoked at any time during sex just like Kansas.
“You either consent to have sex or you do not, that should be respected,” Mercer said. “It is that simple.”
For some people, what makes something sexual assault is simple. The fact remains a number of states still have a grey area between what is and what is not sexual assault. For many states, it may be awhile before the deciding legislation is ever written and voted on.
