Whats-Consent-Full-A41

3. Findings > 3.2. Scenario 1. Fred & Janeto have acted improperly in having sex with someone who was very drunk. Despite this, the social expectationfor a male drive to seek out sex positioned Jane in the role of gatekeeper, with the responsibility to refuseconsent, implicitly or explicitly. The ambiguity over what kind of blackout Jane might have experienced meantthat the participants were reluctant to apply the label of rape, especially as the rape stereotype was one inwhich force was applied by a stranger engaged in a premeditated act. Doubt was raised about whether shemight have indicated her consent implicitly, despite being quite drunk. It was felt that the rapist label wasunwarranted, particularly if Fred expresses remorse.3.2.9. Examples of Focus Group Extracts:Here caution is evident in labeling the event as rape:RESP 2: I think it’s one of the trickiest things, because I’m always…I would always want to err on the side ofencouraging people to report things like that because they’re so under reported, but yet, if you label someoneas a rapist it’s with them their whole life and you need to be really cautious about doing that. Like, I think,do you know, there’s a really fine line and I never know, kind of, what to say about it.RESP 1: I think if she was conscious I wouldn’t classify that as rape. (F1)Fred’s behaviour in leaving Jane on the couch while he went to bed is appraised negatively, followed by adiscussion of the ambiguity seen in the scenario:RESP 6: And most of us all said we’d…we’d either lie on the couch with her or bring her into bed.SEVERAL RESPONDENTS: Yeah.RESP 6: None of us actually said…RESP 2: Would you still have sex with her though?RESP 6: …none of us said we wouldn’t have sex with her. [Laughing]RESP 2: But you think you’d still have sex with her though. The thing is I think with all the definitions of blackouteveryone has kind of misconceptions about what’s happening in the story so…you know what I mean like?INT: Yeah.RESP 4: But that grey area is…is reality like. There’s no…just because it’s not defined like, that might be a…thatmight be a case…RESP 6: That could happen to any one of yous like.RESP 4: …like, that girl literally wouldn’t be able…might not be able to tell you if she had a blackout physicallyor mentally so I suppose…RESP 2: Like you’d know if it was a physical blackout if she was…if she was like closed eyes and everythinglimp like (M1)The critical issue was whether Jane was conscious or not:RESP 1: Like, if…if it was rape like, they…he would be required to produce the condom. Em…but, like, I don’tknow, for me, it really comes down to whether she’s conscious or not. If she was unconscious or passed outor anything and he knew that, or at least should have checked that or had some sort of like…RESP 4: Feedback…RESP 1: …physical…RESP 4: ...or something, yeah.RESP 1: …or verbal feedback from her that she was still willing throughout, like, that’s not rape, if she is…if she’sunconscious, it is because she’s…if you’re asleep or you’re not aware of what’s going on, you can’t consent.(F1)22 Young People, Alcohol, and Sex: What’s Consent Got to Do With It?