‘Yes Means Yes’ Becoming Norm on NY Campuses

Administrative policy may be the new pillow talk on college campuses across New York.
‘Yes Means Yes’ Becoming Norm on NY Campuses
Buffalo State College senior Katherine Middleton near her home in New York on Friday, Dec. 12, 2014. Middleton says the “Yes Means Yes” standard that is now part of a sexual assault prevention policy adopted across the state’s public university system SUNY, “makes it almost seem more like a business deal than an act that happens.” AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
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BUFFALO, N.Y.—Administrative policy may be the new pillow talk on college campuses across New York.

A universal “affirmative consent” standard is now part of a sexual assault prevention policy adopted across the state’s public university system, spelling out for students that only “yes”—not silence or a lack of resistance— is the cue for sexual activity.

The so-called “Yes Means Yes” standard could spread to private campuses next year by way of legislation favored by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as states face pressure to improve their handling of campus sexual assaults.

Supporters say it takes away the ability of someone accused of assault to claim confusion about the accuser’s wishes, while reminding and empowering students to talk about consent before engaging in sex.

Laura Dunn, executive director of the sexual assault survivors' organization SurvJustice, in her neighborhood in Washington on Nov. 11, 2014. Dunn, a victim of sexual assault, believes an affirmative consent standard could have helped her 2004 case during campus judicial proceedings, which failed to find wrongdoing, even after appeals. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Laura Dunn, executive director of the sexual assault survivors' organization SurvJustice, in her neighborhood in Washington on Nov. 11, 2014. Dunn, a victim of sexual assault, believes an affirmative consent standard could have helped her 2004 case during campus judicial proceedings, which failed to find wrongdoing, even after appeals. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta