Comment: And how will they prove explicit consent, or lack thereof? What counts as 'explicit consent' and will it hold up in a court of law?
The Swedish government, which proposed the bill in 2017, explains that the sexual consent legislation is based on the obvious fact that sex must be voluntary; if not, then it is illegal. "A rape conviction will no longer require the use of violence or threats by the perpetrator, or that a victim's particularly vulnerable situation was exploited."
The Scandinavian county, which already has extensive sexual assault laws, has also increased the minimum penalty for 'gross rape' and 'gross rape of a minor' from four to five years in prison. According to the latest official figures, around 7,000 sexual offences were reported in Sweden in 2017, which is a 10-percent increase from 2016.
Sweden is trying to further cement the need for consent, hoping that the legislation will see more sexual assault cases being prosecuted. The authorities have introduced two more offences - 'negligent rape' and 'negligent sexual abuse', which will be punishable by a maximum four years in jail. "A person should be aware of the risk that the other person is not participating voluntarily but still engages in a sexual act with that person," the law states.
The new legislation has faced criticism. The Swedish Bar Association says the new rules are "not going to lead to more convictions." "The new legislation has not lowered the burden of proof, since the prosecutor has to prove that a crime was committed and they have to prove intent," Anne Ramberg, the secretary general of the association, said in December 2017.
With the new law, Sweden becomes the 10th country in Europe (counting England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland separately) which defines sex without consent as rape. Amnesty International says that victims often freeze when confronted with a sexual assault, despite the common expectation that "a 'model' rape victim will fight her attacker back." It often leaves the victim unable to oppose the assault, "often to the point of immobility," it adds.
Comment: Laws like this lead to the result that people engaging in sex will need to get notarized consent, so it's legally admissible evidence in a court of law, at every step of the process.
Obviously, the actual result will be that women have unlimited power to accuse men of non-consensual sex, now classified as rape, without any evidence beyond their word and can involve the state in every sexually active person's life. Thus, Feminism achieves its goals of
empowermentthrough covert means by controlling the apparatus of the state through subjective legislation. For more information: