In the land of Kamasutra where sexual liberation is beginning to seep into society, where women are finally taking control of their own bodies, making decisions independently for their own health and well being. We often forget to talk about consent in India, let alone forgetting to talk about consent, parts of our society still do not accept or believe in or understand the idea of a woman being able to give or even take away consent.
So What Is Consent And Who Can Give It?
Consent is essentially an act performed by one individual giving another individual or body of persons permission or assent to do something. This holds true in more than one context, sex, marriage, healthcare, work etc.
Such as in the case of Mahmood Farooqui v. State of NCT of Delhi the victim’s feeble verbal “NO” accompanied with no physical resistance was considered to be a yes by the court since they claimed that “a feeble no may mean a yes”. However, due to other circumstances, the accused was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 7 years and a fine of Rs. 50.000.
Within the context of the Indian legal system, the definition of consent is rather blurry. More often than not it is left to the consideration of the courts to make a decision on whether consent existed or not.
Technically speaking all individuals entering into an activity that is of romantic or sexual nature can provide consent.
Consent in a Utopian world is far more refined than what it is today in India and in the west too!
Types Of Sexual Consent
The most important thing to remember about consent is that consent is not just the absence of a no!!!
1. Verbal Consent
- Verbal consent essentially implies an individual using words to definitively affirm one’s will and consent to engage in any type of sexual activity ranging from cuddling all the way to actual intercourse.
- Verbal consent can be oral and written.
- It generally is “yes” or “yes I want this” or “yes you can do this”
- The issue with verbal consent is that sometimes an individual may say yes; just because they are being pressured. One may also give their consent to engage in sexual activity because someone they love/hold dear is being threatened physical or emotional harm if consent is not given.
- In the above-mentioned case, the truth is; that “consent” is not actually consent since it has been coerced by the use of force; emotional or physical
2. Implied Consent:
- Implied consent doesn’t involve any obvious or verbal affirmations to assent to sexual activity.
- However, it can be interpreted via body language and facial expressions of an individual.
- It’s mostly given in person, physically.
- However, implied consent can be tricky since the interpretation of body language can be subjective and therefore misunderstood.
- Thus, it’s ideal for implied consent to be accompanied with either verbal or enthusiastic consent.
3. Enthusiastic Consent:
- The name pretty much explains all, enthusiastic consent is exactly that! It’s when people enthusiastically, affirm consent for sexual interaction.
- It is the active, enthusiastic, verbal, physical and well-informed choice made by an individual towards any form of sexual contact.
- Enthusiastic Consent is actually one of the most comprehensive and most preferred forms of consent in the western world.
4. Informed Consent:
- While the term informed consent is more often found in the healthcare industry when individuals are well informed of the treatment they are about to give and thus give “informed consent” to the doctor/medical body to perform a certain treatment that may have certain consequences.
- In the realm of sexual consent, informed consent is when an individual gives their consent using any of the other 3 forms of consent while also understanding and being willing to deal with any consequences of the sexual acts that may arise due to the sexual contact.
Consent In India
While the younger generation seems to be slowly catching onto the idea of consent and learning how to exercise their consent. The middle-aged and older demographic in India still lacks a wholesome understanding of consent.
Some groups go to the extent of denying the existence of consent. This can clearly be seen in the case of marital rape not being outlawed in our country. The justification behind this is that married women are obligated to provide sex to their partners. It is one of their duties as a wife.
This is what our culture apparently believes.
We have such confusing and frustrating laws that the legal and judicial machinery needs to step their game up and make a change. We need better legislation and judicial conduct that would result in a more stringent procedure of law so as to aid in the dispensation of justice in cases of breach of consent.
Why People Do Not Understand Consent In India
Men in our country don’t understand that consent obtained through begging, pressuring and inducing is not consent, it still amounts to rape. The fact that men in India can’t take no for an answer baffles me.
The fact of the matter is that our great country is still unfortunately very regressive when it comes to the rights of a woman. Our legal system still doesn’t recognize women as independent, self-thinking humans who should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies.
While our society is growing rapidly, and towards a positive change for the most part. A woman’s rights to sexual freedom and bodily autonomy are still very regressive.
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