“While deliberating on a rape case in December 2004, a Montgomery County jury asked the judge the following question: If a woman agrees to have sex, but while having intercourse changes her mind and withdraws consent, is she being raped if the man doesn’t stop? Circuit Court Judge Louise G. Scrivener told jurors they would need to determine that themselves, relying on the instructions they had been given. The jury returned a guilty verdict. The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland this week overturned the conviction — kicking the case back to Circuit Court — and delved into the thorny legal issue of revocation of consent in rape cases. In a 51-page opinion, it faulted Scrivener for not telling jurors that under Maryland law the scenario described does not constitute rape. The appeals court decision could lead to a new trial, or possibly a dismissal of charges, for Maouloud Baby, who was 16 at the time of the incident and is now 19. He is serving a five-year sentence… Prosecutors said the conviction was the right outcome, and the attorney general’s office intends to appeal this week’s decision. If the state’s highest court agrees to hear the case, it could set precedent on a legal question that hasn’t been seriously broached by Maryland courts since 1980.” — Washington Post (US)

(Thanks to Furpo for the link.)

This is the point where the court enters into the quantum mechanics of sexual relations, a gray zone where seemingly self-evident concepts such as consent and violence break down into question marks. Each one becomes dependent on a particular perspective. Look at this from a man’s point of view: revoking consent in the middle of a sex act is like pushing him off a ledge and asking him not to fall. Look at this from a woman’s point of view: it doesn’t matter when she revokes consent, it only matters that she revokes consent. She feels like a homeowner who’s opened the door to somebody and then realized that the person wants to rob her. You wouldn’t say that she should let herself be robbed just because she opened the door, would you?

These are difficult questions and, because they concern an area of sexuality that is difficult to map exactly, they will only have difficult and therefore controversial answers. You can imagine a case such as this ricocheting from court to court, receiving a different determination in each. If a woman gives consent, it’s like signing a contract. She has to finish what she starts… No, if a woman revokes consent, you have to respect her wish. What if she finds out in the heat of passion that you have AIDS and you’re not wearing a condom? Isn’t that a justifiable reason for revoking consent?

The debate can spin in circles, on and on, and it makes you realize that the most brutal rapes have at least one virtue: sancta simplicitas.

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