Conditional Consent and Sexual Crime: Time for Reform?
| Author | Ticiana Alencar |
| Published date | 01 December 2021 |
| Date | 01 December 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00220183211056135 |
| Subject Matter | Comment |
Conditional Consent and Sexual
Crime: Time for Reform?
Ticiana Alencar
City University London, UK
Abstract
Statistics published by the government in 2021 highlight serious problems in England and Wales
with a drop in prosecutions of sexual crimes. Part of this issue is attributed to the complexities
around sexual consent and public understanding of it. This article highlights a particular pro-
blem in the law around conditional consent. It shows that the law on conditional consent is
completely incoherent, complicating efforts to increase public education on the matter. The
law is also limited in its protection of sexual autonomy of victims, as well in its protection
of victims against pregnancy. Critics of reform warn against overcriminalisation of rape, and
against imposing morals on society. However, it is argued that given the current reality of
how rape is dealt with in England and Wales, these concerns should not prevent reform to
the law of conditional consent. The article ends by arguing that reform should be carried
out to make the law on conditional consent more coherent and to take account of pregnancy
as a consequence of sexual intercourse.
Keywords
Consent, deception, rape, sexual offences, sexual autonomy, non-disclosure, pregnancy.
Introduction
In 2021, Everyone’s Invited collected thousands of testimonies of sexual abuse, assault, and rape at
schools and universities.
1
The website adopts a wholly victim-centric approach–highlighting their
guilt, embarrassment, helplessness, and fear. That they should feel this way reflects societal issues
such as victim-shaming beyond the scope of this article. A number of victims, however, state that
they only realised that what had happened was wrong years after the incident.
This is not a problem exclusive to schools and university. The government’s rape review report found
that ‘Prosecutions and convictions for adult rape have also fallen, by 59% and 47% respectively since
2015/16’, although the prevalence of rape and sexual violence has not changed in that time.
2
The
Corresponding author:
Ticiana Alencar, City University London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK.
E-mail: ticiana.alencar@city.ac.uk
1. Everyone’s Invited (2021) <https://www.everyonesinvited.uk/> accessed18 April 2021.
2. HM Government, The end-to-end rape review report on findings and actions (June 2021), 4.
Comment
The Journal of Criminal Law
2021, Vol. 85(6) 455–465
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/00220183211056135
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