A student at the University of Warwick in the UK, George Lawlor, took offense to the fact that he was invited to a workshop on sexual consent. In his words:
“It implies I have an insufficient understanding of what does and does not constitute consent and that’s incredibly hurtful. I can’t stress that enough.”
He went further and added:
"I don’t have to be taught to not be a rapist. That much comes naturally to me, as I am sure it does to the overwhelming majority of people you and I know. Brand me a bigot, a misogynist, a rape apologist, I don’t care. I stand by that.”
I guess I could take his word that he understands how consent works, but then again, how can anyone know that for certain? Being invited to this workshop does not imply that you're a rapist, not when sexual violence on college campuses is a serious problem, so it's pretty ridiculous to take offense to this invitation. Only recently have people been giving attention to the problem of sexual violence on campuses, and it happens often enough that it makes sense to invite students to participate in these workshops. Here are the statistics about sexual violence on college campuses in the United States from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center:
- One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college.
- More than 90 percent of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault.
- 63.3 percent of men at one university who self-reported acts qualifying as rape or attempted rape admitted to committing repeat rapes.
These statistics reflect the situation in the United States, but sexual violence on college campuses is also a serious problem in the UK. This something that every student, regardless of their sex or gender, needs to know about and understand. I think it's commendable for students at a university to offer such a workshop, but if they are going to do so I think it would be better if they tried to get the university itself involved in facilitating and endorsing these workshops, and making sure that every student is indiscriminately invited as a part of the university's campus life. I believe students would also be less likely to challenge such workshops if they were endorsed by the university administration, and taught by selected and trained instructors rather than by "self-appointed teachers" (as Lawlor puts it) from the student body.
I'm glad that at Haverford we cover sexual violence as well as other important issues that affect college campuses in this manner for every freshman hall, with workshops conducted by customs teams selected through an application process as a function of campus life. Every freshman is indiscriminately implored to engage in these workshops, and that creates a safer and more comfortable environment to discuss these issues. Specifically in the case of sexual violence, it helps to make sure that every student at Haverford understands how consent works. I think Warwick University should try a similar approach, and that way cases like this where students are insulted by being invited to these workshops by those who are simply other students can be avoided.
