If you consume any sort of news broadcasting, I’m sure you have come across the term “consensual sex.” Whether it be referring to a sexual misconduct case or the legitimacy of pornography, it is a very commonly used phrase. Though there are many phrases and terms journalists use that I would like to never read again (i.e. alt-right, as a society, millennials, gen-x, etc.), this has been and always will be at the very top of my list.
“Consensual sex” implies that there is a such a thing as “non-consensual sex”.
Sex is consensual by definition, and repeatedly adding consensual before sex causes readers to infer that there is a possibility of sex being non-consensual, which is absolutely absurd. Anything non-consensual is sexual assault; using more polite phrases to not make readers uncomfortable is being complicit in crimes and directly reinforces rape culture.
If one party is unable to consent because they are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, any sexual act they are involved in is not sex–it is sexual assault. If one party does not explicitly consent, they are not having sex–they are being sexually assaulted. I understand that these scenarios are extremely hard to read, especially since one in six women and one in thirty-three men in the United States are victims of sexual violence (according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network.) However, as a journalist, I choose to not support the dangerous rape culture we have in America.
I call on other journalists to make the same choice. Understand the depth of your words. Understand that sexual assault perpetrators are enabled by the phrases and terms we use.
Let’s call sexual assault what it is.
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