Sexual Respect at Lane

Lane Community College does not tolerate sex or gender discrimination, including sexual misconduct such as sexual harassment and sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence. These behaviors are harmful to the well-being of our community members, the learning/working environment, and collegial relationships among our students, faculty, and staff. All forms of prohibited conduct under this procedure are regarded as serious College offenses, and violations will result in discipline, including the possibility of separation from the College. State and federal laws also address conduct that may meet the College's definitions of prohibited conduct, and criminal prosecution may take place independently of any disciplinary action instituted by the College.

What is Sexual Misconduct?

Sexual misconduct offenses include but are not limited to:

• Sexual harassment;
• Non-consensual sexual contact (or attempts to commit same);
• Non-consensual sexual intercourse (or attempts to commit same);
• Domestic violence/dating violence/intimate partner violence;
• Sexual exploitation.

What is Consent?

In reviewing possible violations of sexual misconduct, the College considers consent as the voluntary, informed, uncoerced agreement through words and actions freely given, which a reasonable person would interpret as a willingness to participate in mutually agreed-upon sexual acts. Consensual sexual activity happens when each partner willingly and affirmatively chooses to participate.

Indications that consent is not present include: when physical force is used or there is a reasonable belief of the threat of physical force; when duress is present; when one person overcomes the physical limitations of another person; and when a person is incapable of making an intentional decision to participate in a sexual act, which could include instances in which the person is in a state of incapacitation.

Important points regarding consent include:

• Consent to one act does not constitute consent to another act.
• Consent on a prior occasion does not constitute consent on a subsequent occasion.
• The existence of a prior or current relationship does not, in itself, constitute consent.
• Consent can be withdrawn or modified at any time.
• Consent is not implicit in a person's manner of dress.
• Accepting a meal, a gift, or an invitation for a date does not imply or constitute consent.
• Silence, passivity, or lack of resistance does not necessarily constitute consent.
• Initiation by someone who a reasonable person knows or should have known to be deemed incapacitated is not consent.

In the context of this procedure, incapacitation is the state in which a person's perception or judgment is so impaired that they lack the cognitive capacity to make or act on conscious decisions. The use of drugs or alcohol can cause incapacitation. An individual who is incapacitated is unable to consent to a sexual activity. Engaging in sexual activity with an individual who is incapacitated (and therefore unable to consent), where a person knows or ought reasonably to have understood the individual is incapacitated, constitutes sexual misconduct.

NOTE: Oregon state law considers persons under the age of 18 to be "incapable of consenting to a sexual act" (ORS §163.315.) and states that if lack of consent is solely a result of the age of the victim, it is a defense to certain crimes that the actor was less than three years older than the victim at the time of the alleged offense (ORS § 163.345).

The Concept of Consent

Video:
1 is 2 Many Public Service Announcement
 

Video:
Consent, It's as simple as Tea

Video: James is Dead

Whether it's murder or sexual assault, it's not the victim's fault.