Condoms can't prove consent

By Sarah Payton
Indiana Daily Student (Indiana U.)

(U-WIRE) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Wearing black pants, only a summer out of a high school full of prom queens and most-likely-to superlatives, some freshmen girls visit the frats, ready to find the perfect college guy that they are sure will be their boyfriend.

Drunk after two beers, some freshmen guys join the same party, happy they are finally surrounded by chicks with breasts who are actually willing to go further than second base on the first night.

While many freshmen probably don't have sex at any of these parties, and some don't even consider it, the fact is that many teenagers do choose to have sex on nights like these –with partners whose last names will forever remain unknown.

One of the newest gadgets on the market, the ultimate buzz kill for a couple's sex drive, is the Consent condom – a hot commodity in the British sex market that always pushes the envelope.

The idea behind this new condom is that the partner removes an inner sleeve from the outside packaging. This sleeve then records the fingerprints of the partners, indicating a mutual consent.

According to Newsweek magazine, the inventor feels that the partner's consent is proven by the removal of this sleeve and can substantiate any actions that might transpire once the sleeve is removed.

The partner can then tear numbers on the side of the sleeve to indicate the date of usage and after doing so can put it back in the package and give it to their partner to keep for proof, should anything go amiss when the morning comes.

Sounds wonderful to many partners who could fear potential rape charges, right? While this might be the latest fad overseas, it appears to be just another excuse for sex that shouldn't be happening in the first place.

While random situations mixed with alcohol or drugs could wind up with one more willing partner than another, in which case the condom might come in handy, it is doubtful that two wasted people could even tear out the right date or remember to make sure that both sets of prints cover the sleeve.

The Consent condom seems to provide a false sense of security for a sexual world that is not so secure. Rape doesn't stop for condom cases that can hold fingerprints just as it hasn't stopped at the word "no" for decades.

What will probably happen, with or without this Consent condom, is what would have happened with a regular condom or without any protection at all. Those who would have jumped into the game of sexuality, willingly or unwillingly, will do so and the need for fingerprint proof that slows down the intimacy of the moment seems silly and doubtful.

Although the idea for proof of consent seems like a good one, the true proof of consent should come from two willing people in love or with a mutual desire, who understand the repercussions of their sexuality and engage in it knowingly, understanding any and all consequences.

Any sex other than that shouldn't exist. And rapists, even with some flimsy condom that can hold prints, know that they will never have consent, as that is implied by the word "rape" just as it is with the word "no."