Miriam Gleckman-Krut

Reviews findings of the first nationally representative survey of university campus sexual misconduct policies. Finds that 90% of schools offered a definition of consent, but that most did not require verbal consent. Finds a majority of schools state that consent can be revoked at any time, that consent for one activity does not imply consent for another, and that current or previous dating or sexual relationships do not imply consent for another activity. Notes that while 91% of schools state incapacitation invalidates consent, definitions of incapacitation may differ or be absent altogether. Finds that schools have not gone to extremes when it comes to drawing a line between sexuality and violence. Cautions that readers should be wary of media focus on outlier or extreme cases. Notes a need for good facts to produce good policy.

Conceptualizes sexual violence as a mechanism of inequality that is made more effective by the silencing of its usage. Traces legal and cultural contestations over the definition of sexual violence in the United States. Considers the challenges of narrating sexual violence and review how the narrow focus on gender by some anti–sexual violence activism fails women of color and other marginalized groups. Concludes by interrogating the sociological silence on sexual violence.

Integrates social scientific scholarship on sexual violence – particularly that which employs an intersectional perspective– with the goal of more fully integrating sexual violence into the sociological study of inequality.