How far does ConsentAwareness.net reach? Today, 8/30, I’ll be interviewing with Don Briscoe in South Dakota. On air time will be 4 PM Central Time, 5 PM Eastern Time. Tune in on this link.
Hit the “Listen Now” button.
All posts by Joyce M. Short
#Epstein Victims Voice Their Pain
Per today’s NY Times article…It was unusually thoughtful for the judge to give Epstein’s victims the opportunity to voice their truth, however, doing so is nothing like the opportunity to face the horrible man who defiled them. But at least, they were able to publicly voice their pain.
Eve Wiley Battles Sexual Assault by Fraud!
The NY Times, finally covered Texan, Eve Wiley’s shocking story of reproductive deception in their 8/21 article: Their Mothers Chose Donor Sperm. The Doctors Used Their Own.
Eve’s mother sought the help of fertility doctor Kim McMorries and was impregnated by his sperm instead of the sperm of the donor she’d selected. The truth only surfaced long after she’d established a bond with the man she thought was her father,
We Need More!
The hideous loophole of deception in reproductive rights by a fertility doctor; however, chips only one ice cube off the gigantic iceberg called rape by fraud. There are countless ways that someone’s reproductive organs can be negatively impacted by fraud or deception. No one has the right to engage another person in a sexual act without their freely given, knowledgeable and informed agreement, #FGKIA!
The NY Times should be covering ConsentAwareness.net’s effort to protect all types of sexual assault by clearly defining CONSENT in the laws of every state. #MeToo made society notice the problem. But they are overlooking the solution. Defining CONSENT in our laws is the critical key to conquering sexual assaults of all kinds!
Please link to the article and make it clear that the NY TIMES should be focusing on #FGKIA Consent = Freely Given, Knowledgeable and Informed Agreement as stated by ConsentAwareness.Net.
Will Virgin Islands’ Rape by Fraud Bill Become Law?
What makes the difference between a rape by fraud bill that soars through legislation to become law, and one that fails? ……Creative, responsible, caring leadership like VI Senate Majority Leader Marvin Blyden and VI Senate President Novelle Francis Lewis.
On June 29th, the Virgin Islands’ Senate voted unanimously to pass its first rape by fraud bill. According to the Virgin Islands Daily News, this bill results from the overturn of the conviction of Irvin Ocasio Flores, who, back in 2013, slipped into bed with a woman who was sleeping and mistook him for her husband. Continue reading Will Virgin Islands’ Rape by Fraud Bill Become Law?
Plugging-Up How Many Loopholes Equals Consent?
As David Mack aptly described in his BuzzFeed article, Justin Schneider was not convicted of sexual assault in Alaska. Ejaculating on a victim’s face while they’re out cold was not a crime…. not even when he admitted that he’d choked her to knock her out.
Alaska’s statutes called for physical touch of body parts, not semen, to hold Schneider accountable. Too late for his victim, the Alaska Continue reading Plugging-Up How Many Loopholes Equals Consent?
“Your CONSENT” Featured Today in NFReads
Featured today in NFReads, Joyce Short’s article: “Why “consent” is critical for protecting you and your family.”
5 Fatherly ways to Protect kids from Sexual Assault – for #FathersDay and Forever!
More and more, we’re seeing men take responsibility for preventing sexual assault. The ItsOnUs campaign focuses on men stepping in when they see potential or actual danger. And no one, neither mother nor father, wants their child harmed by a sexual predator.
The average age for a sex trafficked girl is 13. And boys are also sex traffic targets. Parents need to combat the dangers long before their Continue reading 5 Fatherly ways to Protect kids from Sexual Assault – for #FathersDay and Forever!
Texas Passes First Sexual Assault by Fraud Law!
Little by little, the concept that deceiving someone about conduct involving their reproductive organs is a crime is seeping into society’s consciousness. This past Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Wiley took a giant step forward that brings this critical issue to light by signing Senate Bill #1259 into law. It becomes effective on September 1.
The new Texas law is based on the case of Eve Wiley whose birth resulted from the artificial insemination of her mother by Dr. Kim McMorries. Instead of impregnating her by the sperm of the donor Continue reading Texas Passes First Sexual Assault by Fraud Law!
“Without consent” laws do not define “consent”
In the US, states often attempt to define the word “consent” by what it’s not instead of what it is. And our system of justice ironically changes “consent” depending on what you’re consenting to.
Regardless what antiquated, inaccurate penal code tells you, whether consent is applied to cyber security, theft, medical treatment, research experiments, sexual assault, etc., consent is always the same….. #FGKIA, Freely Given, Knowledgeable and Informed Agreement.
It’s high time our legislators pull their heads out of the sand and get it right!
- Cyber security has accurately defined consent through General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Freely Given, Informed and Retractable Agreement. (Condensed version)
- Medical Research has accurately defined consent through Nuremberg Code: Freely Given, (not induced by force, duress or deception), Agreement. (Condensed version)
- But our lawmakers have failed to accurately define consent through Penal Code. Why not? Because many of them really don’t want to rock this boat! A huge swath of their constituents feel entitled to sexually assaulting you, and too many of those legislators value their jobs more than they value your safety!
Why is defining something by what it’s not a bizarre approach?
The list of what it’s not is infinity minus what it is. So making claims about what it’s not is a backwards way to look at a definition.
Don’t mean to be insulting, just trying to make a point…. Here are some of the things consent is not:
- It’s not a Jello pudding pop.
- It’s not a sand castle.
- It’s not a neutral color of paint for your living room.
On what planet is defining “what it’s not” the same as defining “what it is?” And even when you add the caveat that what it’s not is “not limited to the following,” you can bet that law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and juries, will apply the oldest legal doctrine, Nulla peona sine lege – “What is not expressly prohibited by law is permissible,” on a case by case basis.
At least Montana gets it right by doing it backwards
Montana’s statute #45-5-501(1)(a), applies all the Model Penal Code “Consent Provision” elements of “force, duress (coercion,) and deception, which is consistent with the definition of consent; #FGKIA, Freely Given, Knowledgeable and Informed Agreement. In Montana, you can’t secure consent by deception, coercion, or surprise. Problem is that Montana still blames victims with their “words and overt actions” statement. they could sum up all 26 lines of what consent is not with one simple line… “Consent is freely given, knowledgeable and informed agreement.”
If your legislators bury their heads in the sand to pretend they don’t see that consent is freely given knowledgeable and informed agreement, point them to my TEDx Talk, GDPR, Nuremberg Code, Model Penal Code and Montana’s Law.
But even Montana can benefit by adding the clarification that consent is “freely given, knowledgeable and informed agreement” to its statutes to make the meaning of consent crystal clear.
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You can help!
Donate to ConsentAwareness.Net
Watch this TEDxTalk
Read Your Consent – The Key to Conquering Sexual Assault
Call your legislator and demand change!
Carnal Abuse by Deceit – How a Predator’s Lies Became Rape
He was the man of her dreams…. a tall, dark, outrageously handsome, charismatic, intelligent nightmare!
Back in the early 1970’s, there was no literature or common knowledge about covert psychopaths. No one warned that sexual predators would and could underhandedly con you without giving off the slightest glimmer of suspicion.
The fact that they have no conscience or remorse and can rip your heart and your life to shreds without batting an eye was virtually unheard of.
Earlier than the internet, and prior to Catfish becoming the popular name for romance scammers, romantic deception was virtually unknown. And the possibility of “rape by fraud” was never discussed.
Before #MeToo and #TimesUp placed sexual assault at the forefront of media, this book opened the conversation about the actual meaning of consent. Its connection to the power brokers behind Elvis Presley is shocking.
If this unscrupulous crime happened to you, Carnal Abuse by Deceit will help you find the words to reclaim your power! It will help you rebuff all the nay-sayers that try to invalidate, trivialize, and shame you for being victimized by a defiling crime they simply don’t understand or acknowledge……. until it happens to them.
Carnal Abuse by Deceit is available in Paperback or Kindle and all E-Formats
Hay Festival- What a difference a year makes for #MeToo!
In contrast to last year’s Hay Festival… the annual literature and arts festival conducted each year in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, comedian Jo Brand gave rousing support to the #MeToo movement. As reported by The Guardian, she stated: “I feel it is something we need to keep pushing at. It was going in the right direction until certain people said, ‘Oh they’ve had their say, can they not be quiet now?’” She blamed most of Continue reading Hay Festival- What a difference a year makes for #MeToo!
Steve Humanick Is Back in Court- AGAIN!!!
April 18, 2019- Doylestown, PA- Steve Humanick of Stone Harbor, NJ, faced two accusers yesterday in open court. One victim is currently seeking a restraining order against him to protect herself and her family. The other previously received a settlement in a civil action against him, and testified under oath that Humanick had raped her. Continue reading Steve Humanick Is Back in Court- AGAIN!!!
#FGKIA Rape Law – Even more important today than ever!
Being a law maker does not give the legislators in Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Arkansas and Utah the right to bully women into their personal religious beliefs. And where are those religious beliefs when legislators refuse to protect against rape by denying that freely given, knowledgeable and informed agreement, #FGKIA, must be present in order to engage in sex? Anything less is sexual assault!
Every state and territory of the US enables sexual assault by failing to provide an #FGKIA blanket of protection from rape. Instead they Continue reading #FGKIA Rape Law – Even more important today than ever!
Monumental Rape by Fraud Bill Passes in Texas!
Kudos to Eve Wiley from Dallas TX, who inspired a precedent setting sexual assault by fraud bill, approved by legislators in Austin yesterday! Speaking about the offender, Representative Stephanie Klick, the bill’s sponsor in the House of Representatives, said, “This is a person who you really trust and they betrayed you.” She was referring to the case of Wiley’s mother who had been duped by Dr. Kim McMorries.
Continue reading Monumental Rape by Fraud Bill Passes in Texas!
Consent Crusaders Meet with Lawmakers!
Just like postal carriers delivering important mail, neither gusty wind nor heavy rain deterred our staunch “Consent Crusaders” from descending on the Pennsylvania statehouse this past Monday. I was joined by Nina Lucas, our PA Consent Awareness Outreach Ambassador, and Cheryl Carmel, Foreperson for the Bill Cosby jury. We addressed a bipartisan group of five representatives – several of whom were surprised to learn that consent is not defined in their penal code. In attendance were State Representative Wendi Thomas, State Representative Joe Emrick, State Senator Katie Muth and her Legislative Director Sonia Kikeri, Legislative Director David Kozak representing State Senator Wayne Langerholc, and State Representive Joe Ciresi. Each attendee received a copy of Your Consent – The Key to Conquering Sexual Assault and information specifically geared toward the issues in Pennsylvania.
Cheryl Carmel explained that the jurors asked Judge Steven O’Neill what the word “consent” meant in law and they were surprised that no specific definition had been codified into Pennsylvania’s statutes. They were told that as “reasonable people” they needed to use their best judgement, and they did. As the Foreperson, Carmel was tasked with pronouncing Cosby, “Guilty, Guilty, Guilty,” on all three counts.
Rep. Wendi Thomas had begun some of the heavy lifting to create a bill by reaching out to a lawyer to lend a hand. She recommended finding a way to insert a definition in existing law. We’re looking forward to seeing the results of her efforts.
What can you do to help?
- I know I sound like a broken record, but the more people who watch my TEDx Talk and read Your Consent– the better informed you and society will be! Please watch, read and spread the word!
- Call your legislators and demand change.
- If you’d like to be an Outreach Ambassador in your state or territory, reach out to me at Info@ConsentAwareness.Net.
Texas Rape Law Ignores a Vicious Form of Fraud – And so do most states!
Watch #SeedOfDoubt on ABC’s 20/20 tomorrow night, 10/9c, to see yet another way the laws of Texas denies justice to its residents!
Be sure to watch this compelling story, and contact your legislators to demand that “fraud” be an element of sexual assault in your state!
20/20’s episode shows how a young woman who came to life as the product of artificial insemination, believed her father was donor #106, and they enjoyed a close father/daughter bond….. except….he wasn’t really her father.
Consent is the critical key that should separate lawful contact with a victim’s reproductive organs from unlawful contact. Yet in Texas, sexual assault law does not protect against a fertility doctor swapping sperm to implant his patient…. a decidedly vicious sexual assault by fraud.
Consent is not simply agreement.
Consent is freely given, knowledgeable and informed agreement, #FGKIA.
Unless and until Texas Penal Code applies consent appropriately and states that all conduct involving a person’s reproductive system – that lacks consent – is a crime, criminal behavior such as this will continue to fall through legal loopholes.
Swapping sperm violates victims on several fronts:
- Fraud vitiates the consent form which was required in order to perform the medical procedure since the patient was not knowledgeable….. rendering the medical procedure an illegal act.
- Fraud violates the victim’s sexual autonomy, a sexual assault, because the patient was not knowledgeable and informed. She could only “assent” which means “agreement on the face of it.” She could not “consent” which means “freely given. knowledgeable and informed agreement.”
- In matters of reproduction, fraud creates the bond of pseudo-family. Revelation could be devastating to all parties.
The laws of Texas are upon you, or, at least, they should be
In Texas, “consent” is ignored where rape and sexual assault is concerned. In several efforts to report rapes to various precincts, police officers, and even a Sergeant, recently told victims, “Consent is not an element of rape in Texas.”
Violating consent is clear when someone steals property…. but the same consent provision that protects property is not applied in protecting a person’s sexual autonomy. Instead, the legislators of Texas have chosen specific acts of sexual assault to prosecute… a system consistent with using an umbrella made of Swiss cheese to protect against a storm.
Texas should take a cue from Missouri or from my TEDx Talk!
Unlike Texas where fraud only protects against theft and not sexual assault, Missouri’s Rape in the 2nd Degree statute clearly states: “Assent is not consent when induced by force, duress or deception,” While Missouri expresses when consent does not take place, my TEDx Talk, “When YES Means NO – The Truth about Consent,” clearly defines what consent actually is – Freely Given, Knowledgeable and Informed Agreement. #FGKIA!
Did the patient freely give the doctor knowledgeable and informed agreement? There’s no Swiss cheese when #FGKIA is applied. It’s an all-encompassing umbrella!
Continue reading Texas Rape Law Ignores a Vicious Form of Fraud – And so do most states!
Today’s NY Times- Is Sex by Deception a Form of Rape?
Today’s NY Times – Is Sex by Deception a Form of Rape?
Kudos to Abby Ellin for getting this right!! As an author about a very contentious subject, I’m often concerned about my words getting twisted, but Ms. Ellin was thorough about the important points and spot-on in the message she’s conveyed.
The #FGKIA definition for consent, “Freely Given, Knowledgeable and Informed Agreement,” is the REAL definition for consent. We need to drive #FGKIA into the consciousness of society! Adopting this language into law will not only open society’s eyes to defrauding victims of sex, but will help conquer all forms of sexual assault! We can no longer tolerate our legislators picking and choosing specific types of sexual assaults to prosecute, when ALL FORMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IS – WAS – AND FOREVER WILL BE A CRIME!
Failure to recognize this definition not only impacts sex by deception victims, but prevents society from understanding what actually constitutes rape.
For the NY Times to be dealing with the issue of sexual assault by deception is a huge step forward to enlighten society. Please read this article and write your opinion in the comment section. Use your voice to make the world a safer place!
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Watch this TEDx Talk
Read Your Consent – The Key to Conquering Sexual Assault
Participate in the #PutCONSENTtoMusic Song Contest
Call your legislator and demand change!
Your sexual assault story can make a difference!
Speak to me- Tell me your story!
Were you denied a police report when you summoned the courage to unburden your soul at a precinct? Did your aching heart get re-victimized when they told you the damage you suffered was not enough to warrant their attention?
Perhaps you were so concerned they wouldn’t help you that you didn’t even try. And maybe you were surrounded by people who Continue reading Your sexual assault story can make a difference!
New Cosby Book Underscores #FGKIA Definition of Consent!
Almost one year from the date of disgraced comedian Bill Cosby’s conviction as a sexual predator, April 26,2018, a new book will be released that supports, categorically, that my recommended definition for #CONSENT – Freely Given, Knowledgeable and Informed Agreement, #FGKIA, – is absolutely correct!
Huge thanks to Nina, from New Jersey, for passing this information along!
Nicki Weisensee Egan’s new release, “Chasing Cosby, The Downfall of America’s Dad,” tells the story of the jury’s deliberations in the Cosby case. As I stated last year in my TEDx Talk, When YES Means NO – The Truth about Consent,” the first question the jurors asked Judge Steven O’Neill was “What’s the meaning of consent.” Because there is no consent definition in Pennsylvania’s laws, all he could say was “Use your common sense.”
Page Six covered the story of the book’s release yesterday. Fortunately, the foreperson for the jury, Cheryl Carmel, had been working with a newly enacted European data protection law. She told her fellow jurors, “This is the most far-reaching law anywhere in the world for individual privacy, and the basis of the law centers around an individual’s ‘consent.’ ”
The Page Six article states:
The definition of consent in this privacy law states it must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous. It must be given by a clear affirmative act; it must be demonstrated that each of the above tests occurred, and it must be able to be withdrawn at any time.
“This is the privacy definition,” she said. “Surely, there is a specific legal definition of consent for criminal acts such as aggravated indecent assault.”
It turns out there isn’t, at least not in Pennsylvania.
The jury sent a note to the judge, requesting a definition of the word. The judge replied in open court. His reply was perplexing to the jury; they were informed that there isn’t a definition — that is, Pennsylvania law does not offer a definition of “consent,” and the judge advised the jurors to define the word for themselves.
Convicting sexual predators cannot rely on Cheryl Carmel being the foreperson for every sexual assault jury!
As I clearly stated in my TEDx Talk, every state and territory must have a clearly stated and accurate definition for consent that guides people’s behavior and holds sexual predators accountable. My TEDx Talk and my book, “Your Consent – The Key to Conquering Sexual Assault” focuses on the consent issues from state to state and clearly explains why Nonconsensual Sex Is Sexual Assault, and CONSENT is Freely Given, Knowledgeable and Informed Agreement, #FGKIA!
It’s not over ’til it’s over, and you can do your part to insure it never happens again!
One of the oldest doctrines in law is “Nulla poena sine lege.” (How old? It’s Latin! It dates all the way back to the Roman era.) It basically means, “What is not prohibited by law is permissible.” This doctrine keeps the gates open on whether the judge and jury were within the bounds of PA law in determining Bill Cosby’s fate, a premise Cosby’s attorneys will likely argue upon appeal.
This doctrine and its application are the route of why we must have an overall recognition that nonconsensual sex is sexual assault in our penal codes. Law makers could not even begin to state the infinite ways a person can be sexually assaulted, just as they cannot possibly predict the infinite ways a person can be murdered. We know when someone kills another person by any means, they are a murderer. Our laws must reflect that when someone sexually violates a person by any means, they are a sexual predator committing a sexual assault.
You can help make a difference!
You can stand up for defining consent as #FGKIA in the laws of every state, including PA, and establishing that Nonconsensual Sex IS, WAS and ALWAYS WILL BE, Sexual Assault!
Help get this across to society by doing the following today:
Watch my TEDx Talk –
Purchase “Your Consent – The Key to Conquering Sexual Assault”
Call your legislators and demand change!
Tulipan Argentina’s New Condom Packaging Adds to CONSENT Confusion
Tulipan, an Argentine condom manufacturer, created new packaging to promote the “No Means No” concept of consent. Their box requires four hands to open. But this packaging fails to recognize that someone can be forced, coerced or deceived into cooperating. And when that happens, CONSENT is not present no matter how many hands have stirred this pot!
Less than 15% of Argentine men are estimated to actually use condoms. Never-the-less, this version of consent confusion intensifies the mischaracterization of consent as agreement by any means. While “No” always means “No,” “Yes” only means “yes” when it is “freely given, knowledgeable and informed. #FGKIA!”
Just like a Marlboro cigarette box is required to display a warning, Tulipan’s boxes should bear this notice:
“Regardless of how many hands open this box, consent is not present if either party has been forced, coerced or deceived to to do so.”