Although Her Words Said No, Her Actions Spoke Otherwise”
Potential Jurors’ Understanding of the “Reasonable Belief” Element of Sexual Assault Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12437998 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tessa Gillies-Goldsmith (0000-0001-8644-4742, University of Otago), Melanie A Beres (0000-0003-4041-9730, University of Otago), Rachel Zajac (0000-0003-3040-4906, University of Otago, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1316-1339 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Violence Against Women (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1077-8012 • E-ISSN: 1552-8448 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/10778012251323863 |
| PMID | 40070299 |
| OpenAlex | W4408379189 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 51 |
Sexual assault laws in several jurisdictions require jurors to consider whether a defendant "reasonably believed" in consent. Using thematic analysis, we explored how potential jurors ( N = 50) make judgments about consent communication and the behaviors that, when informed by the reasonable belief standard, are perceived to communicate (non)consent. Two themes captured the perception that consent is something that is implied, while non-consent is explicit. This narrative supports legal scholars' concerns that the reasonable belief standard is applied in inappropriate ways-prioritizing a defendant's sense of implied consent over a complainant's attempt to refuse and failing to consider the defendant's honesty
Element (criminal law · Honesty · Informed consent · Medical emergency · Perception · Plaintiff · Poison control · Political science · Sexual assault · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Jury Decision Making Processes · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Medicine · Psychology · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Social Psychology
The ecological validity of jury simulations
Racial Bias in Mock Juror Decision-Making
Evaluating Amazon's Mechanical Turk as a Tool for Experimental Behavioral Research
Confirmation Bias
Secondary Victimization of Crime Victims by Criminal Proceedings
Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault for Women and Men
Sexual Ethics and Young Women’s Accounts of Heterosexual Casual Sex
“If a girl doesn't say ‘no’…”
Sexual miscommunication? Untangling assumptions about sexual communication between casual sex partners
Women’s behavior as implied consent
Too Ashamed to Report
Young Heterosexual Men’s Use of the Miscommunication Model in Explaining Acquaintance Rape
Indiscrete
What do we know about rape myths and juror decision making
Rape Myth Acceptance
She Left the Party
The Impact of Detectives’ Manner of Questioning on Rape Victims’ Disclosure
Sexual assault on college campuses
I Think it’s Rape and I Think He Would be Found Not Guilty’
It’s All or Nothing
Spontaneous’ Sexual Consent
Sexual Consent in Heterosexual Relationships
Sexual Consent
Talk about sexual miscommunication
Rape Myth Acceptance
An Exploration of Factors That Influence Enactment of Affirmative Consent Behaviors
By the semi‐mystical appearance of a condom”
Reacting to Rape
Lawyers’ Strategies for Cross-Examining Rape Complainants
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Why Her Behaviour Is Still on Trial
Sexual consent as an interactional achievement
Just Say No? The Use of Conversation Analysis in Developing a Feminist Perspective on Sexual Refusal
Getting Consent 'Right
The case for motivated reasoning
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |