Rethinking Consent: Advocating for Intent-Based Consent

The paper “Rethinking Consent: Advocating for Intent-Based Consent” investigates the notion of consent. It extends the current scholarly debate on consent by synthesizing contemporary philosophical insights with medieval Islamic legal formulations on will, coercion, and intent. The paper critiques the traditional reliance on verbal consent in sexual assault contexts. Accordingly, the paper illuminates the failure of verbal consent to truly capture the dynamics of consent and the complexity of human interactions. By utilizing the works of scholars Sarah Conly, Lois Pineau, Ann J. Cahill, and the conceptualizations of intent by medieval Islamic jurists, the paper introduces an intent-based model of consent. This model prioritizes the internal states and genuine intentions of individuals over mere verbal affirmations. The paper incorporates the psychological perspectives provided by Jeffrey Young, which aid the formulation of a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of consent.