ABLEIST DISCRIMINATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: University policy suggests disabled people can’t consent to sex.

An Armstrong State University sexual misconduct policy seems to indicate that students with physical or mental impairments cannot consent to sexual activity.

In its policy (accessed July 15, 2015), the university explains consent, mostly following “yes means yes” policies that consent must be ongoing and that silence does not equal consent. However, the final point regarding consent seems aimed at minors and persons with disabilities.

“In addition, persons under the age of 16 and persons who have a physical and/or mental impairment are unable to give consent,” the policy reads.

At first glance, this appears to indicate that a student in a wheelchair would not be able to ever consent to sexual activity simply because of his or her physical handicap. . . .

The idea that a person with a physical disability is unable to consent to sex simply because of that disability makes little sense. In a feature for WebMD, Gina Shaw broaches the subject of sex while disabled, writing that “Sexuality doesn’t end when a person suffers a disability.” This would also apply to those born with disabilities, obviously.

The policy also brings up the difficult subject of sex with someone who is mentally impaired. There are some mental impairments that would obviously negate consent, but without a clear definition of what those are, the issue is subject to questioning. Is a person on anti-depressants — a mood-altering drug — too mentally impaired to consent?

That would be a substantial fraction of campus women.