Do sexual assault victims have an obligation to resist/protest?

[FreeJoe]

95. I went to a workshop...

...on this topic back in college. It was an interesting discussion. We had quite a range of opinions. Some guys felt that as long as she didn't say "no", that was effectively consent. They argued that lots of girls wanted to engage in sex but were raised so prudishly that they couldn't admit it out loud. Stopping to ask was mood killer for everyone.

On the other extreme, I remember a young lady answer affirmatively to the question of whether it was rape if the woman reluctantly consented to a "suitor" after lots of verbal persuasion but then regretted it. In her view, consenting after being emotionally pressured, even if there was no real or implied physical threat, wasn't really consenting. Other women their castigated her for damaging the whole notion of consent.

My main takeaway was that the subject was more complex than I had imagined and that people had a much wider range of views that I expected. I was never a fan of sex without a strong emotional involvement first, so it didn't really affect my personal relationships. It did give me a sense for how difficult and confusing some situations could be. It also made it clear that a lot of guys were really, really slimey. To this day, I struggle with understanding why someone would want to have sex with someone that didn't want to have sex with them. The notion just seems gross.