NEW YORK (WBEN/AP) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to close a loophole in New York law that prevents prosecutors from bringing rape charges in certain cases when victims become drunk voluntarily. The governor wants to change the state's definition of who cannot legally consent to sexual activity.
He proposed legislation last Tuesday in response to current law that does not cover someone who remains conscious, but is too drunk to consent, after becoming drunk voluntarily. District attorneys have said the current law allows defendants to claim sexual activity was consensual even when a victim was too impaired to know what was happening.
Students at UB are required to attend a seminar on consent. Sotelo-Peryea said that new students first receive education before they even step foot on the campus.
"For folks coming in in the fall they get their first education from us starting August 1," she said. "We're giving them information about what is affirmative consent. (We ask them) How does alcohol impact drinking? I think it's important to understand there is a relationship between alcohol and sexual violence, but it's not a causation. I think that when we look at that relationship and think about how do our students engage around this, we have the same conversation about everything else."
Beyond the initial education, the campus also has a program called "The Hookup", which is described as an interactive program that explores sexual culture. She said there is also monthly intervention training to prevent sexual violence on the college campus.