The state of Calif. has recently instated a new law deemed the ‘Yes means yes’ law.

This law tightens the reigns in the way secondary learning institutions, such as Cerritos College, handle allegations of sexual and domestic assault involving students on and off campus.

The law, if effective, would require the blatant and direct affirmation of both sexual participants before and throughout the physical act.

This law, with all of its good intentions, will be a difficult one to enforce. This law may help prevent mis-communication between partners and prevent assault if followed and enforced.

Not only would this make it clear to people that yes, and only yes, mean yes, but this would help make the standards of filing a complaint or assault report much clearer.

The benefit I find in this being enforced on campuses through all of Calif., would be making it easier on victims to file reports.

Women and men alike would no longer be in a gray area concerning their situations. It is clear cut what qualifies as an assault on both parties.

Overall, the “Yes means Yes” law is a great idea, but enforcing the law to prevent assaults is easier said than done.

The real solution involves prevention instead of damage control. The only way to truly impact the behavior of students toward each other is to prevent a violent or unwanted sexual act, not handle it after it has been committed.

The problem with this is that many of the acts that fall under this law are very private and hard to predict.

To prevent these events would take a huge invasion of student privacy.

Despite making it a more simple process to punish the assaulter, there is no protecting the victim from the actual act.

Dozens of people will be left scarred emotionally and physically.

Sure there will be closure after the fact but the experience is one that some never get past. The fear and anger that victims are left with may never fade.