When Affirmative Consent Cannot Be Given

  • Sexual activity with a minor (a person under 18 years old) is not consensual, because a minor is considered incapable of giving consent due to age.
  • A person with a medical or mental disability may also lack the capacity to give consent.
  • Affirmative Consent cannot be given by a person who is incapacitated. A person is unable to consent when s/he is asleep, unconscious or is incapacitated due to the influence of drugs, alcohol or medication so that s/he could not understand the fact, nature or extent of the sexual activity.  A person is incapacitated if s/he lacks the physical and/or mental ability to make informed, rational decisions.  Whether an intoxicated person (as a result of using alcohol or other drugs) is incapacitated depends on the extent to which the alcohol or other drugs impact the person’s decision-making ability, awareness of consequences, and ability to make informed judgments. A person’s own intoxication or incapacitation from drugs or alcohol does not diminish that person’s responsibility to obtain Affirmative Consent before engaging in sexual activity.