Risky sex and manly diversions: contours of consent in HIV-transmission and rough horseplay cases
Risky sex and manly diversions: contours of consent in HIV-transmission and rough horseplay cases
Criminal law deems certain conduct unlawful even if the parties involved consented to the risks inherent in such behaviour. Thus violent bodily harm intentionally inflicted remains unlawful notwithstanding it was consensual and its purpose is sexual gratification of one or both parties. This chapter examines the role of consent as it applies as a defence to a charge of recklessly inflicting bodily harm under s.20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. It compares risky activities such as ‘rough horseplay’ that have resulted in serious injury against the reckless transmission of HIV (likewise categorised as grievous bodily harm) by unsafe sexual intercourse, and seeks to address the starkly different judicial attitudes towards claims that such harms are made lawful by the victim’s consent. Why have the courts continued to treat the question of consent very lightly in cases involving dangerous “manly diversions”, whilst adopting a much stricter line in cases of ‘risky sex’ that lead to HIV transmission? It is clear that the courts have treated HIV as a uniquely serious type of harm, and have been influenced by the deeper questions about sexual autonomy and privacy raised by the manner in which HIV is transmitted. This chapter suggests an analysis of this fissure in consent jurisprudence through the ‘public interest’ dimension that has guided the courts on the criminalisation of risky activities. It focuses on the ways in which judges have used legal authority selectively to accentuate the different social and historical dynamics of horseplay and HIV cases respectively.
9781107025127
Cambridge University Press
Gurnham, David
f63e1a54-5924-4fd0-a3f5-521311cee101
November 2012
Gurnham, David
f63e1a54-5924-4fd0-a3f5-521311cee101
Gurnham, David
(2012)
Risky sex and manly diversions: contours of consent in HIV-transmission and rough horseplay cases.
In,
Alghrani, Amel, Bennett, Rebecca and Ost, Suzanne
(eds.)
The Criminal Law and Bioethical Conflict: Walking the Tightrope.
(Cambridge Bioethics and Law, 1)
Cambridge, GB.
Cambridge University Press.
Record type:
Book Section
Abstract
Criminal law deems certain conduct unlawful even if the parties involved consented to the risks inherent in such behaviour. Thus violent bodily harm intentionally inflicted remains unlawful notwithstanding it was consensual and its purpose is sexual gratification of one or both parties. This chapter examines the role of consent as it applies as a defence to a charge of recklessly inflicting bodily harm under s.20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. It compares risky activities such as ‘rough horseplay’ that have resulted in serious injury against the reckless transmission of HIV (likewise categorised as grievous bodily harm) by unsafe sexual intercourse, and seeks to address the starkly different judicial attitudes towards claims that such harms are made lawful by the victim’s consent. Why have the courts continued to treat the question of consent very lightly in cases involving dangerous “manly diversions”, whilst adopting a much stricter line in cases of ‘risky sex’ that lead to HIV transmission? It is clear that the courts have treated HIV as a uniquely serious type of harm, and have been influenced by the deeper questions about sexual autonomy and privacy raised by the manner in which HIV is transmitted. This chapter suggests an analysis of this fissure in consent jurisprudence through the ‘public interest’ dimension that has guided the courts on the criminalisation of risky activities. It focuses on the ways in which judges have used legal authority selectively to accentuate the different social and historical dynamics of horseplay and HIV cases respectively.
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Published date: November 2012
Organisations:
Southampton Law School
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 343149
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/343149
ISBN: 9781107025127
PURE UUID: 912eeab5-b181-4731-955a-adff8a7d76cd
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Date deposited: 27 Sep 2012 12:27
Last modified: 23 Jul 2022 02:04
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Contributors
Editor:
Amel Alghrani
Editor:
Rebecca Bennett
Editor:
Suzanne Ost
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