Sexual Advance Directives

68 Alabama Law Review 1 (2016)

47 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2016 Last revised: 3 Dec 2016

See all articles by Alexander A. Boni-Saenz

Alexander A. Boni-Saenz

University of Minnesota Law School; Chicago-Kent College of Law

Date Written: July 22, 2016

Abstract

Can one consent to sex in advance? Scholars have neglected the temporal dimension of sexual consent, and this theoretical gap has significant practical implications. With the aging of the population, more and more people will be living for extended periods of time with cognitive impairments that deprive them of the legal capacity to consent to sex. However, they may still manifest sexual desire, so consenting prospectively to sex in this context serves several purposes. These include protecting long-term sexual partners from prosecution by the state, ensuring sexually fulfilled lives for their future disabled selves, or preserving important sexual identities or relationships. The law currently provides a device for prospective decision-making in the face of incapacity: the advance directive. The central claim of this article is that the law should recognize sexual advance directives. In other words, people facing both chronic conditions that threaten their legal capacity to make decisions and institutional care that threatens sexual self-determination should be able to consent prospectively to sex or empower an agent to make decisions about sex on their behalf. To justify this claim, the Article introduces a novel theory of sexual consent — the consensus of consents — that diffuses the longstanding philosophical debates over whether advance directives should be legally enforceable. With this normative foundation, the Article then draws on insights from criminal law, fiduciary law, and the law of wills to fashion a workable regime of sexual advance directives that adequately protects individuals from the risk of sexual abuse.

Keywords: advance directive, aging, capacity, consent, decision-making, disability, fiduciary, incapacity, long-term care, rape, sex, sexuality

Suggested Citation

Boni-Saenz, Alexander Antonio, Sexual Advance Directives (July 22, 2016). 68 Alabama Law Review 1 (2016), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2813431

Alexander Antonio Boni-Saenz (Contact Author)

University of Minnesota Law School ( email )

United States

Chicago-Kent College of Law ( email )

565 W. Adams St.
Chicago, IL 60661-3691
United States

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