North Carolina no longer an outlier on sex and consent

GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina’s governor has signed a sexual assault bill that says women can revoke consent during sex.

Gov. Roy Cooper said in a news release Thursday that he had signed the bill, which undoes a 1979 court decision that made North Carolina the only state where women can’t revoke consent.

The law also undoes a court ruling from 2008 that said sexual assault laws don’t apply to people who were incapacitated because of their own action as victims, such as by taking drugs or alcohol. It also increases penalties for child abusers.

The law goes into effect Dec. 1.

Both houses of the legislature approved the bill unanimously last week. Cooper says the bipartisan legislation “will help more people seek justice against abusers.”