Did the Buddha teach consent?

The Watercooler
32

The issue and hidden context, assumed from the first post here is that the definition of sexual misconduct seems to left out protected by oneself.

Typically it says a man shouldn’t have sex with a woman protected by family, dhamma (nuns), in prison (no choice), etc… There seems to be lacking protected by oneself (consent). Which is what I take it to be extended by implication here.

This precept can be broken by oneself
only—no one can break it for another. It is
broken when the following four conditions
are all present:

  1. The forbidden person.
  2. Intention to have sexual intercourse
    with the person.
  3. Effort made in committing the sexual act.
  4. Consent to the sexual act. (Here means that the person initiating it wants it, consents to it, doesn’t state about the person receiving it.)

The forbidden person can only refer to
the opposite sex and not to the same sex. For
males this person may be:

  1. A female who is under protection,
    such one who is unmarried, engaged
    or protected by [law with threat of]
    penalty.
  2. A female who is married to or is
    cohabiting with another male,
    including a prostitute whose services
    are currently contracted to another
    client.

In the case of females, three categories of
males are forbidden:

  1. For a married or cohabiting female,
    any male other than her husband or
    cohabitant respectively.
  2. For an engaged female, any male
    other than the one she is engaged to.42 The Importance of Being Morally Virtuous
  3. For a female protected by [law with
    threat of] penalty, any male prohibited by the law.
    In our modern context, “a female protected by [law with threat of] penalty” would
    refer to any female decreed by law to be a forbidden sexual partner, e.g. a female convict, a
    close female relative, someone under the age
    of consent.
    From: The Importance of Being Morally Virtuous | Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (sasanarakkha.org)

Some way of strictly following the details leads to this gender imbalance: Issue of gender imbalance in 3rd precept on forbidden partners - Q & A - Discuss & Discover (suttacentral.net)

Come to think of it, since female prisoners are forbidden, then that’s one way of seeing that consent as opposed to forced sex is important.

2 Likes