George Lawlor, a politics and sociology student at the University of Warwick and a senior reporter at The Tab, an online publication, has incited both rage and support from the internet community after speaking out against sexual consent training sessions, reported Metro UK.
Publishing a scathing criticism of the program in his article "Why I Don't Need Consent Lessons" in The Tab, Lawlor strongly spoke against the rationale of the program, stating that people like him do not need to be taught to not be a rapist.
"I don't have to be taught to not be a rapist. That much comes naturally to me, as I am sure it does to the overwhelming majority of people you and I know. Brand me a bigot, a misogynist, a rape apologist, I don't care. I stand by that," he wrote.
The drama started after Lawlor received an invitation to attend a series of "consent lessons" about sexual behavior. The invitation, he said, was the biggest insult he has received in a good few years, according to The Independent.
"It implies I have an insufficient understanding of what does and does not constitute consent and that's incredibly hurtful," he wrote.
"I feel like I don't need to go and people I know don't need to go," Lawlor told Metro U.K., "but people will say that's because I live a privileged white middle class lifestyle.
"They may be right, they may be wrong. But I feel as though their efforts are wasted. It may be beneficial for some people and stop instances of abuse, but it just seems like wasted efforts."
Lawlor's opinions have split netizens in two, with a large number of people condemning his viewpoints.
The irony is that this is exactly the sort of twit who needs to go on a consent course. https://t.co/LrHTVE3lny via @TheTabWarwick
— Jane Casey (@JaneCaseyAuthor) October 14, 2015
Speechless at how someone can undermine such important education that fills a crucial hole in our curriculum, awful: https://t.co/LUAkasB9dL — Ione Wells (@ionewells) October 14, 2015
Others, however, understood where is was coming from.
Can understand how George Lawlor may find it personally insulting to be taught about consent, but many need to learn https://t.co/qAweM5MO8q — Brogan Driscoll (@Brogan_Driscoll) October 14, 2015
Universities are found to be a killing field for sexual violence, with a number of non-consensual acts being enacted in relation to activities within and outside of campus premises, as HNGN previously reported.
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