Consent & Casual Sex

The perils of hooking up are best seen in the Aziz Ansari sexual encounter, feels Salome Mitter

- Salome Mitter

In January this year, American actor, comedian and filmmaker Aziz Ansari acknowledged a sexual encounter with an anonymous accuser but insisted it was “completely consensual.” The accusations, published in the online magazine Babe, have been made by a 23-year old photographer from Brooklyn, New York. Referred to only as ‘Grace’, she said she had met Ansari at the Emmy Awards after-party, and then met him again for a dinner date in New York a week later.

Grace recounts that after dinner, they went to Ansari’s apartment where he allegedly made repeated aggressive advances towards her, despite her “verbal and nonverbal cues” indicating she did not want to have sex with him. She believes that her cues were not noticed at all, or were ignored by Ansari. “I believe that I was taken advantage of by Aziz. I was not listened to and ignored. It was by far the worst experience with a man I’ve ever had,” she maintained. While Ansari admitted to the encounter with Grace, he claims that they engaged in sexual activity, “which, by all indications, was completely consensual.” He shares that the next day, he received a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. He claims he felt surprised and concerned as everything had seemed okay to him.