A long standing legal precedent in the US state of North Carolina makes it legal for a man to forcibly continue having s*x with a woman, even if she’s changed her mind – as long as she originally gave consent.

Usually laws protect the woman’s right to consent and dissent at any moment, making it rape once you continue a s*xual act if she tells you to stop.

So a woman can agree to have s*x, change her mind at the point of penetration, or even during penetration, and it would be rape once the man does not stop at the moment consent was withdrawn.

However, State v. Way, a 1979 State Supreme Court ruling in North Carolina, has set a precedent where consent cannot be revoked once it has been given. The ruling reads, in part, that: “if the actual penetration is accomplished with the woman’s consent, the accused is not guilty of rape”.

This has led to recent cases where the offenders have gotten off due to precedent set in ‘State v Way.’

Being a long standing case, efforts are now underway to pass new legislation which would be more in line with the 21st century understanding of consent in matters of rape.