California made history when Gov. Jerry Brown signed the "Yes Means Yes" bill on Sunday, making affirmative consent language a basic requirement of sexual assault policies in schools.

The landmark bill outlines specific steps for investigating sexual assault claims and offers guidelines for schools to follow in handling rape complaints.

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According to Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, the leading author of the SB967, sexual consent is "an affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity."

Until now, lack of resistance or silence has been interpreted as consent. The legislation is seen as a big departure from the previous "no means no" policy, which compelled investigations to rely heavily on the ambiguous lack of consent among rape victims.

Under the new legislation, people who are drugged, drunk or asleep are deemed incapable of giving their consent. Likewise, nonverbal language such as nodding of the head or moving closer to a person is considered consent under the new law.  

State lawmakers passed the SB967 last month amid petitions from women's advocacy groups and campus sexual assault victims for new guidelines in handling rape investigations to be passed.

Advocates have expressed strong support for the new law, saying that it will invalidate the previous notion that a valid assault complaint requires resistance from victims.

It will also provide for more consistent policies across California for preventing and handling sexual assault reports, Huffington Post reported.

The White House has earlier denounced sex crimes as "epidemic" in U.S. colleges and universities, citing that about a quarter of students fall victim to sexual assault during their years in college, Reuters reported.

The "Yes Means Yes" policy applies to all public and private tertiary-level campuses across California whose student financial aid is subsidized by the government. It outlines provisions for training faculty who review sexual assault complaints and mandates access to services and resources to assist victims cope with sexual assaults. 

Tags‘Yes Means Yes’ Bill, california, Yes Means Yes, No Means No, SB967, Rape, Sex Crimes