  The economic approach to determine optimal legal policies involves maximizing
a social welfare function. We propose an alternative: a consent-approach that
seeks to promote consensual interactions and deter non-consensual interactions.
The consent-approach does not rest upon inter-personal utility comparisons or
value judgments about preferences. It does not require any additional
information relative to the welfare-approach. We highlight the contrast between
the welfare-approach and the consent-approach using a stylized model inspired
by seminal cases of harassment and the #MeToo movement. The social welfare
maximizing penalty for harassment in our model can be zero under the
welfare-approach but not under the consent-approach.
