Stealthing is a practice of a man secretly removing a condom during sexual intercourse without the consent of his sex partner who has consented to protected sex only. Is stealthing a crime? Can you go to jail for stealthing?
As of 2020, stealthing is punishable as a sexual offence, sexual assault, or sometimes as reproductive coercion in some countries including Germany, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Now, California is likely to become the first US state to criminalise stealthing if governor Gavin Newsom signs Assembly Bill 453.
Is Stealthing Illegal in the US?
Assembly Bill 453 introduces an amendment in Section 1708.5 of the California Civil Code that talks about sexual battery and lays out when a person commits sexual battery.
Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia has sponsored the bill to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. “It would also make it clear that this is not just amoral, but also illegal,” Garcia said.
The Bill includes anyone who “acts with the intent to cause a harmful or offensive contact with an intimate part” of someone else; or has an intention to cause harmful or offensive contact with someone else using his/her own intimate parts; or makes a sexually offensive contact.
It introduces that a person who makes a direct contact between “a sexual organ” and the “intimate part” of someone else, who did not verbally consent to the condom being removed, will also be charged with committing sexual battery.
Garcia has been pushing for anti-stealthing law since 2017. She wanted her Bill to make it a crime and proposed a bill four years back. But the act has been added to the state’s civil definition of sexual battery. Therefore, amending the civil code without making any change to the criminal code.
Garcia credited an article written by the attorney Alexandra Brodsky, who was a third-year student at Yale Law School at the time for arousing her interest in addressing nonconsensual condom removal. Brodsky’s paper ‘Rape-Adjacent’: Imagining Legal Responses to Nonconsensual Condom Removal which was published in Columbia Journal of Gender and Law described a few victims’ experiences, legal implications, and legal avenues in connection to the Stealthing. These stealthing stories were horrifying.
The term stealthing has been in use majorly in the gay community since 2014 as they describe the criminal transmission of HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.
People Uploading How-To Guides Shocking
The fact that there are some people who discuss, describe, and advocate for stealthing over various forums and websites. People share their experiences and how-to guides regarding stealthing are easily available one including The Experience Project.
Why Should Stealthing Be Criminalised?
Removing condoms secretly during sexual intercourse can not only be physically harmful but can have long-lasting mental impact too. The reasons why stealthing should be criminalised include
- HIV/AIDS
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)
- Unwanted pregnancy
- Grave violation of dignity and autonomy
- A threat to victim’s bodily agency
- Mental trauma for years
- Feeling of betrayal
Civil Lawsuit Over Removing Condom Without Consent
The Bill also stated that if a person is committing sexual battery on someone, then the accused is liable to that person for general damages, special damages, punitive damages, and any other damages deemed appropriate by the court.
So, the victim will now be able to sue the perpetrators for damages.
Stealthing Is More Riskier For Gay Partners
Stealthing is not only a risky practice for heterosexual partners but for the people who are in queer relationships. Especially, stealthing is riskier for gay couples as the risk of catching an STD from anal sex is higher than for other types of sexual activity.
Because the anal lining is thin and has less lubrication which can lead to skin rupture, making it more susceptible to infections.
Stealthing In India
Majority of the people will not be aware what does stealthed mean. Mrinal Satish who was a part of research team to amend the rape laws in India in 2013 stated that Indian laws do cover stealthing under rape.
“Consent is defined in Explanation 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code as meaning “an unequivocal voluntary agreement when the woman by words, gestures or any form of verbal or non-verbal communication, communicates willingness to participate in the specific sexual act. One of the core parts of the definition is consent to the specific sexual act. So, if a woman has consented to intercourse on the condition that the man wears a condom, and he removes it during intercourse, the penetrative act after the removal will amount to rape,” Satish said.
Conclusion
We have long been discussing the significance of CONSENT but we are missing a major part of that discussion. It should be known to everyone that stealthing is not a sex trend but it is a form of abuse. So, all the victims, raise your voice to let the perpetrators be held accountable for their crime.
In a country where sex remains a taboo topic, it will be hard to stand against stealthing but awareness can be a helping hand.
This article is written by Varsha. You can reach out to the author via email at bnbvarsha@gmail.com.
