Non-consensual condom removal, or "stealthing", [1] is the practice of a person removing a condom during sexual intercourse without consent, when their sex partner has only consented to condom-protected sex. [2] [3] Purposefully damaging a condom before or during intercourse may also be referred to as stealthing, [4] regardless of who damaged the condom.
Victims are exposed to potential sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV/AIDS, or unwanted pregnancies. [5] Such behaviour may be therefore regarded as sexual assault or rape, and sometimes as a form of reproductive coercion. [6] As of 2020, stealthing is punishable as a form of sexual violence in some countries, such as Germany and the United Kingdom. [5]
In an article published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law , Alexandra Brodsky described victims' experiences, legal implications, and legal avenues to address non-consensual condom removal. [3] [4] [7] The term stealthing has been in use in the gay community to describe the criminal transmission of HIV since at least 2014. [update] [8]
Brodsky described how the practice of stealthing is discussed, described, and advocated for on various websites and forums. [3] [4] [7] These forums are sometimes used to brag about committing stealthing and to share tips on how to do it. [4] [9] How-to guides have been posted to social media platforms like Experience Project. [10] The practice has also been described as "a threat to [a victim's] bodily agency and as a dignitary harm", and men who do this "justify their actions as a natural male instinct". [3] Columbia Law School professor Suzanne Goldberg says that the practice of stealthing is likely not new, but its promotion on the internet among men is new. [11] Belgian journalist Heleen Debruyne emphasised in 2017 that the media should not refer to stealthing as a 'new sex trend' as if it were a harmless fad, but make clear that it is a 'form of abuse'. [12]
Teitelman et al. (2011) found that condom negotiation is often silenced by male partners in adolescent relationships, partially due to the woman's fear of her partner's response, a feeling of obligation, and a lack of knowledge or skills in negotiating condom use. To prevent this, it is important that male partners are reached with the information as to why condoms are beneficial for them as well. Forums for this outreach could include community-wide interventions fostering discussion of healthy and unhealthy relationship practices and prevention programs for HIV/AIDS and STIs. Schools can provide a safe site for prevention interventions, but high-risk adolescents who are not in school must be reached through additional means, such as in community centers or detention centers. [13]
Statistics on the prevalence of stealthing are limited. [4] However, a 2014 study by Kelly Cue Davis and colleagues reported that 9.0% of participants in their sample of young men reported having engaged in condom sabotage, which included non-consensual condom removal. [14] The National Sexual Assault Hotline reports receiving calls about stealthing. [4] A recent study from a Melbourne-based sexual health clinic asked women and men who have sex with men (MSM) attending the clinic whether they had experienced non-consensual condom removal, and analysed situational factors associated with the event. 32% of women and 19% of MSM reported having been a victim of non-consensual condom removal. Female victims of non-consensual condom removal were more likely to be a current sex worker and MSM who had experienced non-consensual condom removal were more likely to report anxiety or depression. Both female and male participants who had experienced it were three times less likely to consider it to be sexual assault than participants who had not experienced it. [15] Two other studies were recently published with U.S. samples. One study found that almost 10% of young male non-problem drinkers reported having engaged in nonconsensual condom removal since the age of 14. Men who had engaged in this behavior reported higher rates of STI diagnoses and partners with unplanned pregnancies than men who had not engaged in nonconsensual condom removal. [16] In another study of young adult women, 12% reported that they had experienced nonconsensual condom removal by a male partner, while none of the participants reported engaging in nonconsensual condom removal themselves. [17]
Brianna Chesser and April Zahra (2019) stated in Current Issues in Criminal Justice : "While the majority of complainant accounts indicate that this crime is perpetrated by men, it is also possible for a female to 'stealth' her partner and remove the condom without her partner's consent. It follows that both men and women can both be victims and perpetrators of stealthing." [2] A 2013 article in The Week speculated: "Both men and women can be perpetrators of birth control sabotage. In fact, women have often been stereotyped as purposefully trying to get pregnant against their partner's desires as a way to 'trap' a man. But the issues of reproductive coercion and birth control sabotage have recently gained more attention because of a Canadian case [ R v Hutchinson [10] ], in which a man poked holes in a pack of condoms so his girlfriend would get pregnant and stay with him." [18]
In her review, Brodsky called for non-consensual condom removal to be legally considered as a kind of sexual assault, but also reviewed the difficulties in doing so: In all legal areas, breaking an agreement usually is not considered a crime, and that misrepresenting one's true intentions does not make a sexual act illegal. Thus, the most successful argument for making non-consensual condom removal punishable would be the inherent pregnancy and infection risk of unprotected intercourse. [3]
In May 2017, an Australian court case was underway regarding stealthing. [19] The president of the Law Society of New South Wales has described stealthing as sexual assault because it changes the terms of consent. [20] [6]
A 2014 Supreme Court of Canada ruling (R v. Hutchinson) upheld a sexual assault conviction of a man who poked holes in his condom. [10] Eight years later, the same court ruled that people who don't wear a condom despite being asked to by a sexual partner may also be convicted of sexual assault. [29]
In 2018, a man was found guilty of sexual assault in Germany's first conviction for stealthing. [30] In a 2022 German case, a woman was sentenced for sexual assault after she intentionally rendered the condoms defective (through perforation) in order to get pregnant by a man who did not seek a committed, serious relationship. [31]
In March 2023, a 28-year-old man in The Netherlands was convicted of coercion for secretly removing his condom despite his victim explicitly stating she would not have intercourse without one. The man could not be convicted for rape, because the law in The Netherlands does not cover penetration without a condom while there was consent for penetration in itself. The man was sentenced to three years of probation and to pay a €1000 fine. [32] [33]
In April 2021, a man in New Zealand was convicted of rape for performing stealthing during a consensual act with a sex worker (the event took place in 2018). The man was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. [34]
In 2017, a court in Lausanne convicted a man for rape [lower-alpha 1] for removing a condom during sex against the expectations of the woman he was having sex with, [35] [36] but in another case in 2019, the cantonal supreme court of Zürich disagreed. It held that such conduct was not illegal, albeit with regret. [37] In May 2022, the Federal Supreme Court decided that stealthing was not punishable as Schändung (sexual act with a person incapable of proper judgment or resistance, Article 191 of the penal code) because the victim was still capable of defending herself. The incapability to do so is a necessary requirement to punish an act under Article 191. Not knowing about the state of the condom only impinges the decision to initiate defensive action, but does not diminish the victim's ability to defend herself, as the court noted. As the previous instances did not try the two men for sexual harassment (Article 198), the Federal Court did not determine whether stealthing would constitute sexual harassment. [38]
In the UK, although no specific legislation has been enacted, there has been one conviction and thus case law has established that non consensual condom removal is rape. [39] [40] [41]
Outside of California, Maine, and Washington, laws in the United States do not specifically cover stealthing, and as of 2017, there were no known legal cases about it. [3] [7]
Removing or damaging a condom during sex increases the risks of unintended pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). [3] [4] [7] Victims may feel betrayal and many victims see it as a "grave violation of dignity and autonomy". Many may also experience emotional and psychological distress, especially those who have experienced sexual violence in the past. [4]
A history of sexual aggression and alcohol intoxication are factors associated with an increased risk of men employing non-consensual condom removal and engaging in sexually aggressive behavior with female partners. [49] [50]
The Law and Order SVU Episode Bang is about a wealthy man who secretly pokes holes in his condoms before sleeping with the various women he has sex with and impregnates 43 women as a result. [51]
The phrase "rape-adjacent" appears in Michaela Coel's 2020 television miniseries I May Destroy You, which includes a scene depicting non-consensual condom removal. In episode five, Arabella (played by Coel) publicly describes how Zain (played by Karan Gill) removed a condom during sex without her consent or knowledge and identifies him as rapist under U.K. law: "not rape-adjacent or a bit rapey, he's a rapist under U.K. law." [52] [53] She goes on to distinguish U.K. law from that of the United States and Australia, explaining "if you're in the States, he's rape-adjacent and if you're in Australia, he's a bit rapey." [54]
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence that includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, drug facilitated sexual assault, and the torture of the person in a sexual manner.
Prison sexuality consists of sexual relationships between prisoners or between a prisoner and a prison employee or other persons to whom prisoners have access. Since prisons are usually separated by sex, most sexual activity is with a same-sex partner. Exceptions to this include sex with spouses/partners during conjugal visits and sex with a prison employee of the opposite sex.
Some victims of rape or other sexual violence incidents are male. Historically, rape was thought to be, and defined as, a crime committed solely against females. This belief is still held in some parts of the world, but rape of males is now commonly criminalized and has been subject to more discussion than in the past.
Criminal transmission of HIV is the intentional or reckless infection of a person with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This is often conflated, in laws and in discussion, with criminal exposure to HIV, which does not require the transmission of the virus and often, as in the cases of spitting and biting, does not include a realistic means of transmission. Some countries or jurisdictions, including some areas of the U.S., have enacted laws expressly to criminalize HIV transmission or exposure, charging those accused with criminal transmission of HIV. Other countries charge the accused under existing laws with such crimes as murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, assault or fraud.
In criminal law, consent may be used as an excuse and prevent the defendant from incurring liability for what was done.
The legal age of consent for sexual activity varies by jurisdiction across Asia. The specific activity engaged in or the gender of participants can also be relevant factors. Below is a discussion of the various laws dealing with this subject. The highlighted age refers to an age at or above which an individual can engage in unfettered sexual relations with another who is also at or above that age. Other variables, such as homosexual relations or close in age exceptions, may exist, and are noted when relevant.
Rape is a type of sexual assault initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, under threat or manipulation, by impersonation, or with a person who is incapable of giving valid consent.
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.
In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent. Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sexual contact with minors under the age of consent, it is a generic term, and very few jurisdictions use the actual term statutory rape in the language of statutes. In statutory rape, overt force or threat is usually not present. Statutory rape laws presume coercion because a minor or mentally disabled adult is legally incapable of giving consent to the act.
Alcohol and sex deals with the effects of the consumption of alcohol on sexual behavior. The effects of alcohol are balanced between its suppressive effects on sexual physiology, which will decrease sexual activity, and its suppression of sexual inhibitions. A large portion of sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim, or both.
Sexual consent is consent to engage in sexual activity. In many jurisdictions, sexual activity without consent is considered rape or other sexual assault.
Rape in the United States is defined by the United States Department of Justice as "Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." While definitions and terminology of rape vary by jurisdiction in the United States, the FBI revised its definition to eliminate a requirement that the crime involve an element of force.
Rape by deception is a situation in which the perpetrator deceives the victim into participating in a sexual act to which they would otherwise not have consented, had they not been deceived. Deception can occur in many forms, such as illusory perceptions, false statements, and false actions.
Criminalization of consensual BDSM practices is usually not with explicit reference to BDSM, but results from the fact that such behavior as spanking or cuffing someone could be considered a breach of personal rights, which in principle constitutes a criminal offense. In Germany, Netherlands, Japan and Scandinavia, such behavior is legal in principle. In Austria the legal status is not clear, while in Switzerland and parts of Australia some BDSM practices can be considered criminal.
Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to the 2021 annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 31,677 rape cases were registered across the country, or an average of 86 cases daily, a rise from 2020 with 28,046 cases, while in 2019, 32,033 cases were registered. Of the total 31,677 rape cases, 28,147 of the rapes were committed by persons known to the victim. The share of victims who were minors or below 18 – the legal age of consent – stood at 10%.
Alcohol-related crime refers to criminal activities that involve alcohol use as well as violations of regulations covering the sale or use of alcohol; in other words, activities violating the alcohol laws. Underage drinking and drunk driving are the most prevalent alcohol‐specific offenses in the United States and a major problem in many, if not most, countries worldwide. Similarly, arrests for alcohol-related crimes constitute a high proportion of all arrests made by police in the U.S. and elsewhere.
In 2007, the U.S. Department of State reported 31,833 rapes in China, but no similar report by the Chinese government has been made available. Same-sex sexual assault between male adults was made illegal in late 2015. Domestic and foreign victims of sex trafficking in China are raped.
Forced fatherhood or imposed paternity, occurs when a man becomes a father against his will or without his consent. It can include deception by a partner about her ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, paternity fraud and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy.
In Islam, human sexuality is governed by Islamic law, also known as Sharia. Accordingly, sexual violation is regarded as a violation of moral and divine law. Islam divides claims of sexual violation into 'divine rights' and 'interpersonal rights' : the former requiring divine punishment and the latter belonging to the more flexible human realm.
Sexual consent plays an important role in laws regarding rape, sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence. In a court of law, whether or not the alleged victim had freely given consent, and whether or not they were deemed to be capable of giving consent, can determine whether the alleged perpetrator is guilty of rape, sexual assault or some other form of sexual misconduct.
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