More and more denounced, this practice is still little sanctioned by law across the world. California became the first US state on Thursday (October 7) to punish the unintentional removal of a condom during sex, the office of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said.
The practice, called stealthing in the United States, is at risk of sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV, and unwanted pregnancy. “The victims of stealthing will be able to prosecute the perpetrators. By adopting this law, we are emphasizing the importance of consent ”, the California governor’s office tweeted announcing the signing of the law.
“Happy that California is leading the nation in stealthing. One State less; more than 49 “, To tweeted Cristina Garcia, member of the California State Assembly behind the bill, rejoicing that this makes this process “Not only immoral, but illegal”.
“This struggle started before I was born. It was long overdue, to put it mildly. “
“Relationship not consented”
Under the new law, a person commits sexual assault when they “Causes contact between a sexual organ from which a condom has been removed and the private parts of another who has not verbally consented to the removal of the condom”.
This issue, increasingly present in popular culture, was recently addressed in the hit series I May Destroy You. The main character, Arabella, has sex with a man who removes his condom without telling her.
the stealthing transforms “A consensual sexual relationship in a non-consensual relationship”, and is “Experienced by many as a serious violation of dignity and autonomy”, noted Alexandra Brodsky in an article published in 2017 in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, which had helped to make this practice known in the United States.
Mme Brodsky pointed out the existence of online forums offering advice on how to remove a condom without his partner realizing it. Some have since been closed.
In January 2017, a Frenchman who was accused of this practice was sentenced by a court in Lausanne, Switzerland, for “Rape”, to twelve months suspended prison sentence, a sentence confirmed on appeal, but reclassified from“Sexual act committed on a person incapable of discernment or resistance”.