Dutch man convicted of sex ‘stealthing.’ What is that, and is it illegal in the US?

A man in his mid-twenties invited a woman to his home in Rotterdam, a Dutch city about 15 miles south of The Hague, in the summer of 2021, and the pair began having sex.

Initially he was wearing a condom — as the woman had required — but at one point, the man secretly slipped it off.

Now, almost two years later, a Dutch court has convicted him of “stealthing,” the practice of removing a condom during sex without consent, according to a March 14 press release.

The court acquitted the man of rape charges, but considered his actions to be a form of coercion and handed him a three-month prison sentence and made him pay a fine of about $1,058.

It is the first-ever such conviction in the Netherlands, according to NL Times.

The practice of stealthing, also referred to as non-consensual condom removal (NCRR), has been the subject of growing scrutiny and proposed legislation in recent years.

What are the harms?

“Nonconsensual removal of condoms really can be a distressing experience for someone to go through,” Maybell Romero, an associate law professor at Tulane University Law School, told McClatchy News. “There are distinct harms.”

The practice potentially exposes victims, unknowingly, to sexually transmitted infections as well as unwanted pregnancies.

On top of that, the breach of trust often leaves victims with a variety of negative emotions.

“People feel shame, they feel anxiety and revulsion that is very much related to feelings that people might feel after rape or sexual assault,” Romero said.

A significant number of people have reported experiencing stealthing, according to recent studies.

Twelve percent of women aged 21 to 30 stated that a sexual partner of theirs had removed condoms during sex against their wishes, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Womens Health Issues.

In an earlier study, 32% of women and 19% of gay men reported experiencing secret condom removals during sex, according to a 2018 Australian study published in the journal PLoS ONE.

Is stealthing illegal in the United States?

Currently, the practice is not criminalized at the state or federal level in the United States, according to Romero.

This is partly because, unlike typical cases of rape or assault, the sexual encounter starts off as consensual, putting it in a unique legal situation.

“It’s really interesting trying to find out what to do with this concept,” Romero told McClatchy News. “I think a lot of folks who experienced it didn’t know what to make of it because these encounters start with consent.”

California became the first state to pass a law against stealthing in 2021, according to Michael Malk, an attorney who has represented victims of sexual assault in the Golden State.

The practice has been added to “California’s definition of civil sexual battery, which allows a victim of stealthing to sue for civil damages,” Malk told McClatchy News. “California has not, however, explicitly made stealthing a crime which could result in prosecution.”

The bill passed following failed attempts at similar legislation in New York and Wisconsin, the Associated Press reported.

Lawmakers in Congress have also pushed to pass legislation on stealthing recently, but their attempts have been unsuccessful.

The Stealthing Act of 2022, introduced by former New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, would have classified the act as a form of sexual violence and would create a civil right for victims to sue for damages.

Additionally, the Consent is Key Act, also proposed in 2022, would have increased funding for federal domestic violence programs in states that pass their own stealthing laws, thereby incentivizing future legislation.

But without successful legislation from Congress, the decision to outlaw stealthing will continue to fall to state legislatures.

As to whether more of them will follow California’s lead, Romero said, “It’s hard to say.”

“Legislatures are always very antsy about having to get into the weeds of sexual assault,” Romero said. “If there is movement it’ll likely fall along that left versus right schism.”

Google Translate was used to translate information from the Court of Rotterdam.

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