A Dutch court has convicted a man of removing his condom during sex without his partner’s consent, marking a landmark change in how the act of ‘stealthing’ is dealt with.
“By his actions, the suspect forced the victim to tolerate unprotected sex with him,” the court said. “In doing so, he restricted her personal freedom and abused the trust she had placed in him.”
The unnamed 28-year-old man sent messages to the victim after the sex, including one insisting she was “okay” after learning of the incident, AFP reported.
“Stealthing” has become an increasing problem for courts as they deal with how best to handle cases that can expose a sex partner to STDs and unwanted pregnancy.
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The District Court of Rotterdam in the district of Dordrecht, where a 28-year-old man was convicted of his partner’s “secrecy” during sex.
However, the Dutch court in the district of Dordrecht acquitted the man of a charge of rape because the court ruled that the sex was consensual.
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The judge found an “agreement between the suspect and the complainant regarding the sexual penetration” appropriate.
The court sentenced the suspect, who lives in Rotterdam and lives in Syria, to a three-month suspended prison sentence and a €1,000 ($1,073) fine for damages.
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A Dutch court has convicted a man of removing his condom during sex without his partner’s consent.
The case is the first conviction in the Netherlands for such an offence. In another case involving a 26-year-old suspect, the defendant was acquitted after the court ruled it could not determine whether the man intended to force his partner to have unprotected sex.
“As soon as sex takes place and is not against someone else’s will, there is no compulsion,” said lawyer Mirjam Levy, who represents one of the accused. “If someone finds out afterwards that the conditions have not been met, that does not mean that there was coercion.”
Instances of “stealthing” have increased in recent years, which according to NL Times has led to the creation of a Dutch website, Stealthing.nl, run by a 2017 “stealthing” victim.
The story goes on
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New Massachusetts state auditor Diana DiZoglio sponsored a bill to ban “stealthing” while she was a senator. The practice of non-consensual condom removal is widespread, but most states’ laws are silent on it.
The website operator told the NL Times that “people have already been convicted of stealth rape” but that the Netherlands is less familiar with the act.
Prosecuting such cases can prove difficult, as authorities generally categorize them under rape charges.
In the US, California banned “stealthing” requiring verbal consent before removing a condom. But the state has yet to update its criminal code and is instead looking to amend the civil code to allow victims to sue the perpetrator for damages.
Massachusetts State Chartered Accountant Diana DiZoglio sponsored a bill to ban the act in her state in 2021 while she was a senator, telling the Boston Globe it is “an important issue that requires our legislators’ attention to deal with.” we can take a stand survivors.”
A police officer was convicted of sexual assault in a case in Germany in 2018 and sentenced to an eight-month suspended sentence and to pay 3,100 euros in damages for “stealthing”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.