A Dutch court on Tuesday gave a man a suspended sentence for non-consensual removal of a condom during sex, the first “stealthing” conviction in the Netherlands, although he believed it was not a case of rape.
The 28-year-old suspect had pleaded guilty to coercion in a Rotterdam court after secretly removing the contraceptive, despite his partner saying beforehand that she would not have sex without it.
“This action is also known as ‘stealthing,'” the court said in a statement. In doing so, he exposed her to STDs and unwanted pregnancy,” he added.
The Syrian native then sent text messages to the victim, including one in which he said: “Everything will be fine”.
The judges ruled that there was no rape because there was an “agreement between the suspect and the applicant regarding sexual penetration” and the coercion only involved failure to use a condom.
The man was given a three-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 1,000 euros.
In another case, judges from the same court on Tuesday acquitted a 25-year-old man after finding he never removed a condom, but neither did he place one in the “fire of the lawsuit.”
Dutch law says nothing against “stealthing”, and these were the first judgments in the Netherlands on the practice, public broadcaster NOS reported, adding that there had been similar judgments in other countries, notably Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand.
In 2021, California became the first US state to ban it.