“We wrote legal history today,” said judge Astrid Salewski at the verdict. In Germany, a 39-year-old woman was sentenced to 6 months in prison for sexually assaulting her 42-year-old partner. She had confessed to puncturing the condoms they were using.
She makes holes in condoms
According to German media reports on this case, the two protagonists began a relationship in early 2021. Their relationship was that of “friends with benefits”. The man, married, did not want to have a romantic relationship with his beloved, only sexual intercourse. But she finally wanted to get pregnant.
One day, she pierced the male condoms that were in a box that her partner kept on the bedside table, precisely in hopes of having a child. When her maneuvers didn’t result in pregnancy, she still texted her lover on WhatsApp to let him know she thought she was pregnant. In the same conversation she admitted to damaging the condoms.
Her partner then sued her for piercing the condoms and lying to her about her alleged pregnancy. The woman also later admitted to trying to manipulate him.
No legal qualification
The German court hearing the case found itself in an impasse: while the prosecutor and the court agreed that a crime had been committed, they found no charge against the accused in the law. After researching the case law, Judge Astrid Salewski decided to prosecute her for “stealthing” for sexual assault. This term denotes the fact that a man withdraws his condom without his partner’s knowledge. Depending on the country’s laws, this practice is considered either rape or sexual assault.
For the judge, the fact that the woman pierced the condoms is akin to stealth and she was sentenced to 6 months in prison. Astrid Salewski underlined: “This provision also applies in the opposite case. The condoms were rendered unusable without the man’s knowledge or consent. Here too, no means no.”
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