Stealthing is a disturbing new sex trend where men remove their condom without consent during sexual intercourse.
Imagine you’re having consensual sex with protection, only to find out that while you were changing positions, he had removed the condom without your consent, exposing you the plethora of sexually transmitted diseases and risk of pregnancy.
The practice is fundamentally a form of deceit, as its name “stealthing” implies. The new sex trend is a lesser-known form of assault. In a new study published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, researcher Alexandra Brodsky studies the survivors of stealthing, she explores the online community of men who practice the sex trend, compares the practice to being “rape-adjacent,” and considers possible action in the legal system.
According to the study, many survivors of stealthing often question if they were “actually” violated. Some men may brush it off considering the act as not a big deal. However, if it wasn’t consensual, then isn’t it assault?
In Switzerland, a man was convicted of rape for removing his condom during sex without consent from his partner. In January, the landmark ruling by the Federal Supreme court in Lausanne has set the precedent that having sex after removing a condom after it was being used because it was agreed upon, constitutes being sexual assault. Even if two people have been engaged in consensual sex, when one removes the condom without the other’s consent, an agreed-upon boundary has been crossed.
This article was first published on Capital Lifestyle.
