A man in the Netherlands has become the first in the country to be convicted for stealthing.
The Daily Mail reported that the 28-year-old man became was found guilty of removing a condom during sex without his partner knowing.
Khaldoun F, whose full name has not been disclosed, has received a jail sentence for the act, but the Dordrecht District Court cleared him of the rape charge, determining that the sex was consensual.
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“By his actions, the suspect forced the victim to tolerate having unprotected sex with him. In doing so, he restricted her personal freedom and abused the trust she had placed in him,” the court said, as per NBC Los Angeles.
The court revealed the man had exposed the woman ‘to contracting sexually transmitted diseases and an unwanted pregnancy.'
The Daily Mail reported that following sex, the man sent a message to the woman and told her she would be ‘fine’.
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Khaldoun received a three-month suspended prison sentence - meaning he won’t have to serve jail time unless he commits another crime - and a 1,000 euro (£883 or AUD $1,606) fine.
In 2021, California lawmakers became the first in the US to outlaw stealthing, making it illegal to remove a condom during sex without verbal consent.
While it didn’t change the criminal code, the civil code was amended so that a victim could sue the perpetrator for damages.
Australia has also jumped on the bandwagon, as stealthing is now illegal in Tasmania, NSW, ACT and Victoria.
South Australia is also set to criminalise stealthing with a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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SA Best politician Connie Bonaros who introduced the Private Member’s Bill in October, called it a 'repugnant' and 'disgusting act of betrayal' in a statement.
She added: “You can’t begin to imagine the level of damage to both a person’s physical and psychological well-being.
“This includes the possibility of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and/or disease, unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, severe mental health/depression, and in some reported cases, post-traumatic stress disorder.
“And that doesn’t take into consideration the absolute sense of shock and betrayal of someone who’s agreed to have consensual sex with another person only to have that trust utterly betrayed.”
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According to a 2018 study by Monash University, one in three women and one in five men have been victims of stealthing worldwide.
A 2019 paper also found that 12 per cent of women ages 21 to 30 said they had a partner engage in stealthing while a 2017 Yale University study found that it was on the rise against women and gay men.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, News