- California Assembly Bill 453 would make stealthing a crime punishable by law if passed.
- Stealthing refers to the act of removing a condom without your partner’s knowledge or consent.
- While it is a known form of S.e.xual assault, no existing state or federal laws prohibit stealthing.
A new bill could make California the first state in the US to make stealthing – removing a condom without a person’s consent – illegal.
If passed, AB 453 would categorize stealthing as a form of S.e.xual battery and allow survivors to sue for emotional and physical damages.
The bill would amend the state definition of S.e.xual battery to include a person “who causes contact between a penis, from which a condom has been removed, and the intimate part of another who did not verbally consent to the condom being removed.”
Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) told the Los Angeles Times that, while stealthing has been an existing problem, it has gone unrecognized legally because of its covert nature.
“It’s been going on for awhile. There’s blogs online that are helping individuals, teaching them how to get away with this,” Garcia told the Los Angeles Times. “We need to be able to call it what it is in order to be able to deter behavior.”
Stealthing has been a problem for years, but is only just being discussed in the mainstream
Stealthing has gotten more attention in recent years because of its increased visibility on popular shows like “I May Destroy You.” Written by Michaela Coel, the show was lauded for addressing less recognized instances of S.e.xual assault like stealthing as what they are: assault.
However, stealthing has existed for years with little recognition as a growing problem.
A 2017 report published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law found stealthing is a trend in S.e.xual assault that is on the rise, as more people report it has happened to them. A 2018 study by researchers at the Melbourne S.e.xual Health Centre found one in three women and one in five men who have s*x with men report being stealthed during s*x.
“Survivors [of stealthing] describe non-consensual condom removal as a threat to their bodily agency and as a dignitary harm,” Columbia report author Alexandra Brodsky told the Independent in 2017. “‘You have no right to make your own S.e.xual decisions,’ they are told. ‘You are not worthy of my consideration.'”
Source:YAHOO
Share This Story
Nice one here
greenerhealth.com.ng