In Australia, stealthing—the non-consensual removal of a condom during vaginal, anal or oral sex—has emerged as a new, urgent issue. In reality, many jurisdictions charge this offense as sexual assault or rape. The bits of the country that criminalized that include the ACT, counterintuitively, but New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. It is a complex process and it continues to be a source of confusion for the public. This lack of awareness contributes to current debates about stealthing by academics on both sides. It fuels debate across the Interwebs, such as on Reddit.
In recent years, a growing recognition of stealthing as a significant issue has led to changes in legislation and heightened discussions among experts. A lot of people still don’t know what it means, what it means for them or if it’s even illegal. Its abuse is rampant across all sexual orientations, affecting both male and female victims. This problem is doubly maddening for sex workers, as they encounter an elevated level of threat.
Vijay Ramanathan, a senior lecturer at The University of Sydney and an accredited psychosexual therapist, emphasizes that the consequences of stealthing can be devastating for victims. “That can have quite devastating consequences for the victim,” he stated, underscoring the emotional and physical toll this violation can impose.
The legal status of stealthing has changed dramatically over the last five years. In 2021, the ACT became the first jurisdiction to officially make the act a crime. Their courageous decision sparked the introduction of similar legislation across the country. Queensland, South Australia, NSW, Tasmania and Victoria have all recently shown strong leadership. They’ve created a firm legal foundation to fight this type of sexual assault. In Western Australia and Northern Territory, reviews are already underway to implement similar measures.
Despite these advancements, experts like Brianna Chesser, an associate professor in criminology and justice at RMIT University, note that tracking the effectiveness of these laws poses challenges. It’s not just that it rarely occurs in isolation, charged in terms of the suite of sexual offence charges that perpetrators are charged with. Lastly, she explained that monitoring the success of this new criminalization is really near impossible for us.
The issues relating to stealthing further contribute to making it a uniquely gendered crime. Since stealthing means that consent was given for sex with a condom, this adds another layer of difficulty to the victim’s experience. Sex educator Chanel Contos makes clear the scope of this conundrum. She explains, “Stealthing is a uniquely nuanced crime because it necessitates having consent to sex with a condom beforehand. This can be extremely difficult for victims, in many respects. It can end up making — and sometimes even requiring — survivors to develop positive feelings about their assailant.
The myth that condoms decrease pleasure is just one of many misconceptions that lead people to avoid using them. Ramanathan notes that people of all ages might be conditioned to think that condomless sex feels better. “There are a number of reasons. One is somehow they have programmed it in their mind that having a condom is not going to give the same pleasure as doing sex without a condom,” he stated.
This misconception does not just undermine the integrity of these studies — it fosters a terrifying environment where people feel entitled to remove condoms without consent. Taking a condom off while intercourse is happening is a real violation of trust. It exponentially aggravates the plight of sexual assault victims. As our legal frameworks continue to change, it’s important to address these underlying myths for the purposes of prevention and education.
Conversations around stealthing have started to gain momentum on sites such as Reddit. So many of you are demanding greater awareness and education on this critical issue. Most users are shocked to learn about both the legal ramifications and the trauma suffered by victims. This conversation highlights an important imperative of extensive, comprehensive public education about consent and sexual health.
