Stealthing: German woman jailed for ‘stealing’ partner’s sperm
A German woman has been sent to prison after she was convicted of poking holes in her partner’s condoms in a bid to “steal” his sperm.
Sex
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A German woman has been jailed for six months after she was convicted of poking holes in her partner’s condoms – without his knowledge – in a bid to “steal” his sperm.
The 39-year-old entered a “friends with benefits” arrangement with the 42-year-old man after meeting him online at the start of 2021, according to local media.
But, what began as a casual, sexual relationship changed when she began to develop deeper feelings for him – despite knowing he had no intention of entering a committed relationship.
It was then that, according to DW, she poked holes in the package of condoms he kept in his nightstand, hoping to get pregnant.
While her efforts were unsuccessful, she later told her partner that she believed she was pregnant and that she’d deliberately damaged his condoms, prompting him to press criminal charges against her.
The court in Bielefeld, western Germany was told that the woman’s behaviour constituted as an act of “stealthing” – which typically involves the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex, and is perpetrated by a male.
Prosecutors were at first unsure about which specific charges to level against the woman – first investigating whether the crime constituted rape, before Judge Astrid Salewski decided a charge of sexual assault was better suited.
After finding the woman guilty and handing her a six-month suspended sentence, Ms Salewski reportedly told the court that they had “written legal history here today”.
Explaining what stealthing entails and noting it’s often carried out by a man, she added that “this provision also applies in the reverse case”.
“The condoms were rendered unusable without the man’s knowledge or his consent,” Ms Salewski said of her decision.
“‘No’ means ‘no’ here as well.”
In Australia, the ACT made history in October when it became the first state or territory to criminalise the act.
While stealthing was already covered under existing law, the new law expressly identified the act as one of sexual assault. It also covers not using a condom at all after consent has been given.
At the time, the Territory’s Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee – who introduced the Bill last April – described stealthing as “traumatic” and “appalling”.
Ms Lee quoted a joint study by the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and Monash University that found, out of 2000 people, a “staggering” one in three women – and nearly one in five men who had had sex with another man – reported being victims of stealthing.
“Stealthing is a traumatic thing for any person to go through and I am very proud that the ACT has passed nation-leading reforms to specifically criminalise this heinous act,” Ms Lee said.
Originally published as Stealthing: German woman jailed for ‘stealing’ partner’s sperm