Lisa Wilkinson questions efficacy of new stealthing sex crime laws

Stealthing, an “insidious” sex act, has been criminalised in another Australian state – but Lisa Wilkinson has questioned how effective the laws will actually be.

South Australia has become the latest jurisdiction to criminalise stealthing – an “insidious” sex act that involves the non-consensual removal of a condom during intercourse.

It’s a crime that one-in-three Australian women and one-in-five Australian men have been victims of, according to a 2018 study by Monash University, with perpetrators facing penalties of up to life imprisonment if found guilty.

But on Thursday night’s episode of The Project, Lisa Wilkinson had one big question for sexual consent activist Chanel Contos, who has been instrumental in the push towards national stealthing laws.

“As we know, sexual crimes are so hard to successfully prosecute against. Even with this legislation it seems like this would be even harder,” Wilkinson said.

“Do stealthing victims really stand a chance of being able to achieve a conviction?”

It was a valid point: of the 2.2 million women over the age of 18 who have experienced sexual violence in Australia, just 13 per cent reported their most recent incident to the police, according to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

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The Project's Lisa Wilkinson. Picture: The Project

Consent activist Chanel Contos. Picture: The Project

And for those who do report it, the chance their case makes it to court is low. An ABC analysis found that just 30 per cent of the 140,000 sexual assaults reported to Australian police in the 10 years to 2017 led to an arrest, summons, formal caution or legal actions.

Ms Contos, who founded Teach Us Consent, said that while only a handful of people globally had been prosecuted for stealthing, it being outlawed “sends a message to the whole of Australia that this behaviour is absolutely not on”.

“These laws are important for a few reasons. First of all, in this case, we can use legislation to really set community standards about what is acceptable as a society and what isn’t, especially in terms of consent and respect. And this form of education can be really preventive,” she explained.

‘If someone does experience stealthing, they are a victim of it [and] these laws are there to protect them.’

“And then, of course, if all else fails and someone does experience stealthing, they are a victim of it [and] these laws are there to protect them. It means they know the court system is there to validate them and what has happened to them is wrong, and support them through the process.”

Asked whether “this legislation is as much about the conversation we’re having now, the message it is sending to potential perpetrators, as it is about the actual laws and convictions”, Ms Contos said it is, “100 per cent”.

That's now 5 jurisdictions in Australia that have criminalised the act, and there are 3 left to do so.

QLD we are looking to you next ! Very happy that @ShannonFentiman is all across this issue and that we have federal support for unified laws from @MarkDreyfusKCMP !

— Chanel Contos (@Chanelcontos) November 2, 2022

She called on Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia to follow suit.

“What we need next is unified stealthing laws around the country. We now have five jurisdictions in Australia where stealthing is criminalised,” Ms Contos said.

“We have three more to go … And it is really important that this occurs as soon as possible because we are one country.”

SA Best MP Connie Banaros said the “repugnant and disgusting act of betrayal … should have been criminalised years ago”, with her private bill now set to pass state parliament’s lower house with government support.

“Such grotesque acts of indecency deserve to be treated in the same manner as rape and a crime punishable by terms of imprisonment,” Ms Banaros said.

The amendment to the criminal law consolidation act defines stealthing as having occurred if a “person agrees to engage in the activity because of a misrepresentation (whether express or implied) as to the use of a condom during the activity”.

No stealthing conviction is yet to be recorded in Australia.