By Authur Davis-
A progressive new law by California Democrats this week to introduce legislation to penalize anyone found guilty of “stealthing,” or the sexual act of removing or damaging a condom without a partner’s consent should be celebrated.
California’s civil code which includes sexual battery, or the “intent to cause a harmful or offensive contact” as a punishable violation doesn’t go far enough, but the new proposals are welcome news.
No longer can a woman secretly remove a condom from a man’s penis during sex, without knowing she is committing an offence. Many women have committed this offence without accountability, mainly to trap men, or under claims they want to enjoy the real thing without the obstruction of a condom.
Condoms are there to protect both sexual parties from the possibility of catching a disease, and from unwanted pregnancy. Unwanted pregnancies leads often leads to children without a father because the father, since men who feel trapped into pregnancies will often distant themselves from the child, who eventually can become a burden to society.
Rejected children develop emotional and mental health issues which can spiral into long term criminal tendencies that affect others.
The unfairness of women who force men into raw sex against their wishes cannot be understated. It truly should be made an offence.
The law proposed by Christina Garcia this week is to be expanded under Assembly Bill 453, to include those who intentionally cause “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.”
The change would allow the victim to pursue a civil lawsuit, but not necessarily lead to jail time.
Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, has pursued a change in the law for the past five years. Stealthing, Garcia has argued the point for years, that the offence burdens victims with enduring physical and emotional harm.
“I won’t stop until there is some accountability for those who perpetrate the act,” Garcia said in a prepared statement. “Sexual assaults, especially those on women of color, are perpetually swept under the rug.”
Sexual assault awareness activists and organizations have compared stealthing to assault, and one that could lead to unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection.
A 2017 Columbia Journal of Gender and Law report noted that stealthing is “experienced by many as a grave violation of dignity and autonomy.”
“At the end of the day, stealthing is disrespecting someone’s trust for the other person’s sexual gain,” the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s “love is respect” project includes. “It violates the trust you placed in the other person and the agreement you had with that person to respect each other’s bodies and feelings.”
Garcia’s first attempt to crack down on stealthing in 2017 was aborted after a handful of groups that included the American Civil Liberties Union and the California Right to Life Committee. A bill in 2018 also died.
However, after well known TV show “I May Destroy You” raised awareness on the issue, Garcia renewed her recommitment to writing a law that would make clear that “this is a crime.” In the series, the main character is a victim of stealthing.
Christina Garcia deserves much credit for her dignified drive to achieve a fair law in this area. There are no shortage of laws protecting women, but men also must be protected to achieve the balance of looking after the interests of both men and women, thereby protecting the human race.