Stealthing is the practice where either of the partners removes a condom during a sexual intercourse without the consent of his or her partner, who had consented to only protected sex. In this week’s segment of FYI, The Pioneer’s Tejal Sinha attempts to bring to you a detailed analysis of the act, its risks, and the laws surrounding the act.
Safe sex has been a forever debate. Sexual contact protects sexual partners from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancy. When we talk about unsafe sex, it does not just mean genital sex but also includes other forms of sexual contact, including anal, oral, or any skin-to-skin contact.
One thing that needs to be known here is that not all STIs can have apparent symptoms, and so one might not be aware that they have an STI. That’s also why practicing safe sex is important. And thus come condoms, also known as sheaths, into the picture. They act as a physical barrier to prevent the exchange of body fluids. Although there is no guarantee that they can provide complete protection against STIs, they do help to have safer sex when used correctly.
Films like Rakul Preet’s Chhatriwali and Nushratt Bharuccha’s Janhit Main Jaari have been a great source of education on a topic that is still taboo to discuss. While Chhatriwali focuses on male contraceptives and safe sex, Janhit Main Jaari speaks of a woman who takes on a difficult job selling condoms, explaining the importance of protection and dealing with the resistance from her family members and in-laws.
And now you might wonder why we are talking about safe sex. Today, for our weekly segment of FYI, we’ll be talking about the sexual trend of “stealthing”, which is doing the rounds.
Stealthing is the practice where either of the partners removes a condom during a sexual intercourse without the consent of his/her partner, who had consented to only protected sex. In fact, recently, in the first conviction for “stealthing” in the Netherlands, a court handed a 28-year-old man a suspended jail sentence for secretly removing a condom during sex. However, it cleared him of rape.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to coercion at a Rotterdam court after taking off the condom without warning, despite the woman saying in advance that she did not want to have sex without it, according to a report published by AFP.
“This action is also called ‘stealthing’. In this way, he exposed her to contracting sexually transmitted diseases and an unwanted pregnancy,” the court said in a statement.To our shock, according to a US study, 12 percent of women have experienced a partner stealthing during sexual activity.
Now that we understood what stealthing is, let’s focus on the risk factor caused by it.
Dr. Ravikiran Barigala, consultant in infectious diseases at Apollo Hospital, said, “From an STD’s point of view, stealthing increases the chance of infectious diseases. One might do it for pleasure; that’s one of the reasons that people might remove condoms. However, since STDs have apparent symptoms, one might not be aware that they have one and can end up infecting their partner and unknowingly transmitting it.
It is not only risky but also ethically and morally wrong. Legally, in the Indian context, it might not be considered wrong, although there could be repercussions for it and somebody might sue the person. The chance of infection is that at any point, even in the last few seconds of sexual intercourse, viruses or bacteria could be transmitted.One should consider this act as unprotected intercourse.”
What can the receiving partner do now, in terms of medicine? Dr. Ravikiran Barigala suggests that as soon as one gets to know about the act, one should consult the doctor as soon as possible to avoid infection. “It’s recommended that they consult a doctor within 2–3 days of the act so that the medications can work effectively.”
Now that it is a non-consent act, can the law help you out? We connect with Vedant Vashist, an advocate based in New Delhi, who explains to us what could be done in such cases.
“As of now, there is no specific section in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for stealthing. However, depending on the circumstances, it may be prosecuted under Section 468 of the Penal Code. In such cases, you have to first go and report it to the police, and they’ll lodge an FIR; after that, they’ll do the investigation, and they’ll put the case under the section that they feel is relevant to the incident.The charge sheet then goes to the magistrate, and they look into it and the sections, and later both parties are called for trials,” shared the advocate.
Apart from Section 468, another section that can be considered for such an act is:
IPC Section 375 of Rape: According to this section, it’s rape if it falls under the following categories:
• Against her will.
• Without her consent.
• With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or of being hurt.
• With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.
• With her consent, when, at the time of giving such a consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent.
• With or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age. Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary for the offense of rape.
What is IPC Section 270?
Whoever malignantly does any act that is, and which he knows or has a reason to believe is, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be punished.
