California could become the first state to make it illegal to remove a condom without consent.
If passed, the new bill AB 453 would categorize stealthing as a form of sexual battery and allow survivors to sue for emotional and physical damages, Insider.com reported.
The bill would amend the state definition of sexual battery to include a person “who causes 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.”
Under Assembly Bill 453, the law would expand 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.”
“I have been working on the issue of “stealthing” since 2017. And I won’t stop until there is some accountability for those who perpetrate the act. It’s disgusting that there are online communities that defend and encourage stealthing and give advice on how to get away with removing the condom without the consent of their partner, but there is nothing in law that makes it clear that this is a crime,” Democratic Assemblymember Cristina Garcia told Daily Mail.
Though stealthing has existed for years, it has recently gotten more attention owing to increased visibility on popular shows like “I May Destroy You.”
A 2018 study by researchers at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre found one in three women and one in five men who have sex with men report being stealthed during sex.
