A woman who was 'stealthed' by her partner, resulting in her falling pregnant, has revealed that if she had known it was sexual assault then she would've pressed charges.
The Australian woman, who does not wish to be identified, spoke to Nine.com about the incident. The 31-year-old and her partner got together in 2000.
She fell pregnant with their first child and everything was good. However, her partner soon started pressuring her into having sex again.
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Understandably hesitant, the woman agreed as long as it was with a condom because 'under no circumstances' did she want to get pregnant again. She believed that they were having protected sex, and was shocked to find out that just six weeks after the birth of their first child she was pregnant again.
She explained: "Eventually I told him I would have sex with him sooner than I wanted to but he had to wear a condom. I made that very clear, under no circumstances did I want to get pregnant,
"I made sure I saw him put it on. I watched him, so thought, 'We are good'. I never thought to make sure mid-way through."
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She confronted her partner. Explaining, she said: "He had a smirk on his face then told me he had taken the condom off halfway through but that I didn't notice so, 'What was the big deal?'"
The woman does not believe in abortions, and her partner knew this. She continued: "I was angry and upset but he had already done it and the baby was there.
"At the time I thought this is like abuse but I couldn't put my finger on it and didn't have a name for it."
Since then, she has read about other women's experiences and has now realised that it is a form of sexual assault.
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Credit: PA Images
Alexandra Brodsky for the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law published a study where she revealed that the practice is 'not new' but is rarely spoken about.
In the paper, Brodsky writes: "Non-consensual condom removal during sexual intercourse exposes victims to physical risks of pregnancy and disease and, interviews make clear, is experienced by many as a grave violation of dignity and autonomy.
"Such condom removal, popularly known as 'stealthing', can be understood to transform consensual sex into non-consensual sex by one of two theories, one of which poses a risk of over-criminalisation by demanding complete transparency about reproductive capacity and sexually transmitted infections.
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"Adopting the alternative, preferable theory of non-consent, this Article considers possible criminal, tort, contract, and civil rights remedies currently available to victims. Ultimately, a new tort for 'stealthing' is necessary both to provide victims with a more viable cause of action and to reflect better the harms wrought by non-consensual condom removal."
Featured Image Credit: PA ImagesTopics: Pregnancy, Sex, Condom