A 28-year-old Rotterdammer has been convicted by the Dutch court because he secretly took off his condom during sex in the summer of 2021. The verdict is historic among the northern neighbors: never before in the Netherlands has anyone been punished for such an offence. A second suspect was not charged.
The lawsuit revolves around the bed partner of Lotus (29). The woman spoke extensively with the Dutch newspaper ‘Algemeen Dagblad’ about the consequences of the case. According to her, stealthing is about violating borders. “You make an appointment with someone and that person doesn’t care about it. As if my opinion doesn’t count, as if I don’t count.”
Two weeks ago, the Rotterdammer had the dubious scoop of being the very first Dutch person to stand trial for stealthing, or secretly removing a condom during sex.
According to the judiciary, this had happened in the summer of 2021. The Rotterdammer would have removed the condom when his bed partner was in a position where she could no longer see him. The suspect denied. The Public Prosecution Service (OM), on the other hand, spoke of rape and demanded twelve months in prison, four of which were conditional.
According to the judge, however, it cannot be considered rape, because the two agreed on the penetration. She does see evidence for coercion: the victim, who was able to provide the police with convincing text messages, was forced to allow her to be penetrated without contraceptives.
Because coercion is a less serious offense than rape, the sentence for the Rotterdammer is considerably lower than the sentence demanded. He will receive a suspended prison sentence of three months and must pay 1,000 euros in compensation. With the ruling, the judge wants to send the signal that stealthing is unacceptable.
Second suspect
After the Rotterdammer, a second suspect appeared in court. He said he had an “accident” in the summer of 2021: just before he came during anal sex, he noticed that he had removed his condom in the heat of the moment was forgotten. “I was shocked and I came on her buttocks,” he said.
The prosecution did not believe that he simply forgot the condom. “Precisely because condoms were used before and the condom was next to the suspect. I don’t think it’s an accident, rather an active omission. A serious violation of standards.”
She took into account the regrets of the Rotterdammer and demanded a slightly lower sentence than for the first suspect: twelve months in prison, six of which were conditional. However, he was acquitted on Tuesday.
Special lawsuit
In our country, sexual criminal law was modernized in mid-March last year. The definition of rape was also amended. The penetration no longer needs to be complete, but can also be partial. Consent can also be withdrawn during the deed. So that is relevant in stealthing.
In Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom stealthing is prohibited by law and the courts have already sentenced perpetrators. In the Netherlands it is not yet enshrined in law. That also made the criminal case against the two Rotterdammers so special: for the first time, people were prosecuted in the Netherlands for allegedly taking off a condom in secret.
The OM prosecuted the suspects for rape. The prosecution argued two weeks ago that the men in fact forced their victims into unprotected sex.
The two women wanted sex, but only with a condom. In the eyes of the Public Prosecution Service, the permission expired with the removal of the condom. Force, so.
Both the reasoning and the sentencing requirements provoked the necessary discussion. Dutch lawyers were critical and argued, among other things, that the Public Prosecution Service ignores the principle of legality: citizens must know in advance what is or is not punishable.
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