‘Stealthing' at centre of recent Quebec sexual assault trial

CTV News

4 days ago

A Quebec woman is speaking out after her former sexual partner was acquitted this week of 'stealthing' – the act of removing a condom during sexual intercourse without the consent of a partner.
The 46-year-old man from Montreal was acquitted on Monday at the Longueuil courthouse of one count of sexual assault.
Stealthing is considered sexual assault and has been punishable by law in Canada since 2022, a fact that many may be unaware of.
The complainant in the case — we'll call her Sophia due to a court-ordered publication ban — filed a complaint in March 2019 alleging that on the night of Jan. 26-27, 2019, during sexual intercourse, the man removed the condom he had on without her consent.
During the trial, the defendant claimed that it was a 'misunderstanding' and that the condom had broken without him realizing it.
Reasonable doubt
In her verdict, Judge Ann-Mary Beauchemin noted that, 'as is often the case in sexual assault cases, the court was faced with conflicting testimony.'
The man was acquitted, but the judge emphasized that the defendant's version 'is not without flaws,' adding that she did not accept — " far from it' — all of his explanations.
Beauchemin also said that the complainant's version was not without flaws either.
Addressing the woman, Beauchemin said that it was 'possible, even probable' that the accused voluntarily and deliberately removed the condom during the sexual intercourse referred to in the complaint, but that she was 'not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt' and it was therefore her duty to acquit the man accused.
Complainant disappointed
The complainant said she was disappointed by the verdict.
In a message to Noovo Info, Sophia said: 'The defendant and I know very well that he removed the condom without my knowledge and without my consent. He knows what he did, and I know it too. This trial did not clear him or legitimize his sexual assault. On the contrary, it proved that he committed a criminal act by removing the condom, contrary to what he told me.'
'Although the judge did not believe him, she mentioned that he had raised reasonable doubt, so he was acquitted. Obviously, I would have liked him to be held accountable for his actions. But the truth does not depend on the verdict,' she added.
Crown prosecutor Annie Landriault-Barbeau told Noovo Info this was not the outcome Sophia wanted.
'We would like to commend her strength and courage throughout the legal process. We will take the time to review the decision to determine whether the [Crown] will appeal,' she said.
Is stealthing a widespread phenomenon?
It's difficult to determine whether stealthing is a widespread phenomenon or practice in Quebec, as there is very little data on the subject, either from organizations that work with victims of sexual assault or criminal acts, or from various police forces.
In most cases, stealthing is included in data related to sexual assault, but there's no distinction.
Sexologist Laurence Desjardins said she believes that stealthing is being talked about more following the wave of #MeToo allegations, and Quebec society seems to have reevaluated the word consent and how it is applied.
'With the denunciations, we realized that we were seeing this form of sexual assault in certain sexual encounters, where one partner, without the other's consent, decides to engage in a new sexual scenario, because that's what stealthing is, ultimately,' she explained to Noovo Info.
Desjardins also believes that stealthing is more common than it is reported.
What are the motivations?
It is not always easy to understand the motivations behind stealthing, which occurs in both LGBTQ2S+ and heterosexual relationships, said Desjardins.
She said she believes that the act often hides a desire for power.
'It comes down to a question of power and egocentrism, where the person says, 'My sexuality, my pleasure, is worth more than the other person's' or 'What I decide in the sexual scenario is worth more than the other person's; the other person has no say,'' she said.
The sexologist added that the reasons men say they remove a condom during sex without their partner's consent are varied — but not necessarily legitimate: it may be a question of comfort, a search for better sensations, an aversion to condoms, or even an act of defiance.
'Removing the condom also removes the barrier between you and the other person. So, taking it off and being able to penetrate skin to skin, mucous membrane to mucous membrane, is something very intimate. If you do it secretly, behind the other person's back, without giving them the option to say yes or no, you are in a power relationship,' explained Desjardins.
Multiple impacts
Stealthing — like any other type of sexual assault — can leave a mark on victims, including fear of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or, for women, fear of becoming pregnant and possibly having to terminate the pregnancy.
Experts point out that victims often lose confidence in themselves, in their partner, and sometimes even in future sexual partners.
'It's deceitful. [...] Sexuality is the most intimate and closest encounter in terms of physical proximity. When we are in that relationship, we are extremely vulnerable. […] When someone decides to change the rules of the game and imposes a certain form of violence […] people are often extremely panicked, taken by surprise, they freeze, it hurts them, it destabilizes them,' said Desjardins.
While Quebec has made progress in recent years in rethinking the idea of consent and what is acceptable or not when it comes to sexuality, there is still a long way to go, she added.
The non-consensual removal of a condom during sexual intercourse has been punishable by law in Canada since 2022, following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the Ross McKenzie Kirkpatrick case in British Columbia, where a majority of judges ruled that 'the absence of a condom, without consent, can constitute sexual assault.'
Canada isn't the only country to ban stealthing.
Since 2021, the U.S. state of California has allowed victims of stealthing to prosecute their attackers and obtain compensation.
Elsewhere in the world, courts in Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have convicted people for removing a condom during sexual intercourse without the other person's consent.