A German woman has been charged with s*xual assault after confessing to deliberately poking holes in her partner’s condoms.
The thirty-nine-year-old woman was in a “friends with benefits” situation-ship with a forty-two-year-old when the incident occurred.
Their relationship started out as casual at the beginning of 2021, but the woman began to develop feelings for her partner somewhere down the line.
Sadly, the man involved didn’t feel the same and admitted that he wanted their arrangement to stay the way it was.
Because of this, the woman sabotaged their contraception, by poking holes in her partner’s condoms as a way of getting back at him.
Despite her efforts to get pregnant, she didn’t conceive, but after admitting to her partner over WhatsApp what she’d done, he decided to contact the police.
According to the local paper, Neue Westfälische, the man pressed charges against her, and she later admitted to her coercive behavior.
At first, the woman was facing r*pe charges, but that was later changed to a lesser charge of s*xual assault.
The woman in question was then jailed, and given a sentence of 6 months.
The judge, Astrid Salewski, said at the time: “We have written legal history here today.”
Many people have spoken out about the case online, and their opinions are certainly mixed.
One Facebook user wrote: “What a confusing world we live in. If a man r*pes a woman or she has serious complications leading up to childbirth, she cannot terminate the pregnancy; now on the flip side she wants to get pregnant so she pokes holes in the condom – and she’s jailed?”
While another commented: “Condoms aren’t just for prevention of pregnancy. They are also to prevent passing STDs. Life-altering STDs. As far as I’m concerned, this was assault. And she should be jailed. It’s about time the law catches up on both sides. Women can be abusers too.”
The case came to court just months after “stealthing” was made illegal in California.
This is the name given to the act of removing a partner’s condom without consent or lying about wearing a condom altogether.
The bill was written by Cristina Garcia last year, Garcia said at the time of its passing: “This law is the first of its kind in the nation, but I urge other states to follow in California’s direction and make it clear that stealthing is not just immoral but illegal.”
She claims that civil rights attorney, Alexandra Brodsky, inspired her to write the bill after reading her thoughts on the issue.
After finding out about the new law, Brodsky spoke to NPR, she said: “The experience of realizing that your partner, your s*xual partner, has no concern for your autonomy, your individual dignity…
“Your right to make decisions about who you have s*x with, when and how, that’s a terrible violation regardless of whether a physical injury occurs, regardless of whether a pregnancy occurs.”
She continued: “Civil litigation keeps decision-making in the hands of survivors, which can be particularly important in the wake of s*xual violence, which is itself a denial of the victim’s right to make decisions about their lives.”
What do you think of the new law?