Background of the Issue
The issue of teenage pregnancy due to stealthing involve two interrelated problems – stealthing and pregnancy at a young age. Both phenomenon teenage pregnancy and stealthing have moral and ethical background as well as significant outcomes towards physical and psychological health of teenage girls. However, the issue of teenage pregnancy is well-known and paid a lot of attention in global society while phenomenon of stealthing is a quit new issue at least from the point of view of global publicity.
When talking about teenage pregnancy, many people of the older generation simply fall into shock. If in the 80s of the last century a woman gave birth at seventeen – it was a shame, and now, when a woman (and in reality a child) becomes pregnant at 13 or 14, then this is no surprise. The frequency of teenage pregnancy varies in different states, and the highest percentage is observed in the developing countries all over the world.
The causes that lead to teenage pregnancy are numerous and diverse. However, it is unacceptable and cruel to unequivocally blame teenage girls and their parents for libertinism and ignorance. Sometimes pregnancy in adolescent girls is due to violence, coercion and many other factors, which do not depend on behavior or appearance of the girl. Recently, the new phenomenon was identified as stealthing to explain one of the likely causes of teenage pregnancy.
Definition “stealthing” describes the situation when male partner removes the condom without consent of female partner. Usually, it happens unobtrusively for girls and she does not even suppose about risk of unwanted pregnancy. The world press increasingly comes across the term “stealthing". Human rights advocacy groups in many countries of the world demand introduction a law where stealthing would be equivalent to rape.
More and more girls and women around the world complain that their partners neglect safety during sexual intercourse. This increases the risk to not only get pregnant but get sexual infections including HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis C, and others.
Representatives of the UK Human Rights organization that focuses on the women’s rights and freedoms also contribute to the solution of the problem. They emphasize that consent is a necessary condition for any sexual interaction, and stealthing violates the agreement between partners. Hence, this is a dangerous form of sexual violence. Rights advocates note that practice of stealing may cause psychological trauma to the victim, and therefore it can be interpreted as abuse of trust.
Stealthing is widely discussed in the society since an employee of the National Center for Women's Rights Alexandra Brodsky has published a research in a journal "Columbia Journal of Gender and Law" devoted to stealthing as a growing problem especially in student and college community. According to Brodsky’s words, "interviews with people who have experienced condom removal indicate that non-consensual condom removal is a common practice among young, sexually active people" (Connolly, J., 2017).
Along with the study of the victims’ evidences, the author researched the online community of men who practiced the secret removal of a condom and discussed how to remove the "rubber band" quietly during sexual intercourse. The work caused a wide resonance in the world society. Many human rights organizations have demanded to consider the manifestation of gender-based violence and equate stealth with rape.
Expert Commentary
Many women complain that their partners are trying to get rid of this contraceptive without their consent. However, it turned out that many men also have cause for complaints. For example, for many men the use of condoms is associated with feeling discomfort during sexual act. The fact is that the length of standard condoms does not meet the requirements of mostly men.
In this regard, many worldwide known manufactures of condoms have authorized the production of new line of condoms, which must take into account the individual needs of consumers. However, some men explain the fact of stealing by discomfort during sex. Unfortunately, in reality the issue of stealthing is not associated with wrong size of condoms. In the world press, sometimes stealthing is called a new sexual trend, but it has nothing to do with fashion.
Brodsky decided to conduct a study in 2013, when she was studying at law school and realized that many of her friends suffered from ill-treatment from sexual partners. This phenomenon did not fit the usual definitions of gender-based violence, although it was definitely lack of respect. Brodsky believes that women usually do not know that this practice already has its own name. They feel that they have been subjected to violence, but they do not know how their experience is called.
Sandra Paul, who constantly works with cases of sexual violence, notes: “In non-legal language, it means that if you agree to having sex with a condom and remove it, without saying, then you no longer have consent” (Connolly, J., 2017). This includes cases where the person who carries out penetration has no reason to believe that he has consent. Paul believes that “discussion and the beginning of a conversation on this topic is what needs to be done to call attention to such practice now” (Connolly, J., 2017).
Katie Russell, a member of the charitable organization Rape Crisis, does not agree with the use of the term "stealth". "It's a very acceptable term for something that's extremely unacceptable and actually an act of sexual violence," she said (Connolly, J., 2017). According to Russel’s explanation, “if someone agrees to a particular sexual act, provided with the use of contraception, and the partner changes the terms of the agreement in the middle of the sexual act, then this is a sexual crime” (Connolly, J., 2017).
Composing new terms like "stealth" makes the situation more trivial. This is an acceptable term for completely unacceptable behavior, which in fact is an act of violence. What if this happened to you? It may be useful to talk with someone you trust, for example, a close friend, relative or specialist in an independent advising service, such as a crisis center.
They can just listen to you, give support and discuss possible options that will help you cope with this traumatic experience. “All of the survivors experienced the condom removal as a disempowering, demeaning violation of a sexual agreement,"- underlines Jim Connolly in the article “Stealthing – what you need to know” published in BBC in April 2017 (Connolly, J., 2017).
However, it is unlikely to prosecute through stealthing. None of the participants in the Brodsky’s research did not apply to law enforcement. However, there was an important judicial precedent in Switzerland, when a man, who withdrew a condom without consent, was convicted of rape! Brodsky believes that it is necessary to develop a separate law regarding the removal of a condom.
In addition, she considers it important to take seriously the actions of men who perform stealthing, since victims have real consequences – emotional, financial and physical. In this case “the law can provide compensation or just an opportunity to be heard and confirm their experience” (Maullin, S., 2017).
One of the reasons for this behavior of men is that sex without a condom can be better, but another important motive is a sense of power and domination over a woman. In Brodsky’s judgment, supporters of stealthing justify their actions with the help of the ideology of male superiority, in which violence is the natural right of men.
The Brodsky’s study warns that this practice exposes victims to physical risks of pregnancy and diseases, and psychologically can be experienced as a gross outrage against their dignity. Potentially, this can be seen as rape. “My feelings of violation was my perpetrator’s abuse of my boundaries and his perceived entitlement to my body” – writes Sophie Maullin in the article “Stealthing isn’t a ‘sex trend’. It’s sexual assault – and it happened to me,” published in The Guardian (Maullin, S., 2017).
On the other side, in fact, some girls are sexually active at a very young age through a tribute to fashion and freedom of morals. This sometimes leads to unwanted pregnancy, which means, to abortion. Teenagers are often simply not able to enjoy sex physically, so they perceive it as a kind of rape (Bleakley, A., 2010).
The physicians often and deservedly blame parents who simply avoid talking to children about the need for contraception and appropriate control. It is parents who must put in the child's head the right values and awareness of the seriousness of the consequences of an early pregnancy. According to the research “How Sources of Sexual Information Relate to Adolescents’ Beliefs about Sex” by Amy Bleakley (2010) psychologists also believe that it is necessary to talk with children about sex.
In the absence of information, children begin to receive it from other sources, which means that information received from friends, magazines or Internet sites is not always reliable. “Youth ages 8–18 use media for approximately 6 hours daily and … 83% of television programs popular among adolescents include sexual content”. (Bleakley, A., 2010).
Discussing with children problems of the sexual plan from an early age is one of the most effective ways to prevent early pregnancy. Pregnancy at early age is a strong psychological stress for a young organism, which can affect the further mental activity of the girl. In addition to psychological stress, it is also a stop of intellectual development, as pregnant women in 13 or 15; the girl has to interrupt studies and not always come back to education.
At this age, the girl is not completely formed as a person, so she is not ready for the role of the mother. Termination of pregnancy or delivery of a child – this dilemma is not only for teenage girls, but also for their parents and sexual partners.
Interview with Victims of Stealthing
How does this practice affect the victims? The researcher talked to a large number of women who were subjected to "stealth". One of them, a student named Irene, said that “the damage is mostly connected with trust. He believed that for him the risks were zero, and the risks to him did not interest him at all, and it hurts” (Connolly, J., 2017).
Irene also underlined that in such a way men encroach on a woman's body, letting her know that her body does not belong to her, that she should give herself to the man completely and do only what he wants. An archaic note is traced – long ago there were those times when a woman should obey a man.
Apparently, many do not understand this and want to return to cave traditions, or stealthing engaged in insecure men, only in order to humiliate a woman, to rise above it and increase the authority in the men's company.
Irene said that “in addition to fear of specific negative consequences, such as pregnancy and infection, all survivors of condom withdrawal felt a sense of powerlessness and humiliation, believed that the sexual agreement was grossly violated” (Connolly, J., 2017). In fact, you voluntary went to bed, agreed to sex, and the condom could easily "fall down" (that is how men can justify themselves and prove the opposite will be very difficult).
Since stealthing is a newfangled form of violence, there are not so many precedents for it, or rather, there are practically no such precedents. The modern justice does not have any articles in its normative legal documents concerning stealthing, therefore it is not possible to defend and sue.
Brodsky tells the story of a woman named Rebecca, who herself had undergone stealthing in the past, and now hears the same stories while working on the phone for victims of sexual violence. Women, who are consulted by Rebecca, often begin a conversation with the same phrase: "I'm not sure that this is rape, but …" (Connolly, J., 2017).
Women feel that they have been encroached on their sexual inviolability, but they are not completely sure of this, therefore they are not in a hurry to share their experiences. There is a huge difference on the consent to have sex with a condom and without it. Stealthing is as dangerous as unprotected sexual intercourse and as unpleasant as a deception.
Removal of a condom without the consent of the other party increases the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. If a man in the process of sexual intercourse lifted a condom without telling you about it, it would be better to consult a specialist for advice, hand over all the necessary tests to determine the consequences.
Moreover, most victims felt humiliated, deceived and offended, which significantly undermined their self-esteem and psycho-emotional state. Someone is paranoid and averse to sex, if the girl suddenly have doubts about honesty of her boyfriend, it is better to refuse him, and then interrupt an unplanned pregnancy.
All girls, who underwent this kind of violence, experienced the lack of protection after the completed sexual intercourse. In addition to moral trauma due to violation of agreements, girls were more worried about not even the possible unplanned pregnancy or getting various sexually transmitted diseases, but the fact that men violated their bodily autonomy. In fact, this is the same as the victims of rape feel.
Summary
The main factor causes to teenage pregnancy due to stealthing is sexual emancipation on the back of lack of sexual education. The average age of pregnant teenage girls is 16 years. According to statistics, around the world young people around 20 years of age in 90% of cases have sexual experience.
Sexual debauchery facilitates the spread of drugs, mass and use of alcohol at the young age, a wide erotic and pornographic advertising, as well as the desire to stand out from the crowd or seem to adults. However, this point concern both partners since both of them are responsible for what they do, with whom and what consequences could be a result of their activity.
Despite the huge selection of contraceptives and their availability in pharmacies and stores (condoms, birth control pills, etc.), adolescents neglect of the methods of protection from unwanted pregnancy. The lack of sex education, the fear of purchasing contraceptives in public or financial inconsistency, the misuse of contraceptives affect the issue. In addition, there are some circumstances such as rape or stealthing, when pregnancy emergence is not the girl’s fault.
Absence or incorrect sexual education is one of the main causes of teenage pregnancy. The boys should understand that stealthing is not a kind of adventure but sexual violence and serious responsibility for potential outcomes such as unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/ AIDS, depression, and lost trust between the partners.
In addition, it may lead to real legal punishment for sexual violence. The girls must be more careful especially in choosing of the partner and more attentive toward their health. Sexual education concerns first the issue of selection of relevant contraception.