![Stealthing is the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex. Picture: Shutterstock Stealthing is the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex. Picture: Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XBxJDq6WLub2UphQ8wEq23/458aa33c-e75d-4a39-b44f-f7c48790016c.jpg/r0_294_5760_3545_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Stealthing, the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex, would be clearly outlawed by a bill to be introduced into ACT parliament on Thursday.
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Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee will introduce an amendment to the Crimes Act on Thursday to outlaw the practice, a crime which is thought to be frequently unreported.
Ms Lee said the current legislation would broadly capture the practice but it needed to be made clear stealthing was illegal.
"Whilst there is a broad general provision which talks about fraudulent misrepresentation, it doesn't mention stealthing specifically. And it is such a broad provision that there is concern that something like stealthing might not be captured," Ms Lee said.
The bill would make it clear that consent for sexual intercourse was negated by "an intentional misrepresentation by the other person about the use of a condom".
Ms Lee said consent was a complex issue and the law needed to clearly reflect community standards.
"If we can't draft laws that are clear, unambiguous and capable of being understood by the average person then why have them at all? ... There is no point bringing forward a law that is going to create even more uncertainty," she said.
![Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, who will introduce new laws to ACT's parliament on Thursday to outlaw stealthing. Picture: Elesa Kurtz Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, who will introduce new laws to ACT's parliament on Thursday to outlaw stealthing. Picture: Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/35sFyBanpD896MKnAH5FRtj/49d0425d-ae8c-4fd7-bec5-ed7543a99fb9.jpg/r0_90_4029_2355_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms Lee said the debate over the federal government's so-called "milkshake" consent video, in which a young woman was shown smearing a milkshake over a young man's face as part of a discussion about sexual consent and respectful relationships, showed there was still a reluctance to talk openly and freely about the issue.
"Obviously, passing the law, if it is passed, in itself isn't going to be sufficient. We need to make sure that we as a society need to work together to raise the public awareness about this heinous practice [of stealthing] and that it is not acceptable," she said.
Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said the ACT government was committed to protecting people from sexual abuse and holding perpetrators to account, but said he believed stealthing was already covered by the criminal code.
"Consent is at the heart of all healthy and lawful sexual relationships. Removing a condom without consent, otherwise known as stealthing, is a violation of trust between consenting people. Put simply, stealthing is rape," Mr Rattenbury said.
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Mr Rattenbury said there could be value in clarifying stealthing in the Crimes Act.
"The government will consider its response to Ms Lee's bill having regard to the commitment to consider introducing a positive definition of consent in the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement," he said.
The parliamentary agreement between Labor and the Greens includes a commitment to reform consent laws, including consideration of a positive definition of consent.
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