Victims & perpetrators tell their stories

Stealthing: “My no was simply ignored”

It is a criminal offense to secretly remove a condom during lovemaking.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com – Christian Oehm)

What makes you remove a condom during sex? The phenomenon of "stealthing", i.e. deliberately removing a condom during sex, is considered sexual assault and is a punishable offense in Austria. Two Krone readers tell us how traumatic this experience is and what goes on inside a perpetrator. 

Shameful and punishable in Austria according to the Ministry of Justice: If the condom is secretly removed without consent, this process is called "stealthing". Due to shame or the belief that no one will believe them, many of those affected do not even report such cases to the police. The proceedings are often dropped anyway. There is a lack of evidence. 

The phenomenon of "stealthing"
Selina* is 40 years old, recently divorced and only ventured back into dating a few months ago. She had never heard of "stealthing" before she told her friend about her experience and she pointed out that the man was committing a criminal offense.

When it happened to me, I didn't really register it at first. I just said: "Where did you put the condom?" and he replied: "Oh, I thought you noticed that I had removed it."

„Krone“-Leserin Selina

"In my circle of friends, I'm sure a good third have been affected by this phenomenon at some point. When it happened to me, I didn't really notice at first. I just said during the process: "Where did you put the condom?" and he replied: "Oh, I thought you noticed I'd taken it off."