Nebraska bill aims to ban non-consensual removal of condoms, called stealthing

Sen. Carol Blood, who introduced LB 692, says stealthing is a form of sexual assault.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A new bill would ban stealthing, or the non-consensual removal of a condom, in Nebraska.

Sen. Carol Blood, who introduced LB 692, says stealthing is a form of sexual assault.

“We’re very aware of this uncomfortable topic for many people, but we also know that Nebraskans want to protect their loved ones from things like this happening,” she said.

California became the first state to ban stealthing in October. In other countries, like the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Germany, stealthing is considered to be sexual assault.

Maeve Hemmer, a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, estimates that less than two of ten students at UNO even know what the term “stealthing” means.

It’s one of the reasons she chose to testify in favor of LB 692.

“It was important to me that I come and speak in support of this, so that senators can see that there are young people who stealthing disproportionately affects that are in support of this,” she said.

In her testimony, Hemmer cited a study of more than 500 women between 2013 and 2017, 12% of whom say they experienced stealthing.

A correlated study showed that of more than 600 men, 10% said they had removed a condom without the consent of their partner.

Jeanie Mezger, the lone person to testify against the bill, agrees that stealthing is wrong but doesn’t think this bill appropriately addresses the problem.

“If you think back to your own early sexual encounters, you know that people can be incredibly clumsy about sex and shouldn’t be penalized for that,” she said. “I would rather there be an effort to educate people about the dangers of stealthing and how to be aware of what’s going on during sex instead of setting up an adversarial approach.”

Sen. Julie Slama brought up concerns that there was no “intent” language in the bill and questioned how damages would be calculated.

“I do think you’re touching on an issue here of stealthing that is an important one,” Slama told Blood. “I’m just worried, you mentioned ‘bedroom police,’ that we’re already taking a step into that with the broad language of [LB] 692.”

Blood said she doesn’t want to be the ‘bedroom police’; she just wants to give stealthing victims legal options to defend themselves.

“It is not our goal to put more people in prison,” she said. “It is our goal to give people the ability to seek restitution when somebody has violated their trust.”