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WARNING: This story refers to sexual assault
Police have investigated a least 33 cases of rape by stealth since 2018 - but there could be more victims of the dangerous and serious offending.
Rape by stealth - also known as stealthing - is when a person deliberately removes or fails to put on a condom after agreeing to wear one during sex.
Last month, the Herald revealed Timaru man Peter Stevens, 53, had been jailed for almost six years after being found guilty of raping a sex worker by stealthing in June 2022.
Police confirmed they have been investigating complaints of stealthing since at least 2018 and provided the latest figures under the Official Information Act.
“There is no specific offence of stealthing. When stealthing takes place, it is likely to get recorded as a rape offence, with ‘stealthing’ or ‘stealthed’ mentioned in the occurrence narrative,” said police director of performance and data Sheree de Malmanche.
“Police data has records for 33 such offences - however if the rape offence narrative does not mention stealthing, then those would not be included.
“Therefore, it is possible there are other instances of stealthing.”
Jessie Campos in the Wellington District Court. Photo / Jack Crossland
As of July 21 this year, records show police have received seven complaints of rape by stealthing where no further action was taken.
Investigation into three complaints are ongoing and seven people have been prosecuted and convicted.
Of those, two were jailed, two were sentenced to home detention; one ordered to pay reparation; one acquitted, and one had their case dismissed.
One person is still before the courts.
Detective Inspector Dave Kirby, who is the national manager of police adult sexual assault investigations, said stealthing was a sexual violation under the Crimes Act and was always treated seriously.
“If there is an agreement reached around the nature and quality of the sexual act, but then the nature and quality of the act is changed without agreement or consent of both parties then the sexual act is no longer consented to - that meets the ingredients of sexual violation,” he explained.
“For example, if it is agreed that the sexual connection can only occur or consent is given only if a condom is being worn then if one party removes the condom without the knowledge or consent of the other party and continues the sexual connection.”
He said while police could not be certain exactly how many stealthing complaints have been made, the figures provided under the OIA were likely very close to accurate.
“It is possible there are others - but I would say it is not many because the term stealthing would be put in the narrative by the staff, so should have been captured in the data.”
He said it was not unusual for acts like stealthing not to have an official category under the Crimes Act.
“Under the sexual violation definitions there are many ways that a sexual violation can occur and we don’t have a code for each different way.”
The three men jailed for stealthing in New Zealand to date both assaulted sex workers.
Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective spokeswoman Cherida Fraser said there had been a “moderate increase” in disclosures since the Campos case appeared in the media.
“I would speculate that for our community it is increased reporting - due to newer generations of sex workers knowing their rights as a sex worker under decriminalisation, trusting the system more to uphold their rights, and overall improved education about sexual consent in schools.
“Sex workers know about stealthing - the first two conditions of consent for sex workers are being paid, and using protection.
“However, I wonder if the non-sexworking general public are as black and white about condom use as sex workers. There certainly seems to be a lot of men in comments sections who don’t quite understand how/why the condition of using a condom is a condition of sexual consent.”
Cherida Fraser, community liaison for NZPC Aotearoa New Zealand sex workers collective, said sex workers are entitled to feel safe at work. Photo / Hazel Osborne
She said she was “absolutely disappointed in humanity” when people minimised stealthing, for example saying it’s not “real” rape.
“When a sexual interaction begins with a condom that is the condition that is consented to.
“Rape by stealthing is an absolute violation, it undermines the agency of the victim, feels completely disempowering and can cause immense emotional physical and mental harm.
“I think every news article that reports a rape by stealthing conviction makes a difference. That gets the message to both our community and the non-sexworking population that it is a serious matter.
“Ensuring there is education in schools about rape by stealthing and conditional consent is of course also very important.”
Fraser said there was support for stealthing victims in the community and she encouraged people to come forward.
“I think it’s important for people to know that if they are not sure if they want to report to police, they can still go and get a ‘just in case’ examination - which preserves physical evidence for a period of time so that the person can take their time to process and decide what to do.
“The justice process can be daunting for those who experience sexual violence regardless of their occupation, and then amplified by the stigma of sex work, and so for many, it is not an easy decision.”
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
