LANDMARK prosecutions have seen men convicted of “stealthing” for the first time.

The practice – defined as failing to use protection without a partner’s knowledge or consent – is now considered rape.

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Removing protection without consent is rape.Credit: Getty

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Students are being targeted in an awareness campaign about the crimeCredit: Getty

While the law came into force almost 15 years ago, two men have recently been found guilty of the crime – for the first time ever in Scotland.

Aspiring actor Luke Ford, 35, was found guilty of 19 charges involving violence and sexual assault, with one charge involved stealthing.

He was given a 21-year extended sentence with 16 years in custody. Meanwhile, Andrew Waghorn, 31, was jailed for more than six years when he became the second man in the country to be prosecuted for stealthing.

Students in Scotland are now being targeted in an awareness campaign as cops believe the crime is going under-reported, with many not realising it’s rape.

Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, today writes for the Scottish Sun on the issue.

STEALTHING is a serious issue which can have a significant impact. Sometimes women will call us on our helpline and say that they are not sure that what happened was a crime, but they are really upset about it.

Although the law is clear about consent having to be for every sexual act, because we’ve had no prosecutions until now, it’s been really unclear as to what the legal position is.

Women know that what happened was a violation, and without their consent, but they don’t know whether it is a crime, or whether it’s OK to call it rape.

Stealthing is so under-reported. And the reason it’s under-reported is because people, until now, just haven’t known whether or not they would be taken seriously if they went to report it to the police.

It’s also important to note this is a crime that can also occur between two men and they need to know they’re not invisible as well. I hope these cases do give confidence to people in these circumstances that it’s a serious violation, a serious crime, and that the legal process will take it seriously. If they do contact the police, they should listen to them because this is rape.

I think there is a definite possibility some men thought there would be no consequences to their actions. They knew what they were doing was wrong but didn’t care because there was no fear.

Whereas now, there should be no doubt that they could be looking at a significant prison sentence and a long time on the sex offenders register.

Rape is an act that can change somebody’s life. In these circumstances, there’s the risk of pregnancy, there’s the risk of sexually transmitted infections, but there’s also the psychological impact of not having your consent respected and not having your control over your body that you would normally have because somebody has gone so much against your wishes.

And that is a significant violation that can have a profound impact on women.

One of the most important things we can do, in addition to the law being really clear, is to work with young people to make sure that they are really clear about what the law says and what consent means.

Consent is something that can be withdrawn at any time. It’s not a contract. You can change your mind and you can consent to one act.

We want to make sure that boys and young men are really clear about what behaviour is acceptable and what is not, and that girls know what their rights are too. That is the key to prevention — addressing attitudes that condone it.

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Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, wants people to know they will be heard.Credit: PA

Men need to stand up and be part of the solution and contribute to the discussion around these issues.

That can even mean things like challenging friends making sexist jokes or pals they see targeting a woman who is drunk in a bar.

Working with young people around navigating and negotiating consent is so important. It’s the only way that we’re going to start to reduce the current levels of sexual violence.

More young men are getting their information about sex from pornography which can give them a really, really distorted view about what sex actually is and particularly about consent and about what women want.

It’s important to equip young men with a space where they can talk through sex in an informed way. Rape is the second most serious crime in Scotland after murder. And these cases have confirmed this is what stealthing is.

The consequences for people can be really devastating just dealing with that sense of physical, but also emotional violation. It’s really important that people know that there is support out there and that you will be listened to and be believed.

What we are talking about here is a culture change. We need to absolutely transform the way we approach consent and women’s sexuality in Scotland.

And the law can play a really important role here in setting out clearly what behaviour is unacceptable. That’s what these two cases have done. And that’s why I think they’re really important.