Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Thursday two bills that broaden sexual assault laws to include taking off a condom without permission during sex as well as removing a state exemption to prosecutions for marital rape, the Associated Press reports.
The removal of a condom during sex–a practice known as “stealthing”–can now be used to sue a sexual partner civilly on a charge of sexual battery. Besides sexual partners, the law gives sex workers a legal pathway to sue clients who remove condoms.
Relating to spousal rape, the provision Newsom signed treat spousal rape as criminal rape, removing an exemption in the state’s definition of rape. California, and ten other states, treated spousal rape differently than other legal charges of sexual assault.