Internet Slams Man For Hiding Recording Device During Wife's Girl's Night

A woman went viral online after revealing she found a hidden recording device that her husband planted during her girl's night in.

The anonymous woman, known only as u/WeekThrowRA309, published the post in Reddit's popular "Am I The A**hole" forum where it received more than 19,000 upvotes and 3,000 comments in less than eight hours.

There are both federal and state laws that prohibit a spouse from spying or recording their partner. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, also known as the Wiretap Act, protects individuals from having their private conversations intercepted or recorded.

Some users mentioned the woman should see if the state she lives in requires two-party consent for conversations to be recorded.

Legality aside, other users mentioned in the comments that her husband's actions sounded like an abusive tactic known as DARVO where a partner denies the behavior, attacks the individual during confrontation and reverses the role of victim and offender.

In the post titled "AITA for calling my husband out in front of my friends on planting a recording device while we were having a GNI?" the woman, 26, wrote that last week she told her husband, 31, she was planning a girl's night at their house.

She wrote that her husband initially said no and asked her to get a hotel, but she said there was no need to spend money on a hotel.

"He asked if he could join us if he's going to allow it, but I said no, this isn't how GNIs work," the post read. "He eventually agreed to let me have it and even said he'd go out so my friends could be comfortable."

The woman said her friends came over and most of them were doing some "heavy venting." She explained that at one point in the night, things got emotionally charged and there was a lot of crying.

But after crying, she wrote that the girls brought out the food and drinks and went to turn on the TV. She wrote that is when she spotted a small device on the side of the TV.

"I took a look and found that it was actually a voice recording device, I was in disbelief," the post read. "I knew my husband put it in there to listen to our private talk which felt highly violating. I didn't hide it from the girls, I showed them the device, called my husband to get him to get home and confronted him right there in front of the girls."

The woman explained her friends were "shocked" and that her husband denied the allegations before telling her he was "curious to know" what they talked about when he left. He told her he wanted to make sure the women weren't talking about him specifically.

She said the girl's night was cut short and the girls left after the discussion.

"I kept lashing out at him for ruining the night and possibly my relationship and trust with my friends, I said that not only did he violate my privacy but my friends' as well because they were talking about very personal stuff," the post read.

The woman wrote that her husband said it was "no big deal" and that she should have just let him join in the first place if they "had nothing to hide."

Her husband also said the situation was the girls' fault because they were the ones opening up about private matters.

"He went on to talk about how I humiliated him to call him out infront [sic] of my friends," the post read. "I told him they deserved to know who he really is after what he's done. We argued some more and he went out again."

The post ended with the woman saying she is still "in conflict" with her husband and that she feels it was a mistake to call him out in front of everyone. Her husband also claims her friends "no longer respect him" after the argument.

Although the woman wrote that she was second-guessing her reaction, thousands of users jumped to her defense and said she should consider leaving the unhealthy relationship.

"He's 100% in the wrong. Him saying 'if I allow it' is a huge red flag," one user wrote. "He has no regard for you or your privacy and I would honestly look at this relationship and ask yourself if it's worth it. I don't see this behavior ever getting better without serious intervention."

"This is divorce levels of f***ed up," another user wrote. "If you really want to rescue this relationship, he needs to be getting therapy for his control issues."

Other users suggested that she try to get out of the relationship and have a tech-savvy friend check out all her devices to make sure they weren't bugged.

"Run. Also, DITCH EVERY DEVICE YOU HAVE," one user suggested. "Get a techy friend to take a look at least. Divorce him and RUN. NTA."

"If he's planting a bug at your GNI I would be shocked if he doesn't have some sort of spyware or tracking program set up on your phone and/or computer," another comment read.

Newsweek reached out to u/WeekThrowRA309 for comment.

Specialists from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) sexual assault hotline are available 24/7 via phone (1 (800) 656-4673) and online chat. Additional support from the group is also accessible via the mobile app.