Do I have to spar?
No. Plenty of women train for years and never spar. Contact is a choice you make later, it rises slowly, and it stops the second you say stop.
No.
Plenty of women train with me for a year and never spar. You can learn to hit properly, to stay on your feet, to get up off the ground and to break a grip without anyone ever throwing a punch at your head. Nothing about the skill requires you to take a beating to earn it.
What I will ask for, eventually, is resistance. A partner who actually holds the grip, actually tries to keep the position. That is not sparring and it is not a fight. It is the only way to find out whether the thing works when someone is not cooperating, and it is why rolling exists and why the tap makes it safe.
If and when you want more, we go up in stages you set. Nobody ever gets moved up because I think they are ready. You decide whether you get hit, in a session that is yours.
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