Consent in BDSM
{{Short description|Facet of BDSM}}
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Consent within BDSM is when a participant gives their permission for certain acts or types of relationships. It bears much in common with the concept of informed consent and is simultaneously a personal, ethical and social issue. It is an issue that attracts much attention within BDSM, resulting in competing models of consent such as safe, sane and consensual and risk-aware consensual kink.{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=D.J. |date=2014 |title=From "SSC" and "RACK" to the "4Cs": Introducing a new framework for negotiating BDSM participation. |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA419762806&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=15455556&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=azstatelibdev&aty=ip |journal=Journal of Human Sexuality |volume=17 |issue= |pages=1–10 |via=Gale Academic}} Observers from outside the BDSM community have also commented on the issue of consent in BDSM, sometimes referring to legal consent which is a separate and largely unrelated matter. However, the presence of explicit consent within BDSM can often have implications for BDSM and the law and, depending on the country the participants are in, may make the differences between being prosecuted or not.
Where an act has been previously consented to, the consent can be terminated at any point, and by any participant, through using a safeword.{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Ashley |date=2019 |title=A Systematic Scoping Review of the Prevalence, Etiological, Psychological, and Interpersonal Factors Associated with BDSM |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2019.1665619 |journal=Journal of Sex Research |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=781–811 |doi=10.1080/00224499.2019.1665619 |pmid=31617765 |via=Taylor & Francis}} Within the BDSM community, it is generally considered a high risk activity to engage in BDSM without a safeword. Acts undertaken with a lack of explicit consent may be considered abusive and those who ignore the use of a safeword may be shunned within the BDSM subculture.[http://collarncuffs.com/resources/doku.php?id=safewords ”collarncuffs.com on safewords”]{{Cite journal |last=Holt |first=Karen |date=2016 |title=Blacklisted: Boundaries, Violations, and Retaliatory Behavior in the BDSM Community. |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01639625.2016.1156982 |journal=Deviant Behavior |volume=37 |issue=8 |pages=917–930 |doi=10.1080/01639625.2016.1156982 |via=Taylor & Francis}} One study has shown that BDSM negotiations to establish consent consist of four parts covering style of play, body parts, limits and safewords.[http://journalofpositivesexuality.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Conversational-Phases-in-BDSM-Pre-Scene-Negotiation-Kaak.pdf “Conversational-Phases-in-BDSM-Pre-Scene-Negotiation” Journal of Positive Sexuality]
Consensual non-consent
Consensual non-consent (CNC), also referred to as a "power exchange kink" within the BDSM community, is a type of erotic roleplay that plays out as though it is non-consensual but has in fact been consented to. Consensual non-consent includes any form of BDSM play where it has been agreed in advance that the standard means of revoking consent, for example saying "stop", "no", or "don't", will not apply. The majority of BDSM practitioners who participate in consensual non-consent activities will uses prearranged safewords as a means of revoking consent.{{Cite web |last=Twiss |first=Chelsea |date=November 30, 2023 |title=Consensual Non-Consent: Are CNC Kinks Normal? |url=https://www.choosingtherapy.com/consensual-non-consent/ |access-date=October 19, 2024}}{{cite web | url=https://www.gstherapycenter.com/blog/safe-words-what-you-need-to-know | title=Safe Words: What You Need to Know }}{{cite web | url=https://badgirlsbible.com/cnc-kink-consensual-non-consent | title=CNC Kink Play 101: Learn Everything About Consensual Non-Consent | date=18 April 2022 }}{{cite web | url=https://badgirlsbible.com/safe-words | title=51 Effective Safe Words to Use During Your Next BDSM Scene | date=24 March 2023 }}{{cite web | url=https://monomaniacism.com/2017/09/16/safewords-cnc-and-how-we-define-consent/ | title=Safewords, CNC, and How We Define Consent | date=16 September 2017 }}
Models and philosophy
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BDSM communities share a common language of consent. Various models are expressed as acronyms representing differing approaches towards a philosophy of consent.
= SSC =
{{main|Safe, sane and consensual}}
Safe, sane, and consensual (SSC) is the most recognizable and popular model of consent in BDSM circles, though not without criticism.{{Cite book |last=Jacques |first=Trevor |title=On the Safe Edge: A manual for SM play. |publisher=WholeSM Publishing |year=1993 |isbn=9781895857054 |edition=1st |location=Toronto, Canada |pages=3–4 |language=en}} It means that everything is based on safe activities, that all participants are of sufficiently sound mind in their conduct, and that all participants do consent.
= RACK =
{{main|Risk-aware consensual kink}}
Risk-aware consensual kink (RACK) is the second most popular consent model. It is generally permissive of certain risky sexual behaviors, as long as the participants are fully aware of the risks. It was created to overcome perceived shortcomings of SSC.{{Cite web |last=Switch |first=Gary |date=2001 |title="Origin of RACK: RACK vs. SSC" |url=http://vancouverleather.com/bdsm/ssc_rack.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501182232/http://vancouverleather.com/bdsm/ssc_rack.html |archive-date=2009-05-01 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Vancouver Leather}}
= Other models =
Other less well known models of consent in BDSM include CCC, which stands for Committed, Compassionate, Consensual and the 4 C's — Caring, Communication, Consent, Caution.{{cite web|
url=https://www.academia.edu/25376462|title=B&D, S&M, D&S, RACK, PRICK, SSC... An entree of acronym soup and kink|publisher=Australian National University|last1=Kaak |first1=Ayesha }}
Legal aspects
The 2007 conviction of Glenn Marcus on counts of sex trafficking and forced labor in renewed much debate on the issue of consent in BDSM, both within and outside the community.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/02132007/news/regionalnews/sex__slave_trial_regionalnews_stefanie_cohen.htm |title="Sex Slave Trial" New York Post |access-date=2007-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312012533/http://www.nypost.com/seven/02132007/news/regionalnews/sex__slave_trial_regionalnews_stefanie_cohen.htm |archive-date=2007-03-12 |url-status=dead }} In a similar case of an accusation made by a participant that the activities had not been consensual, in April 2007 two UK men were convicted of false imprisonment in a case where a third party who had been treated like a dog asserted the matter had not been consensual.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6522661.stm "Man was forced to live like a dog"] - BBC News. ([http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/boards/activism/137937/ Analysis of consent issues on BDSM forum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929001428/http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/boards/activism/137937/ |date=2007-09-29 }})