BDSM And Laws Around The World : Even though it’s the year 2018 and we live in a modern and open-minded society, BDSM and kinky sex are the two sensitive subjects that are still not quite welcome in public. However, once you meet people online and get a picture of what’s going on behind the scenes, you realize that this form of sex is not a taboo anymore, at least not in certain social circles. After the Fifty Shades franchise popularized BDSM, many people all around the world immediately went to local sex shops and bought themselves some new toys. Rediscovering your sexuality and getting in touch with your inner kinkiness is great, but how much do you actually know about the legal aspects of BDSM? If you want to practice kinky sex responsibly, stick around and find out the laws that are surrounding this form of sex.
The Issue Of Consent
As you can probably assume, the law has zero tolerance when it comes to inflicting pain and causing injuries. The fact that two people reached mutual consent and agreement to engage in BDSM activities makes no difference in court. Therefore, if the submissive participant decides to report the injuries to the police, the partner who caused them would be held responsible. Of course, some minor injuries that are clearly caused by a sex act can be justified with consent, but anything more serious is treated as a criminal offense. Of course, the BDSM enthusiasts are not particularly happy with these laws. They believe that the documented consent should be enough to defend the dominant partner in case the submissive participant decides to report serious injuries.
Permissible Harm
Permissible harm stands for everything that’s not “wounding” or “serious harm”. Now, we have to say that there are a lot of grey areas here because pain tolerance is an individual thing. What some people may consider a serious injury, for others it may be an everyday BDSM act. Now, even though every state has its own law regarding BDSM, most of them prohibit genital torture, causing injuries to anus, penis, testicles and nipples, violence, branding and wounding with various instruments. It’s impossible to determine which acts belong to the “permissible harm” category, but it’s safe to say that if your partner reports some of these injuries we just enlisted, you won’t be able to use consent as your defense. So, be cautious and choose your partner carefully.
BDSM And Laws In Countries Around The World
Switzerland
The age of consent in Switzerland is 16 and that applies to BDSM play too. Therefore, children under the age of 16 are not held accountable for any injuries unless the age difference between the participants is not more than three years.
Sweden And Norway
In these two Nordic countries, the age of consent is 15 and their law states that safe and consensual BDSM play will not be treated as a criminal act.
United Kingdom
British law doesn’t recognize consent when it comes to bodily harm caused during BDSM play. In this country these acts are illegal and mutual consent can’t be used as a defense in the court of law.
Coleen is a writer, photographer and film maker at Wasteland and Sssh.com.
Here at BDSMCafe.com, she is editor and curator of this comprehensive library of BDSM fiction, informational articles and other educational features that date back to the early days of the internet in 1996 when the site was first launched.
