Ethical BDSM is sensual and sexual activities involving bondage, discipline, dominance, and submission conducted safely and consensually for the mutual benefit of all parties. Safe, sane, and consensual (SSC) and risk aware consensual kink (RACK) are two well-known varieties of ethical BDSM. If BDSM is not ethical, it is physical and/or psychological abuse.
More About Ethical BDSM
Ethical BDSM attempts to be as safe and consensual as possible. Participants do this in several ways. They communicate clearly about their likes and dislikes, hard and soft limits, and the risks involved in any BDSM activities before they’re entered into. All parties give consent before embarking on a BDSM scene, and are free to withdraw consent if they become uncomfortable with anything mid-scene. People who practice ethical BDSM never assume that a submissive can be touched, or wants to be touched, simply because he or she is submissive.
Safe words and safe actions are commonly put in place to ensure scenes can stop whenever a participant wants it to. Other common precautions, like never leaving subs alone while they’re tired up and never flogging or whipping around the face, help keep people safe during BDSM.
Some people who practice ethical BDSM focus on their own behavior and the behavior of those they’re playing with. Others believe ethical BDSM practitioners must expand their worldview by behaving ethically towards all members of the community. Doing this requires not just treating all members of the community with respect, but also calling out unethical behaviors observed within the BDSM community.
