Proposals to criminalise individuals for possession of
certain 'extreme' forms of BDSM imagery are viewed with deep
concern by many members of the UK's consensual BDSM
community. Criminalisation for possession is a gross
intrusion into our private lives and the sexual tastes of a
substantial law-abiding minority community, a community
which has caused the police very little trouble over the
many years of our existence.1.1 I am a 51-year-old
disabled former journalist. I am the father of three adult
children and the grandfather of five youngsters. As a father
and a grandfather I have natural concerns for the moral
welfare of my family. Three of my grandchildren have regular
Internet access at school.
1.2 For the last 12 years I have been a member of what
some may call the 'sado-masochistic' community but which we
call the consensual adult BDSM community. BDSM is a compound
acronym which stands for Bondage, Discipline, Domination,
Submission, Sadism, Masochism. As a member of this community
I served as the chair of SM Pride [1998 to 2000] and as a
Spanner trustee. SM Pride is one of the campaigning groups
set up in the wake of the infamous Spanner case [Regina V
Brown and others] while Spanner Trust is the senior fund
holding and campaigning body for the UK BDSM community.
1.3 I came 'out' to my family - including my elderly
widowed mother - as a heterosexual sadomasochist in 1997.
Many people in our community are now doing the same,
borrowing from the gay and lesbian experience that coming
out means a more honest existence, it signifies
self-acceptance and it is a personal stand against the
sexual prejudices of more mainstream [what we call
'vanilla'] society. Once people discover a minority group
has a human face former stereotypes become eroded and are
eventually replaced with a more balanced view of other
people's lives.
1.4 We live in age of stereotypes. Some people 'know'
Frenchmen wear stripy jerseys and sell onions; somr people
'know' lesbians are masculine women who smoke pipes; some
people 'know' gay men are 'camp' and not good at sports. In
the same vein some people still 'know' S&M [sic] is about 'a
few freaks who enjoy beating each other up'. In each of the
above cases the informed truth is very different from the
ignorant stereotype.
1.5 I would draw the following to your attention...
a) Statistics going back to the days of Kinsey suggest
that around 10 per cent of sexually active adults are BDSM
or BDSM inclined. To put that in human terms, if you know
100 friends and relatives then at least ten are likely to be
interested in BDSM. My own experiences as SM Pride chair
coupled with increasing sales of BDSM accessories [see d)
below)] suggest that this figure may be significantly
higher. A world-wide 2003 survey by the Durex condom company
found that 38% of UK nationals had used handcuffs or bondage
as a sexual stimulant, the highest percentage in the world
for this kind of activity. The same survey also found 42% of
UK nationals had used pornographic materials.
www.durex.com
b) BDSM equipment is now regularly available in the High
Street. The Ann Summers chain store devote a section of each
shop and their catalogue to BDSM equipment - including gags,
whips and canes - and this reflects that company's own
market research into contemporary consensual adult sexual
tastes in the UK.
www.annsummers.com
c) The BDSM community has a network of well advertised,
low-key social events held in vanilla pubs, wine bars and
restaurants. These events are called 'munches'. To date
there are 103 such monthly munches in the UK alone. This
means that the BDSM community meets in 103 parliamentary
constituencies. In addition we support around 30 openly
advertised fetish clubs such as the world famous Torture
Garden. Our community is now large enough to support
four-day events at Olympia [Erotica] and two-day events at
London's Barbican Centre [Skin Two Expo] plus monthly fetish
fairs in London, Birmingham, Bristol and other major cities.
We even have a BDSM pub and a BDSM coffee bar. Cursory
checks with the police will reveal that these are all
responsibly organised and have NOT required police
attendance. By contrast the police attend my local public
house once or twice a week to deal with alcohol-induced
violence yet alcohol remains on sale and the licensing laws
have even been liberalised in recent months. Alcohol plays a
part in many violent crimes - including murder. Consensual
BDSM does not.
d) Servicing the needs of the BDSM community there are
more than 120 UK companies providing elaborate dungeon
equipment, fetish clothing, lifestyle jewellery, night clubs
and entertainment, whips, canes and accessories. A 2001
estimate of the size of this business suggested that - at
that date and excluding ALL pornography - BDSM in the UK
generated a turnover of around £30 to £32 millions. Part of
this includes valuable export trade. Our monthly night clubs
and London's prestigious annual Rubber Ball attract many
foreign visitors and much tourist revenue for hotels and
restaurants while these visitors are in the UK.
All these BDSM companies are respectable, employ staff
and pay their taxes. One has a walk-in showroom just off
London's Oxford Street.
These are just a few random examples:
www.fetters-leather.com
www.rob.nl/html
www.regulation-london.co.uk
www.skintwoclothing.com
e) BDSM is an established, well documented, loving and
consensual sexuality [see select bibliography] where adults
may explore their darker fantasies in a safe manner. Many of
us have discovered that the sexual experience can be greatly
enhanced by restraint [bondage] or by pain [sado-masochism].
If this last seems odd to you, try running your hand under
cold water and then under hot water. The one experience
radically alters the perception of the other. We have
discovered that the same receptors in the brain which deal
with pleasure can also be stimulated by the natural
morphines [endorphins] which are the body's natural response
to pain. The simplest form of this sado-masochistic
expression is the love bite [known in the U.S. as a
'hickie']. If you wish to understand sado-masochism simply
consider that we have taken the love bite to more
sophisticated levels. In addition to bondage and
sado-masochism [or sometimes instead of] are other fantasies
of personal submission, control or 'giving oneself' to
another person. Because some of us choose to emphasise the
submission element over the sado-masochism or the bondage
elements the compound acronym BDSM has grown up [see 1.2] as
the most accurate way of describing our diverse,
multi-layered and multi-faceted lifestyle.
1.6 I have read the Home Office consultation document on
proposed changes in the law on possession of so-called
'extreme' images. I note with deep concern that this
document is unable to provide a coherent argument in favour
of a law against possessing or viewing images. On page 7 the
consultation document admits: "We do not yet have sufficient
evidence from which to draw any definite conclusions as to
the likely long terms impact of this kind of material on
individuals generally, or on those who may be already
predisposed to violent or aberrant sexual activity." The
sub-text here appears to be: "We don't like other people's
rational sexual choices so let's make them illegal anyway
and never mind the human rights of those silly BDSM
people..."
1.7 The consultation document refers to one recent tragic
case where a convicted murderer was linked to extreme images
he accessed from the Internet. I understand this man was not
a member of our community and BDSM itself did not feature in
the case. Yet the consultation document proposals could
profoundly affect our community, our lifestyle and our human
rights to view or possess images which reflect our lives,
our sexuality and our artistic tastes.
1.8 We are not a violent community. Our watchwords are
SSC - Safe, Sane, Consensual. Psychological studies in
Canada have been unable to establish any correlation between
psycho-sexual criminals and the BDSM community. Indeed such
studies actually suggest the two groups are at opposite ends
of the human spectrum. To cite a UK example, when a man
called Fred West joined a noted UK BDSM club he was banned
on the first night because of his unacceptable conduct
towards young women [he had merely touched them and behaved
inappropriately]. Some years later police discovered he was
the Gloucester serial killer. This illustrates the wide gulf
between the BDSM community and the criminal psychopath. It
also illustrates that we are self-policing and responsible.
We will not tolerate abusive behaviour or the infringement
of a person's right to give - or withold - their informed
consent.
1.9 I am disturbed that the tone of the consultation
document is not neutral It is actually structured in such a
way as to lead ill-informed readers to the conclusion that
some action should be taken, despite confirming elsewhere in
the document that no evidence can be found to connect
extreme imagery with any actual violence.
1.10 This matter has arisen because a young woman was
brutally murdered by a sick man. I was once told that rough
contact sports such as football and rugby claim around four
or five lives in the UK each year. Sports such as mountain
climbing and fell walking claim many more lives and also
place the lives of the rescuers at risk. So why is the
non-violent UK BDSM community being singled out because of
the criminal actions man who was not one of us? I would
suggest that we are being singled out merely because we are
different, we are not well understood and a minority of
ill-educated people still view us with personal distaste. If
politicians truly wish to save lives then ban contact sports
or dangerous outdoor activities. If politicians wish to
remove a major cause of violence, rape and murder then close
public houses and ban the sale of alcohol.
1.11 Gay men are still attacked by homophobes yet I have
yet to hear of one of the BDSM community being beaten up
because of our views and our lifestyle. The vanilla pubs
where we hold our events [see c above] tolerate us because
even a pub landlord can see we are part of the wider human
condition. After years of campaigning we have reached at
least a minimum level of public acceptance. I am concerned
that ill-informed debate connecting 'violence' with BDSM
imagery sparked by this proposed law of possession would
undo this tolerance. In short linking BDSM with violence
returns us to the world of the stereotypes described in 1.4.
1.12 Introducing a law criminalising possession of images
would be an unfair attack on UK BDSM and an attack on our
human rights as it will not only affect images taken from
the Internet but also the contents of private family photo
albums, computer hard drives and other digital storage
media. I will put forward some simple hypothetical examples
of where a law against possession could lead us:
Mrs Smith, aged 75, is found in possession of a
photograph of her Goth granddaughter. The granddaughter has
facial piercings and a pronounced love bite on her neck. As
piercings and love bites are some of the most basic forms of
sado-masochistic expression Mrs Smith has broken the law.
She is in possession of a 'violent' image.
Mr Jones and his girlfriend have a BDSM 'play session' at
home and he canes her bottom creating several red marks and
bruises. She enjoyed the experience. Mr Jones photographs
these marks with a digital camera. The following day he
e-mails this image to her with a message saying: "I love
you". He has broken the law by creating an image of a loving
act, he has broken the law by sending it via the Internet,
she has broken the law by receiving it. Three criminal acts
from one night of harmless and consensual loving activity.
Ms Singh takes a photograph of herself wearing her
favourite ball-gag and she e-mails this picture to her
boyfriend with a message saying: "Just for you." Again three
offences have been committed by a loving and private
message.
1.13 Once we criminalise possession of BDSM imagery we
risk criminalising more than 10 per cent of the adult
population in the UK. Given that our police forces are
currently over-stretched dealing with all the existing laws,
PLUS the world-wide threat of drugs and terrorism, does it
make any sense to give the police yet a further added
burden...? policing the nation's photo albums and computer
hard drives on the unsupported suppostion that our
consensual lifestyle is somehow connected to violence.
1.14 BDSM is a loving sexuality in which adults
voluntarily explore the darker side of their fantasies with
their consenting partners. BDSM crosses all gender
boundaries, all sexualities [hetero, gay, lesbian,
bisexual], all ethnic groups and all religions. The Internet
reflects all views and all lifestyles. It therefore follows
that part of the Internet will always reflect our lifestyle
and our community. We cannot be legislated away with the
stroke of a pen because a few people still feel
uncomfortable or do not understand us. We are your fathers
and mothers, your brothers and sisters, your sons and your
daughters.
1.15 I would remind you that the last 'knee jerk'
legislation in response to violent crime was the
post-Dunblane banning of hand guns which Westminster
politicians promised us would cut gun crime. I am no
supporter of privately owned hand guns yet I note that far
from cutting gun crime, gun crime actually escalated
several-fold following the banning of such firearms. Yet
thousands of hitherto law-abiding owners of hand guns lost
their firearms while the British Olympic pistol shooting
team now travels to Belgium to practice its sport. This is
the true cost of ill conceived 'nanny state' legislation.
Many people suffer because of the actions of one sick man
and the desire of politicians to be seen to be taking some
sort of effective action without weighing up the true impact
of such legislation on ordinary people who wish to abide by
the law. I would suggest that strong parallels exist between
the Dunblane matter and the legislation currently under
consideration. The legal 'goal posts' on possession of BDSM
images should not be moved.
1.16 I firmly support Option Four - no action - and would
be willng to serve on any working party or advisory group
both as a responsible parent and grandparent and as a vocal
and long-time member of the UK BDSM community.
Our voice must be heard in this matter.
