Dialog on Consent – NCSF Appeal

I received the following from NCSF and I wanted to both boost the signal and mention how important this is to our community…particularly the discussion about consent listed below.I believe in consent and I’m on record writing about the importance not only of titular consent but informed consent which comes from a full understanding of what one is being asked to consent to.I also feel that the legitimacy and legality of our Community is important, and I am on record writing about the degree to which those of us in wealthy, middle class, states, who have the financial resources to effectively screen our participation in WIITWD are not pro-active enough about the necessity to go to bat legally for our activities, leaving the burden on people who don’t have the resources to “hide in plain site” (small apartments, crowded living spaces, dependence on family) and may face legal issues, or lose custody of children because of their consensual activities.

That said, I also fear those who construe “safe, sane, and consensual” in ways that it was never meant to be taken dominating this dialog and ending up putting forward a widely agreed upon definition that disenfranchises many edge players and those who explore the boundaries of power exchange.  I hope that my many articulate and intelligent friends will step forward to add their wisdom to this dialog.

I’ll be writing more about SSC and Consent in the next few days.

 

NCSF Survey on Consent

July 9, 2012

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) wants to hear from you! Please take our Consent Counts survey and tell us what you think about consent: www.ncsfreedom.org/survey.html

As part of decriminalizing BDSM in the legal codes, we need to be able to articulate a clear definition of consent that the BDSM communities believe in. The results of this survey will assist in the creation of a statement on consent that will be presented for the consideration by the BDSM communities at LLC in Seattle in 2013.

NCSF needs your input on defining consent. What do we mean by consent? When is consent invalidated? Does “safe, sane, consensual” still work as a community creed? Are there behaviors that the BDSM communities don’t accept? What is your experience with consent in the BDSM communities?

To participate in discussions of consent online with kinky people both in the US and around the world, join our Consent Counts group at https://fetlife.com/groups/46202 NCSF is committed to supporting and encouraging people to discuss ethical consent so we can move to a more thorough understanding of what consent is, and to provide better education for people who are interested in exploring their sexuality.

NCSF has actively participated in changing the social discourse of BDSM since 1997. The term “consenting adults” is a commonly accepted standard for sexuality today due in a large part to our work. NCSF has pledged to continue to lead the change in political discourse until all consenting adults need not fear prosecution or victimization because of their sexual behavior.

click analytics

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.