EVERYDAY HEALTH – In the United States, acts of BDSM — which stands for bondage and discipline, domination and submission, and sadism and masochism — can be prosecuted under state criminal laws, even when they’re consensual.
Laws Regarding BDSM: What You Need to Know
According to U.S. law, a criminal offense occurs when one person causes physical harm to another, regardless of whether they consent to it or not.
Each individual state is responsible for classifying an act that causes physical harm as a crime. There’s no federal law to make this distinction.
Activities that could cause injury to another individual — such as cutting, burning, or strangulation — can be prosecuted as assault, aggravated assault, battery, sexual assault, or sexual abuse.
Additionally, there are no privacy laws that protect people who participate in BDSM from having their sexual preferences revealed in certain legal situations, such as divorce or child custody battles.
BDSM: The Issue of Consent
Some notable court cases that included key rulings on BDSM issues include:
- People v. Samuels (1967) In this California case, a man named Martin Samuels was convicted of assault after participating in a film that included a BDSM scene. The court rejected consent as a defense.
- Commonwealth v. Appleby (1980) A Massachusetts court concluded, “Grimm’s consent to assault and battery upon him by Appleby by means of a dangerous weapon cannot absolve Appleby of the crime.”
- Iowa v. Collier (1985) Although there were extremely differing accounts of the BDSM incident from both parties in this case, the judge refused to let the jury consider consent as a defense.
- People v. Jovanovic (1999) Jovanovic was tried and convicted of assault, sexual assault, and kidnapping after a BDSM scene turned violent. While the court of appeals reversed the convictions based on the evidence in the case, it stated:
“Just as a person cannot consent to his or her own murder as a matter of public policy, a person cannot avoid criminal responsibility for an assault that causes injury or carries a risk of serious harm, even if the victim asked for or consented to the act … “
