BDSM: Femdom Laws and Politics
(Legal Issues Related to BDSM Female Domination Plays)

Femdom Laws and Politics

General Overview
Lack of Definition of BDSM Femdom Activities
For Parties in BDSM Femdom Activities
-- Possible Criminal and Civil Charges
-- How to Act When Law Enforcement Officers Come
For Law Enforcement Officers
-- Perception as a Motive for Prosecution
-- Ulterior Motives
-- The Dilemmas
-- The Differences Between Abuse and Consensual Lovemaking
-- Signals to Help You Evaluate the Situation
-- How to Act

For Law Enforcement Officers

The Dilemmas

The first thing you may be confronted with is a series of both personal and professional dilemmas that require you to make decisions. These are the dilemmas and the logic behind each of them:

1. If you run into an active female domination scene there is the risk that what you see may be shocking to you. It may not be in line with your own vision of what lovemaking should be about or you may be offended by it. It is not unlikely that, what you are confronted with, triggers your natural responses. Such as people in leather jackets, chains and attributes that may be potential weapons. We will repeat this a few times here: there is nothing wrong with your responses and reflexes. Law enforcement professionals are trained that way and for very good reasons.

2. These responses are logical, but the ONLY question you have to ask yourself in an actual situation is: is this (potentially) illegal or harmful to the people involved or to third parties, such as - for example - children.

3. The most recent American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic Manual (known as APA IV - 1994) - the basis for every psychiatric/psychologic diagnostic process - acknowledges consensual female domination activities between consenting adults as a totally harmless sexual activity. Harmless to both the partners taking part in it as well as harmless to any third party. As a result, people involved in erotic female domination activities qualify as perfectly normal, mentally healthy people. The APA is very clear about that and there can be no misunderstanding. Hence: there is no medical scientific proof for any claim that parties involved in female domination activites are bad parents for example. So the question "is this harmful to others" can be answered with a firm NO, provided the situation you are confronted with is consensual and carried out responsibly (so, for example, not in front of or involving underaged).

4. The next question will face you, as a law enforcement officer "on the street", with two dilemmas:

* First: is what I am confronted with a CRIMINAL act and

* if this is NOT explicitly criminal are there other laws broken here (such as forms of domestic violence).

But the fact is it could just as well be consensual lovemaking. Of course, what you see may be consensual, but still be potentially dangerous. For example: someone standing on a chair, hands and feet tied and a rope around the neck may just be the pre-negotiated fantasy of the people involved but it is totally UNSAFE, hence you should terminate that scene immediately (and explain the obvious dangers involved).

Excess behavior, such as (auto)asphyxiation or (self)mutilation, is NOT consensual erotic power exchange play.

Very important: the differences between consensual, kinky, lovemaking and other - criminal - scenarios are usually easy to spot. We will get to how to do that in a moment.

5. We have already pointed out that it is VERY unlikely that erotic female domination activities are illegal. However, there may be areas and even countries - such as all South-American countries - where there is at least sufficient ground to assume they are. In most European and Asian countries and in the majority of the USA states they are not.

6. Still, to the untrained eye it may still be a problem to determine if what you see is abuse, violence or consensual lovemaking and OTHER offenses may cause you to act (such as illegal bars and other retail/liquor related legislation, for example during parties).

7. Drug abuse. Erotic female domination activity triggers the production of endorphins and/or serotonin. Endorphins are a natural opiate, produced in the human brain. Endorphins have a morphine-like structure and produce similar physical effects. Serotonin is produced in various places in the body and is likely to be found in high quantities in dominant females during active play. Hence, it is not unlikely you will find signals that - in other situations - might indicate drug-abuse: "distant" behavior and widened pupils. In cases of erotic power exchange drug-abuse can ONLY be determined through physical testing. Unless you find other evidence (such as packages, needles or needle traces) assume there is no drug-abuse and the signals are the result of hormonal activity.