Consent Norms in the BDSM Community: Strong But Not Inflexible.

The BDSM community is generally regarded as having strict consent practices, such as safewords and explicit negotiations. However, no research to date has examined the flexibility of norms around these consent practices. The present study was designed to investigate the nuances of consent communication norms among BDSM practitioners, specifically the degree to which relationship context impacts the depth and nature of consent negotiations.

BDSM in North America, Europe, and Oceania: A Large-Scale International Survey Gauging BDSM Interests and Activities.

BDSM bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism is a widespread and highly prevalent yet stigmatized practice of intimacy and sexuality. In recent years, international interest in BDSM research has grown, mainly resulting in prevalence studies in various countries. To date, however, no research has investigated international and intercontinental differences in the nature of BDSM interests and fantasies, BDSM roles and practicing contexts among BDSM practitioners.