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(Serious) Sadomasochism: A Protected Right of Privacy?

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Abstract

Several adult male members of a sadomasochistic sex club were arrested for violating a U.K. statute passed in 1861 – The Offences Against the Person Act. The sex acts spanned a 10-year period and were videotaped. They involved manipulation of the genitalia with hot wax, sand paper, fish hooks, and needles. The sexual interactions were consensual. This analysis tracks the case from trial, to the Court of Appeal, to the House of Lords, and on to the European Court of Human Rights. It examines whether or not these sexual behaviors should be protected under a right to privacy. It contrasts state concerns of bodily harm, albeit consented to, in sex with those incurred in sport.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, MA

    Richard Green

  2. Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, MA

    Richard Green

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London, W6 8RF

    Richard Green

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  1. Richard Green
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Green, R. (Serious) Sadomasochism: A Protected Right of Privacy?. Arch Sex Behav 30, 543–550 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010295302496

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010295302496

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