Consent and Risk in BDSM: What do SSC and RACK mean?
Why is consent so important in BDSM?
The short answer: because without consent it’s abuse.
You can’t start spanking your partner in the middle of sex and claim you’re just doing BDSM. BDSM requires consent before you engage in any kinky activity. Otherwise, it’s not BDSM. Period.
Getting informed consent generally happens through negotiation.
Photo: Karsten Buch
When discussing consent and safety, you’ll often come across two acronyms: SSC and RACK.
SSC stands for Safe, Sane, Consensual.
Safe means engaging in activities that are not a threat to you or your play partner’s mental, emotional and physical health or life, and leave no lasting damage.
However, there are grey areas in which play partners may agree to lasting damage such as scars. Many kinksters relish marks as a reminder of a beautiful experience or a special bond. It is therefore important that you and your play partner/s agree on what “safe” actually means.
Sane means that you negotiate and engage in BDSM activities when of sound mind i.e. your head is clear, you’re not intoxicated and you’re not in an emotionally unfit state to make decisions.
Weird shit? Sure. Crazy shit? Nooo.
Consensual means that all parties involved agree to the activities of their own free will.
Consensual also means that consent can be withdrawn at any time by communicating this to your play partners, for instance by using a pre-negotiated safeword, sound or gesture. Just because you agreed once doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind at any point leading up to or during a play session. As soon as you don’t consent, it’s not BDSM anymore – it’s abuse. Just make sure you let your play partner know of any changes.
You also can’t practice BDSM with animals because they can’t consent. BDSM with minors is a strict NO for similar reasons. Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol also impairs the ability to consent. This is why drinking (or at least drinking more than a tiny amount) is often frowned upon at venues where you intend to play.
There is also a thing called Consensual Non-Consent (CNC), but we’re not going to get into that here.
Photo: Nick Fewings
RACK stands for Risk-Aware Consensual Kink.
This acronym arose out of a need to highlight the aspect of informed consent. We can say yes to things, but that doesn’t mean we actually have a grasp of what they truly mean – especially if we’ve never engaged in BDSM before.
Risk-aware means that all parties have a solid understanding of the risks when playing and after. It also means that all parties understand that no activity is ever 100% safe and are aware of the potential dangers. Considering SSC is usually sufficient for safer types of play, while RACK is especially relevant for more risky activities.
Consensual means the same as above.
Kink is defined here.
Photo: Karsten Buch
Keep in mind that another factor to consider is whether the activity you want to engage in is legal or not in your location. It is another form of risk you may be taking and requires that both parties are informed before they consent.
There are other acronyms and understandings of safety and consent shared in kink circles, but these are the most important and most frequent ones and serve as a good starting point.
I know all this might sound super serious and scary, but in practice it usually looks like an open and honest conversation between two or more people who want to experience amazing things together. You’re all human, there’s room for error, you’re allowed to change your mind about things and more than anything else it’s a dialogue.
This is a quick and dirty overview.
If you want to discuss nuances or have questions, consider signing up for some kink coaching.