Safety
There are some risks commonly associated with D/s. Because it is mostly a mental activity, many of the risks associated with D/s involve mental health. Others involve abuses of the trust inherent in a D/s relationship. Some examples are:
- Physically or mentally abusive dominant partner
- Self-hating subs
- Dominant partners who violate the trust relationship by attempting to isolate the sub from society or monetarily exploit the sub
- Unstable dominant partners or subs who, through act or threat of calling public attention to the other's private life and their relationship, can cause financial or personal hardship (see Outing)
- Emotionally unstable or manipulative subs or dominant partners seeking more from the relationship than the other, as a human being, can give. This can include so-called mind games and any other forms of emotional manipulation or abuse present in any other relationship. The extra factor is that D/s relationships are already predicated upon a delicate shift of power, and so rely more than usual on participants being able to handle that well.
Local and regional BDSM organizations typically provide community-based counseling and assistance to dominants or submissives who are in a troubled relationship.
Read more about this topic: Dominance And Submission
Famous quotes containing the word safety:
“There is always safety in valor.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The safety of the republic being the supreme law, and Texas having offered us the key to the safety of our country from all foreign intrigues and diplomacy, I say accept the key ... and bolt the door at once.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“The high sentiments always win in the end, the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)