Legal Status
The legal status of BDSM is entirely dependent on the legal structure of individual countries. Each individual country makes its own determination to whether the practice of BDSM has any criminal relevance or legal consequences. Criminalization of consensually implemented BDSM practices is usually not with explicit reference to BDSM itself (i.e., spanking an adult who specifically requests another to do such action to the requesting person), but results from the fact that such behavior could be considered a breach of personal rights, which in principle constitutes a criminal offense though some jurisdictions especially in the United States do specifically list such acts as flagellation (spanking) between consenting adults as "assault" regardless of consent between such consenting parties.
In Germany, Netherlands, Japan and Scandinavia such behavior is legal in principle. In Austria the legal status is unclear, while in Switzerland certain BDSM practices can be considered criminal. Spectacular incidents like the US-American scandal of People v. Jovanovic and the British Operation Spanner demonstrate the degree to which difficult grey areas can pose a problem for the individuals and authorities involved. For these reasons it is important for practitioners of BDSM to learn the legal status concerning BDSM activities in the country they reside in.
Read more about this topic: Leash (BDSM)
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“In the course of the actual attainment of selfish ends—an attainment conditioned in this way by universality—there is formed a system of complete interdependence, wherein the livelihood, happiness, and legal status of one man is interwoven with the livelihood, happiness, and rights of all. On this system, individual happiness, etc. depend, and only in this connected system are they actualized and secured.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)