Max Mosley just one of many Brits that enjoy S&M

by Paul Conneally | July 10, 2008 at 01:03 pm

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The story Max Mosley's S&M orgy has been dominating the tabloid press in the UK and beyond. Here The Sun runs a background story on S&M and it's prevalence in the UK. The law in the UK doesn't allow for S&M that causes injury of any kind - even between consenting adults - something that wrankles with some who enjoy being hurt and feel it's nothing to do with anyone else what they get up to behind closed doors. What is the role of the state in protecting it's citizens from themselves?

ONE in seven British men and one in ten women have tried bondage, domination or sado-masochism.

Fantasies involving erotic spanking, tickling, love-bites and handcuffs all have their roots in S&M.

But acts which cause injury are illegal in the UK, where the law does not recognise the possibility of anyone consenting to bodily harm.

S&M desires — sadists enjoy inflicting pain while masochists enjoy receiving it — have been written about since the 18th century.

The word sadism comes from Frenchman Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade (1740-1814), whose infamous writings saw him locked up.

Tory MP Stephen Milligan’s dabbling with extreme S&M hit the headlines when he was found dead wearing just women’s stockings after suffocating during a bizarre solo sex act in 1994.