- Everyone in the BDSM community deserves to have their privacy and confidentiality respected. An individual’s involvement in the community should never be disclosed to people outside the community (including but not limited to their friends, their family, and their employers). Disclosure without permission can have severe consequences for a person’s family, social and work life.
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When a person discloses another person’s involvement in the kink community without that person’s consent, we call that “outing”. Outing can happen either intentionally to hurt someone, or through accidental slips. Either way, it is a serious ethical breech.
Examples of outing include:
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Forwarding personal communications that contain references to the BDSM community
- Calling someone by their first or last name at a BDSM event, if that person does not wish for their name to be used
- Talking about their presence at a BDSM event while in the presence of people outside the community
- Braven Manor encourages its guests to negotiate thoroughly with potential play partners, including in matters relating to confidentiality. The more carefully partners discuss confidentiality, the less likely there are to be any accidental outings.
- While individuals are entitled to confidentiality, they are also entitled to safety and support. It is reasonable to expect that your partner will not discuss your involvement in the BDSM community to those outside the community. It is not, however, fair or reasonable to use confidentiality as a tool to restrict your partner from getting the support they need from trusted friends.
- It is commonly recommended in the kink community that members seek references and information about potential play partners. Braven Manor does not regard the seeking of references and information for safety purposes as a breech of confidentiality.
© Copyright 2016-2021 Braven Manor
Revised July 2021
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