Language
English (en)
Date of Award
4-2026
Author's Department
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Unrestricted = Publicly available
Abstract
The current tools and services available for those who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) center power and control as negative influences that lead to coercive control (Stark, 2007) and harm. However, the BDSM and kink community negotiate and play with power dynamics in ways that defy current ideas about "healthy relationships." There is, therefore, little known about the perspectives of those who experience IPV in BDSM contexts. Additionally, current IPV tools are not adapted to fit a community that views power differently. A content analysis of BDSM 101 texts—a subgenre of BDSM literature that introduces and educates newcomers about BDSM, from vocabulary and techniques to community norms and structures—offers a unique perspective on how the BDSM community conceptualizes safety, consent, relationship boundaries, and harm. Via an analysis of 6 BDSM 101 texts I find that while the BDSM community has some frameworks around harm and what abuse/consent violations can look like, most of these conceptions do not attend to the complicated nuance of how IPV can emerge in BDSM contexts. I then adapted a new power and control wheel for the BDSM community with eight new categories, outlining how an individual can use safewords, aftercare, isolation, reputation, threats and intimidation, economic abuse, history and experience, and BDSM identity in order to control and harm an intimate partner in a BDSM relationship. Finally, I suggest that IPV scholars need to re-examine how power and control are conceptualized and evaluated.
Mentor
Jami Ake
Additional Advisors
Rebecca Lester, Rene Esparza
Recommended Citation
Tefertiller, Delilah, "Intimate Partner Violence and Couples Who Practice Power Exchange: Exploring Discussions of Harm in BDSM Writing" (2026). Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Honors Papers. 8.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/wgss_honors/8