The Spanner Trials and the Changing Law on Sadomasochism in the UK

Bibliographic Data

ID3648253
AuthorsChris White (0000-0002-5043-649X, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume50
Issue2-3
Pages167-187
Publication date2006-05-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Homosexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-8369 • E-ISSN: 1540-3602
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j082v50n02_08
PMID16803763
OpenAlexW2029747771
LanguageEN
Citations received10

In the United Kingdom in 1989 a group of gay men who had been engaging in consensual SM activities were put on trial and found guilty of assault. The dominants/tops were charged with assault, and the men who participated in the activities as "bottoms" or submissives were convicted of aiding and abetting assaults upon themselves. This article discusses these Spanner trials--as they came to be called--and the issues of consent and privacy on which they were argued. UK and potentially European law are being subjected to pressure for redefinition as a result of the Spanner case, as SM practitioners are beginning to experience the implications and fallout from the prosecutions. While there have been proposals to reform the laws about what has been deemed self-destructive and socially dangerous behavior, little has changed to date. The story of the prosecutions and appeals, and the pressures for a new legislative approach to decriminalize consensual SM, will be situated in the context of public interest claims to control the private actions of individuals in the interest of public health. Differences in interpretation that occur when gay men are involved as compared to heterosexual couples will also be discussed

Context (archaeology · Criminology · Interpretation (philosophy · Legislature · Poison control · Political science · Sexual assault · Situated · Sociology · Suicide prevention · History · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Medicine · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology