SSC and RACK
FundamentalsAlso known as: Safe Sane Consensual, Risk Aware Consensual Kink, safe sane and consensual
SSC (safe, sane, consensual) and RACK (risk-aware consensual kink) are the two most widely cited ethical principles for practising BDSM responsibly.
In the BDSM community two abbreviations sum up the responsible way to play. They aren’t rules written by an authority, but shared principles that help you think about what you’re doing and why.
SSC: safe, sane, consensual
SSC stands for Safe, Sane, Consensual. Safe means knowing the practices and reducing the risks. Sane means playing with a clear mind, without alcohol or drugs clouding your judgement, and being able to tell fantasy from reality. Consensual means that all participants are adults, informed and in agreement, and can withdraw consent at any time.
RACK: risk awareness
RACK stands for Risk Aware Consensual Kink, meaning “consensual practices with awareness of the risk”. It arose as an alternative to SSC, starting from an honest observation: no practice is one hundred per cent safe. RACK therefore asks you to know the risks of what you do, to assess them honestly and to accept them together, in an informed way.
Two approaches, one shared idea
SSC puts the emphasis on safety, RACK on awareness and personal responsibility. Many people use both together. Both share the central point: without informed consent there is no BDSM, only violence.
- Find out about a practice before trying it.
- Talk openly about risks, health and limits.
- Accept that some practices carry risks that no precaution can remove.
Precisely for this reason some practices, such as breath play, are advised against even by those who follow RACK: a risk of death is not a risk that consent makes acceptable.