Choking/Strangulation During Sex: Understanding and Negotiating Safety Among 18-35 Year Old Australians
Many participants believed trust, consent, or lighter pressure could make sexual choking safe. The study explains why those steps cannot remove the medical danger of neck compression.
Orgasmaphoria editorial perspective
About this source
Consent is required for any sexual activity, but consent cannot make neck compression medically safe. Trust and communication may reduce coercion; they do not prevent sudden injury or death.
Why it matters: This source demonstrates that consent depends on communication, context, and power—not simply the absence of a no. It gives readers a practical reason to check in before, during, and after intimacy.
This source is cited in:
- Breath play · Kink Catalog
- Choking · Kink Catalog
Purpose and scope
Examine how young adults understand and try to negotiate safety during sexual choking or strangulation.
Qualitative responses from Australian adults ages 18-35 collected in a 2023 survey.
Findings or central themes
Participants often treated lower pressure, consent, trust, and communication as ways to make choking safe. The authors warn that these beliefs do not remove the serious risks of neck compression.
Strengths
Directly examines how participants reason about safety and identifies gaps that education must address.
Limitations
Self-reported beliefs do not measure medical safety, and an Australian young-adult sample cannot represent every population.
Do not use this source to claim: Instructions for safer strangulation or proof that any pressure, method, or consent process makes choking safe
Citation and access
Isabella Conte, Leah S. Sharman, Heather Douglas (2025). Choking/Strangulation During Sex: Understanding and Negotiating Safety Among 18-35 Year Old Australians. Archives of Sexual Behavior DOI: 10.1007/s10508-025-03097-3
Open access
External sources may change, move, require payment, or have different privacy practices. This library record is educational context, not medical, legal, or emergency advice.
