Artwork by Sarah Sabri, Advanced Course Class #18

Dear Friends,

Welcome to another edition of the Strangulation Prevention E-News. The Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention launched E-News to share important information about non- and near-fatal strangulation assaults. Each E-News focuses on one subject, highlights one organization or individual, and/or shares one featured resource. 

For this E-News, we want to share our new webinar “The Truth and Consequences of Strangulation During Sex” with Dr. Debbie Herbenick, our President Casey Gwinn and our CEO Gael Strack. It was held it July with over 3,000 attendees.

In the last 24 months, Dr. Debbie Herbenick and her team of researchers in the United States have clearly articulated the rise and prevalence of strangulation during sex, publishing at least 10 articles. In summary, the articles share that:

• Mostly women are being choked during sex (58%) and at least one quarter of women were first choked by the age of 17
• Mostly without their consent
• Mostly due to the normalization of strangulation on social media and free on-line access to porn (64% of teens/young adults access porn on a weekly basis, with up to 40% of porn video showing aggressive sexual acts without consent)
• Mostly with health consequences
• At least 24% felt scared during sex

In the webinar, Casey Gwinn provides context to this growing health and legal concern. Dr. Herbenick summarizes her research and provides valuable tips for parents and professionals. Gael Strack wraps up the webinar with providing tips for criminal justice professionals on how to overcome the consent defense in court but education is key.

As background, in the last few years, the United Kingdom saw an increase of young women dying as a result of strangulation and sex, The Killing of Women in “Sex Games Gone Wrong”: An Analysis of Femicides in Great Britain 2000-2018. The UK has even banned the “rough sex defense” and even started a website called “You Can’t Consent to This”. This website tracks all the women who have died as a result of the “rough sex defense”, at least 60 to date. Unfortunately, there is no similar site in the United States.

Myth 1: Light choking is safe. Make no mistake about it: applying continued pressure to the neck, obstructing the flow of airflow, blood flow or both has immediate, cumulative and/or delayed health consequences including death. It takes very little pressure to compress the veins (4.4 lbs), the arteries (11 lbs) and/or airway (33lbs). It only takes seconds to alter consciousness and minutes to cause death. Given how fast and how little pressure it takes to block blood flow and/or airflow, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SAFE CHOKING OR LIGHT CHOKING.

The leading article, Time is Brain, recognizes that when the brain is deprived of oxygen (such as in strangulation or as a result of a stroke) every second matters. This is simply risk-taking behavior with devastating and/or deadly consequences.

Myth 2: If she consents, it’s ok. Applying pressure to the neck and obstructing airflow and/or blood flow is a crime.The general public needs to know that strangulation is viewed as a serious and/or felonious crime in 50 states, 2 US territories, at least 20 tribal codes, as well as the Federal and Military Codes. Separate and apart from laws, there is overwhelming case laws that has found that strangulation is inherently dangerous, considered deadly force, recognized to cause great bodily injury and poses substantial risk of desk. As such, an individual cannot legally consent to be strangled. In the case of the State v. Dudas, 391 Wis.2d 494 (2020), the court held strangulation is inherently dangerous because when a person is strangled, unconsciousness may occur within seconds and death within minutes. While Wisconsin does not prohibit consensual BDSM, it does prohibit strangulation. This means if a victim reports strangulation to law enforcement, it will be treated as a serious crime. If someone dies, it will be treated as a homicide.

Help us educate the public about the myths of strangulation and sex. Below you will find two additional articles to educate yourself and others.

1.   Learn the myths about strangulation and sex.

2.   Understand that strangulation during sex can increase risk of stroke and brain injuries.

3.  New PSA produced by the Yellow Heart Committee with others and on social media.

4.   Check out One Safe Place’s new public awareness campaign about strangulation during sex: “Choking (Strangulation) during Sex is Never Safe”.

5.   In Australia students now have to take an online course on sexual consent as part of enrollment at the University of Melbourne.

Always with Great HOPE,

Gael Strack and Casey Gwinn

Upcoming Trainings

• Walla Walla, WA - one-day in-person training - October 3 and 10, 2023
• York Region, Canada - one-day in-person training - November 14, 2023
• Cook County, IL - one-day in-person training - November 16, 2023
• Las Vegas, NV - two-day in-person training - January 25 and 26, 2024
• Kankakee, IL - two-day in-person training - March 13 and 14, 2024
• Ottawa, Canada - two-day in-person training - March 27 and 28, 2024
• Highland, IN - two-day in-person training - June 4 and 5, 2024