Long confined to the margins of sexual practices, strangulation has imposed itself in a few years as an increasingly frequent gesture, especially among young generations. This sudden tilting does not result from a spontaneous evolution of desires, but coincides with the omnipresence of pornographic content featuring reports imbued with domination. Today, the influence of these representations is such that sexual strangulation tends to settle as a norm, integrated into intimate scenarios without always being measured the physical and psychological risks it implies.
In a large investigation into students in the United States, almost half of the women interviewed said they were strangled at least once during sex. These figures, from a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, show a clear discrepancy with previous generations, where strangulation was not among the behaviors qualified as “violent sex”. Today, not only is it present, but it is also perceived as a common act, almost expected.
Early and massive access to online content trivializing sexual violence accompanies this evolution. The researcher Debby Herbenick, of the University of Indiana, recalls that the earlier and frequent exposure to pornography, the more dominant sexual behavior, such as strangulation, are reproduced in real life. This shift is not just a matter of pleasure. It is part of a cultural logic where aggressiveness becomes a sexual performance marker.
Sexual strangulation, a gesture with high risk trivialized
Behind the apparent social acceptability of this practice hides a real physiological danger. Unlike a simple posture or a harmless fetish, compress the neck of her or his partner can have serious, sometimes irreversible effects. The gesture, often carried out without training or measure, can lead to a loss of consciousness, brain damage and, in some cases death in a few seconds.
A report published by the Prifysgol Bangor University recalls that strangulation leads to very real neuropsychological consequences: memory losses, speech disturbances, partial paralysis, even dissociative disorders. Even when it does not leave visible marks, it can generate long -term consequences, such as mood disorders, concentration difficulties, or greater psychological vulnerability.
The data is still incomplete, but the first results worry. An American team has highlighted organic markers of brain damage to women that partners have strangled several times during sex. One of them said that her voice had changed permanently, that she had trouble swallowing and suffered from persistent anxiety disorders. Although frequent, these symptoms rarely receive the attention they deserve, especially because the victims do not always measure their severity immediately.
The trivialization of the gesture maintains the erroneous idea that it would be possible to practice it in a “safe” manner, provided you request consent or respect certain techniques. However, as psychologist Jane Meyrick explains, there is no sure way of depriving the brain of oxygen or blood for pleasure.
Educate without moralizing: the challenge of health professionals
The main challenge lies today in education and prevention. How to inform without condemning? How to raise awareness among young people about the risks of certain practices without paying in the demonization of pleasure? These questions are agitating teachers as well as health professionals and public decision -makers.
In the United Kingdom, a campaign funded by a local council recently included prevention messages around sexual strangulation in a sex education module for high school students. Instructions such as “never start to strangle without speaking before” were there. This awkward attempt has aroused a strong reaction. Fiona Mackenzie, founder of the we can grant to this collective, saw it as an implicit normalization of a potentially deadly act.
The discomfort also affects medical environments. During conferences on sexual health, the subject often creates tensions. The presentation of data on strangulation causes embarrassed silence. Jane Meyrick, researcher in England, evokes this moment when the facts hit a very permissive sexual culture.
In this context, some are demanding better supervision of pornography. A report commissioned by the British government, signed by Baroness Bertin, goes in this direction. It proposes to ban videos showing strangulation, even made. The lawyer Clare McGlynn pleads for a clear law, without gray zone, in order to avoid any leak of responsibility.
The stake goes beyond the law. It is also a question of restoring young people from benchmarks to distinguish the fantasy of reality, the search for the pleasure of endangering. The story of Lucy, reported in The Guardian, which also specifies that strangulation is now the second cause of stroke among British women under the age of 40, embodies this late awareness. After years thinking that strangulation was part of “modern sex”, she discovers another form of intimacy, more respectful, in a relationship where pleasure is no longer a balance of power.
