<p>My very limited understanding of sadomasochistic relationships is that they are built on a high degree of trust and consent. Thus, the masochist consents to a certain experience and power relationship. </p>

<p>Rape by definition occurs without consent, and therefore would be outside any such consensual relationship. People all vary in how they experience traumatic events. Nonetheless, I would not expect someone who engages in consensual masochistic behaviour to find non-consensual rape any less traumatic than someone who is not masochistic.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-07T15:12:39.417Z
@cameron - Your question in your comment is a separate question to what you originally asked.  As answered here, and speaking from the fact that I work in the field of rape and sexual assault, rape by definition (socially and in law) is non-consensual whereas anything experienced in S&M is done with trust and consent.  Pre-agreed methods of safety are involved and any time something goes beyond consent, it is non-consensual and not in the realms of anything folowed by anyone into S&M, plus S&M is not a defense in law.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-16T11:44:50.237Z
Thanks what about the pain, don't masochistic people love pain
cameron
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-16T04:27:01.187Z
2013-12-16T04:27:01.187Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>Rape is physical assault.  So the question might be posed "how does a masochist experience physical assault".  This phrasing I suggest makes construct weaknesses in the question becomes more apparent.  What is a masochist, how is masochism experienced; are all masochists the same; is masochism a valid construct?  It might also be posed that there is a difference between fantasies of sexual domination, or abasement, and life-style, behaviour or personality systems that seek to live out abasement, domination or pain (i.e. the difference between thinking about something and seeking to actually do it).
I'm afraid I can't attest to any structured research on the question, but I would guess that there is a major investigative problem in defining characteristics of masochism, then finding people with those characteristics who have been raped, and then getting them to speak of this in a way that would yield anything other than idiosyncratic data.  And that is before the ethical question of whthter such investigation could ever be done in a non invasive way, were it possible to find a research population.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-07T22:33:28.283Z
2017-03-07T22:33:28.283Z
Damien
<p>To <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism" rel="nofollow">quote wikipedia Masochism</a> involves receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the .. reception of pain or humiliation. </p>

<ul>
<li><strong>How would a masochist experience rape?</strong></li>
<li><strong>Would they find it any less traumatic than a person who was not a masochist?</strong></li>
</ul>

<social-psychology><sexuality><forensic-psychology>
How would a masochist experience rape?
cameron
# How would a masochist experience rape?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-16)

To [quote wikipedia Masochism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism) involves receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the .. reception of pain or humiliation.

* **How would a masochist experience rape?**
* **Would they find it any less traumatic than a person who was not a masochist?**

**Tags:** social-psychology, sexuality, forensic-psychology


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-12-16. Score: 4

My very limited understanding of sadomasochistic relationships is that they are built on a high degree of trust and consent. Thus, the masochist consents to a certain experience and power relationship.

Rape by definition occurs without consent, and therefore would be outside any such consensual relationship. People all vary in how they experience traumatic events. Nonetheless, I would not expect someone who engages in consensual masochistic behaviour to find non-consensual rape any less traumatic than someone who is not masochistic.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks what about the pain, don't masochistic people love pain  
> **username_2**: @username_0 - Your question in your comment is a separate question to what you originally asked.  As answered here, and speaking from the fact that I work in the field of rape and sexual assault, rape by definition (socially and in law) is non-consensual whereas anything experienced in S&M is done with trust and consent.  Pre-agreed methods of safety are involved and any time something goes beyond consent, it is non-consensual and not in the realms of anything folowed by anyone into S&M, plus S&M is not a defense in law.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-03-07. Score: 0

Rape is physical assault. So the question might be posed "how does a masochist experience physical assault". This phrasing I suggest makes construct weaknesses in the question becomes more apparent. What is a masochist, how is masochism experienced; are all masochists the same; is masochism a valid construct? It might also be posed that there is a difference between fantasies of sexual domination, or abasement, and life-style, behaviour or personality systems that seek to live out abasement, domination or pain (i.e. the difference between thinking about something and seeking to actually do it).
I'm afraid I can't attest to any structured research on the question, but I would guess that there is a major investigative problem in defining characteristics of masochism, then finding people with those characteristics who have been raped, and then getting them to speak of this in a way that would yield anything other than idiosyncratic data. And that is before the ethical question of whthter such investigation could ever be done in a non invasive way, were it possible to find a research population.


---

