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Guide/Chapter VII

What the law says

What the law says about consent, images, age and public play in four countries, and what that changes in practice for what you do.

8 min read · 17 sources · checked in October 2026

Oil painting: a pair of scales, a pen and a document with a red seal
In this chapter
  1. Consent does not protect against everything
  2. Images and videos
  3. Age
  4. Public exposure: passers-by have not agreed to anything
  5. What this changes for your practice
  6. Sensitive data
  7. Switzerland
  8. France
  9. Belgium
  10. Quebec (Canada)
  11. Further reading

Without consent, there is no BDSM. But consent does not cover everything.

The European Court of Human Rights has set two reference points. In Laskey, Jaggard et Brown c. Royaume-Uni (1997), it accepted that a state may punish, in a sadomasochistic context between adults, violence that is neither minor nor transient, whatever the victim’s consent1. In K.A. et A.D. c. Belgique (2005), it reiterated that in principle criminal law has no business interfering in consensual sexual practices, then upheld the conviction of two practitioners who, drunk to the point of losing control, had carried on despite their partner’s “stop”: the agreement given at the outset did not cover what followed2.

In Switzerland, everything depends on severity. According to prevailing legal scholarship and case law, a person capable of judgement can validly consent to simple bodily harm (art. 123 CP). For serious bodily harm (art. 122 CP: endangering life, mutilation, disfigurement, serious damage to health), consent is only valid if it appears to be a sensible, or at least justifiable, decision in light of the person’s own best interests3. The more serious and lasting the harm, the less consent protects.

In 2025, the Federal Supreme Court clarified what consent means in a sadomasochistic relationship. Having agreed to certain practices once does not count as agreement the next time. When the sexual act is inseparable from bodily harm and physical submission, consent must be explicit: tacit or presumed agreement is not enough. And a person cannot be blamed for not using the safeword, the word agreed on for stopping, if it has not been established that they had agreed to enter into a game. In the case decided, the woman had asked several times for it to stop; the man was found guilty of simple bodily harm, sexual coercion and rape4.

Images and videos

Everywhere, the underlying rule is the same: agreeing to be photographed is not agreeing to the image being passed around.

  • Switzerland: since 1 July 2024, art. 197a CP punishes passing on to a third party non-public content of a sexual nature without the consent of the identifiable person: on complaint, up to one year; up to three years if the content has been made public, in which case the offence is prosecuted automatically. The content does not need to be pornographic56.
  • France: art. 226-2-1 CP punishes with two years’ imprisonment and a €60,000 fine making public, or disclosing to a third party, a recording or image of a sexual nature without the person’s agreement to its distribution, even if it was obtained with their consent or made by the person themselves7.
  • Belgium: the former art. 371/1 of the Criminal Code was repealed in 2022 by the reform of sexual criminal law8. Since 1 September 2026, the new Criminal Code punishes voyeurism (art. 135) and the non-consensual distribution of sexual content (art. 136, formerly art. 417/9), even if the person had agreed to it being made; art. 137 increases the penalty where there is malicious intent or a profit motive9.
  • Canada: art. 162.1 of the Criminal Code punishes distributing an intimate image without the person’s consent, with up to ten years’ imprisonment; threatening to distribute one is also an offence10.

Age

This site is for adults. The age of consent does not make someone an adult, but it sets a criminal-law boundary.

Country Age of consent Legal text
Switzerland 16; no offence if the age gap is no more than three years Art. 187 CP5
France 15; certain sexual acts by an adult on a minor under 15 are rape once the age gap reaches five years Art. 227-25 and 222-23-1 CP7
Belgium 16; between 14 and 16, consent is possible if the gap is no more than three years Art. 133 of the new Criminal Code, formerly art. 417/69
Quebec (Canada) 16, with exceptions for small age gaps Art. 150.1 of the Criminal Code10

Sexual images involving minors are subject to far stricter rules still.

Public exposure: passers-by have not agreed to anything

  • Switzerland: exhibitionism is punished, on complaint, with a fine, or with a monetary penalty in serious cases (art. 194 CP). Showing pornographic material in public, or sending it to someone who has not asked for it, is punished with a fine (art. 197 al. 2 CP)5.
  • France: sexual exposure imposed on others in a place visible to the public is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a €15,000 fine. Nudity is not required: an explicit sexual act, real or simulated, is enough. Penalties are doubled if the victim is under 15 (art. 222-32 CP)7.
  • Belgium: imposing the sight of one’s genitals or of a sexual act on others in a public place is punishable (art. 184). Deliberately making someone who does not consent witness sexual acts is treated as a violation of sexual integrity (art. 134)9.
  • Canada: committing an indecent act in a public place in the presence of one or more people is an offence (art. 173 of the Criminal Code)10.

What this changes for your practice

Playing in public

A collar, a game nobody notices: that stays between you. As soon as third parties can see a sexual act or nudity, it becomes exposure, and in France even if you are clothed7. Passers-by, waiting staff, the child in the park have not negotiated anything. Private parties among informed adults exist for exactly that.

“Proof” photos in remote play

In remote play, a task sometimes asks for a photo as proof. Sent to an adult who asked for it, it is the agreed exchange. Forwarding it, showing it to someone else or posting it is the offence described above, in all four countries. Sending it to someone who did not ask for it is punishable in Switzerland (art. 197 al. 2 CP)5.

Sensitive data

In Switzerland, the new Federal Act on Data Protection (nLPD), in force since 1 September 2023, classes data relating to health and the intimate sphere as sensitive data (art. 5 let. c)11. In the European Union, and therefore in France and Belgium, the GDPR in principle prohibits processing data concerning a person’s sex life or sexual orientation, with exceptions such as explicit consent (art. 9)12. In Quebec, information is sensitive when it is, among other things, medical, biometric or otherwise intimate in nature13.

This site stores nothing. No account, no answers kept on a server. Any traces left are yours: screenshots, automatic cloud backups, a shared phone.

Switzerland

Since 1 July 2024, sexual assault and rape are acts committed “against a person’s will”, including when the perpetrator takes advantage of a “state of shock” (art. 189 and 190 CP). Taking advantage of someone’s incapacity of judgement or inability to resist is punished separately (art. 191 CP)5.

France

Since the law of 6 November 2025, art. 222-22 CP defines consent as “free and informed, specific, prior and revocable”. It is assessed in light of the circumstances and cannot be inferred from silence or a lack of reaction alone; there is no consent in cases of violence, coercion, threat or surprise7. For assault and injury, the victim’s consent is not, under French law, a general ground of justification14.

Belgium

The new Criminal Code, originally scheduled for 8 April 2026, came into force on 1 September 202615. Its art. 132 takes over the 2022 definition of consent: it must be given freely, is assessed in light of the circumstances, cannot be inferred from a mere lack of resistance and can be withdrawn at any time, before or during the act. There is no consent when the perpetrator takes advantage of a state of vulnerability (fear, alcohol, drugs), or when the victim is unconscious or asleep9.

Quebec (Canada)

Criminal law falls under the federal Criminal Code. There, consent is “the voluntary agreement” to engage in the sexual activity; it must be present at the time the activity takes place, and it does not exist if the person is unconscious (art. 273.1)10. The Supreme Court had already ruled on this in R. c. J.A. (2011 CSC 28): during erotic asphyxiation, a woman had lost consciousness, and her partner had continued the sexual activity. By six votes to three, the Supreme Court held that you must be conscious throughout the activity to consent to it, and that you cannot consent in advance to what will happen while you are unconscious16.

For injuries, the Jobidon decision (1991) ruled out consent to a fight that caused bodily harm; the Welch decision (1995) applied this to sadomasochism; the Zhao decision (2013) of the Court of Appeal for Ontario limited it to cases where intent to cause bodily harm is proven, while doubting that Welch is still good law17. Since 2019, choking, suffocating or strangling has been an aggravated form of assault (art. 267)10.

Further reading

  • Consent: an explicit, specific and revocable agreement, as the law requires.
  • Card game: the cards, and clear rules for photos.
  • Breathing: why no strangulation practice is safe.
  • Resources: support services and organisations, by country.

Sources

  1. European Court of Human Rights, 1997. Laskey, Jaggard et Brown c. Royaume-Uni, applications nos. 21627/93, 21826/93 and 21974/93, judgment of 19 February 1997. Refworld. link ↑

  2. European Court of Human Rights, 2005. K.A. et A.D. c. Belgique, applications nos. 42758/98 and 45558/99, judgment of 17 February 2005. HUDOC. link ↑

  3. Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council, 2010. Initiative parlementaire 05.404. Réprimer explicitement les mutilations sexuelles, report of 30 April 2010, p. 19. Swiss Parliament. link ↑

  4. Collaud, M., 2026. Le consentement à une relation sadomasochiste, summary of Federal Supreme Court judgment 6B_399/2024 and 6B_405/2024 of 5 September 2025. LawInside. link ↑

  5. Swiss Confederation, as at 1 October 2026. Code pénal suisse (RS 311.0), art. 122, 123, 187, 189 to 191, 194, 197 and 197a. Fedlex. link ↑↑↑↑↑

  6. Juriup, 2026. Porter plainte pour revenge porn en Suisse. Juriup. link ↑

  7. French Republic, edition of 19 September 2026. Code pénal, art. 222-22, 222-23-1, 222-32, 226-2-1 and 227-25, consolidated version based on Légifrance. Codes.droit.org. link ↑↑↑↑↑

  8. Kingdom of Belgium, 2022. Loi du 21 mars 2022 modifiant le Code pénal en ce qui concerne le droit pénal sexuel, art. 117 (repeal of art. 371/1). Text reproduced by jeminforme.be. link ↑

  9. Kingdom of Belgium, 2024. Loi du 29 février 2024 introduisant le Livre II du Code pénal, art. 132 to 137 and 184. Etaamb. link ↑↑↑↑

  10. Government of Canada, up to date as at 28 September 2026. Code criminel (L.R.C. 1985, ch. C-46), art. 150.1, 162.1, 173, 267 and 273.1. Justice Laws Website. link ↑↑↑↑↑↑

  11. Swiss Confederation, 2025. Loi fédérale sur la protection des données (RS 235.1), art. 5 let. c, in force since 1 September 2023. Fedlex. link ↑

  12. European Union, 2016. Règlement (UE) 2016/679 (RGPD), art. 9. EUR-Lex. link ↑

  13. Fasken, 2022. On répond à vos questions : modernisation des lois sur la protection des renseignements personnels (1 de 3), which cites art. 12 of the Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels dans le secteur privé. Fasken. link ↑

  14. Cabinet ACI, 2021. Le consentement de la victime à l’infraction pénale. Cabinet ACI. link ↑

  15. Union des Villes et Communes de Wallonie, 2026. Report de l’entrée en vigueur du nouveau Code pénal au 1er septembre 2026. UVCW. link ↑

  16. LEAF, 2011. No Consent to Sex when a Woman is Unconscious, on the judgment R. c. J.A., 2011 CSC 28, [2011] 2 R.C.S. 440, of 27 May 2011. LEAF. link ↑

  17. TheCourt.ca, 2014. Consent and Sexual Assault Causing Bodily Harm: R v Zhao. Osgoode Hall Law School. link ↑