It’s been a tough couple of years for Britain’s porn fans. The government’s proposed Digital Economy Bill looks set to tighten restrictions on the sorts of porn people will be able to watch – building on a template set in 2014 – and new age-verification measures look poised to basically establish a database of your personal information, just begging to be hacked.
The BBFC are reportedly going to be in charge of classifying our porn, with parameters loosely based on the Crown Prosecution Service’s Obscene Publications legislation. You’ve probably already seen that face-sitting and fisting are reportedly on the list of unacceptable acts. Under the CPS’ porn laws, the BBFC are also banned from classifying a host of others, including drinking wee, urinating on the body, vomiting on the body, and use of excrement.
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Although someone having explosive diarrhoea during sex is the last thing I’d be likely to crack one off to, it still seems relatively harmless in the scheme of things. I’m no expert though, so I got risk assessment expert Danny Clarke of Elas Business Support to have a look. He assigned each act a rating based on the likelihood of something bad happening, the potential severity of the consequences, and the overall risk level. I also spoke to sexual health expert Dr Patrick French. Here’s what they had to say.
Face-Sitting
Clarke: The hazards are strangulation or suffocation, bloodborne pathogens – tiny living things in the blood that cause diseases like hepatitis B and C – and exposure to bodily fluids. There’s the risk of cramp causing the full weight of the individual to rest on the face, physical harm, and psychological trauma too. I’ve assigned it a “catastrophic” consequence rating due to the potential for this type of act to result in a fatality.
However, the likelihood of this occurring is unlikely if appropriate consent, timeouts and other control measures are in place. People could set up clearly defined consent protocols, use appropriate technique and have a first aider present, while making sure there are no traces of blood-borne viruses.
Likelihood: Unlikely.
Consequences: Catastrophic.
Overall risk rating: Medium
Dr French: As long as you make sure the sat-on person can breathe, it’s fine.
Fisting
Clarke: Here the hazards are bloodborne pathogens and people being exposed to bodily fluids, sharp objects (nails, rings, watches, bracelets etc) during the fisting as well germs, dirt, bacteria, etc. You could also deal with physical harm including internal trauma and muscle damage, and psychological trauma. The main risk relates to the transmission of blood-borne viruses, again.
Provided appropriate consent, lubrications and control measures were in place, it would be unlikely to occur. Control measures that people could use are health assessments confirming that there are no traces of BBVs, an appropriate vaccination programme, hygiene measures to ensure cleanliness, lube, clearly defined consent protocols and ease of withdrawing consent, ensuring that females are not menstruating and clinical waste processes.
Likelihood: Rare.
Consequences: Major.
Overall risk rating: Low.
Dr French: Fingering or even putting a fist into the vagina is something that some women enjoy, and is safe to do with practice, proper guidance, and an understanding and involved partner. But there is a definite risk of skin tears and breaks if it’s done roughly or without building up to it carefully with your partner.
Drinking Urine
Clarke: The hazards are bloodborne pathogens and exposure to bodily fluids, infections, choking on the wee and psychological trauma. Provided appropriate consent and control measures were in place, they’d be unlikely to occur. Clearly defined consent protocols and making it easy to withdraw consent would help, as would health assessments, having a first aider present and clinical waste processes.
Likelihood: Rare.
Consequences: Major.
Overall risk rating: Low.
Dr French: Urine in your bladder should be sterile, and consuming it is no more risky than having unprotected oral sex with your partner. Theoretically, you could get infections like gonorrhoea and chlamydia, but it’s unlikely.
Urinating on the Body
Clarke: Again, the hazards are bloodborne pathogens, exposure to bodily fluids and psychological trauma as well as urinary tract infections and open wounds. The main risk relates to the transmission of blood-borne viruses. Provided appropriate consent and control measures were in place, it would be unlikely to occur. Control measures that could be used are clearly defined consent protocols and ease of withdrawing consent, health assessments including those to confirm that there are no traces of BBV, making sure there’s a first aider present and implementing strong clinical waste processes.
Likelihood: Rare.
Consequences: Major.
Overall risk rating: Low.
Dr French: It may seem odd to say, but this is one of the safest sorts of sex you can have in terms of sexually transmitted infection and HIV transmission.
Vomiting on the Body
Clarke: The hazards are bloodborne pathogens and exposure to bodily fluids, open wounds, choking, psychological trauma and physical harm. The main risk relates to the transmission of BBVs. Like lots of the other acts we’ve looked at, provided the appropriate consent and control measures were in place, the risks would be unlikely to occur.
Appropriate training on technique (inducing vomiting so as to not cause damage to the inner part of the mouth or throat and avoiding objects that could cause choking) could be used as a control measure, as could having a first aider there, and making sure there’s a process for those in the scene to withdraw their consent at any time.
Likelihood: Rare.
Consequences: Major.
Overall risk rating: Low.
Dr French: Vomit on intact skin should be completely safe, as should vomiting on someone when you’re otherwise well. I’m assuming that this isn’t done when you have food poisoning!
Use of Excrement/Poo
Clarke: The hazards are bloodborne pathogens and exposure to bodily fluids, open wounds, choking if the poo’s ingested and psychological trauma. The main risk relates to the transmission of BBVs. Provided the appropriate consent, lubrication (if required) and control measures were in place, they would be unlikely to occur.
You could keep things under control using clearly defined consent protocols and making sure it’s easy for the actors to withdraw their consent to the scene, have a first aider present, handle clinical waste processes well and give those on-set appropriate training on technique – inducing the release of faeces so as not to cause damage to the inner part of the anus and avoiding object that could cause internal trauma, for example. Of course, an appropriate use of lubrications could help too.
Likelihood: Rare.
Consequences: Major.
Overall risk rating: Low.
Dr French: It may sound a bit gross, but there are plenty of people who enjoy this. The problem is that a whole lot of infections can be potentially transmitted from poo even if only a tiny amount is consumed. This includes things like hepatitis A and infections that can cause diarrhoea. At the moment in the UK, there’s a particular problem with a gastroenteritis bacteria called shigella, which is being passed on in this way.
@NickChesterv / @_joelbenjamin_
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What the New British Porn Bill Means for You
Porn Stars Talk About the Weirdest Things They’ve Been Asked to Do for a Scene
