About Informed Consent

IC was started during the Christmas holidays of 1997, and has gone through several stages of evolution over the years. It began with listings of websites, events and shops, but also had a thread of activism, as reflected in the name which stresses the consensual and legitimate nature of what we do. Even publishing BDSM listings was part of that activism in those days, as it was created when publications like Time Out and the Guardian refused to take BDSM ads, and it was genuinely hard to find people, shops, and events. In 1999 it became a free membership site with user-generated listings and blogs, and in 2005 social networking features, pictures, and web boards were added.

Now (2013) we're in a world where daytime TV talks about "Fifty Shades of Grey", and sites like Facebook, FetLife, Twitter, Pinterest, and Wordpress make it easy for people to network and to talk about their BDSM ideas, or their business, or their event. In March 2013 Informed Consent was refocused on to its core activism aims, and moved from informedconsent.co.uk to a much simpler news blog format at www.informedconsent.org.uk, which also hosts the archives of the boards, groups, and blogs from 2000 to 2013.

We also maintain the InformedConsent Twitter feed; and the Informed Consent group and InformedConsent profile/feed on FetLife. Along with the blog here, these profiles/groups will be used to publish BDSM news and activism updates with an emphasis on the UK.

The best way to contact us is by email, at admin AT informedconsent.org.uk