Avon & Somerset Police have issued a stark warning: there is no safe or legal way to strangle your partner during sex. In response to a troubling rise in cases involving young people being choked during consensual encounters, Crime Commissioner Clare Moody has launched a targeted campaign to raise awareness and prevent harm.
A recent survey conducted by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation, involving over 4,000 participants, revealed that more than one-third of individuals aged 16 to 34 have experienced strangulation or choking during consensual sex. Additionally, refuge services have reported a 9% increase in young survivors suffering from strangulation injuries over the past year.
Moody emphasizes the urgency of honest conversations surrounding the risks associated with this practice. “People deserve to feel safe in their relationships. Preventing this harm starts with acknowledging the dangers involved,” she stated.
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Strangulation during sex, often referred to as ‘breath play,’ carries severe risks including stroke, brain damage, loss of consciousness, and lasting cognitive effects—even when no outward injuries are visible. A recent MRI study comparing women who had been strangled during sex with those who had not found changes in brain areas responsible for movement, awareness, and emotional processing, highlighting potential long-term damage from repeated choking.
Importantly, medical experts caution that while many victims do not show external signs of injury, life-threatening complications can develop hours or even days after strangulation incidents.
Ms. Moody explains, “Our campaign aims to dispel the dangerous myth that strangulation is low risk or safe. There is no safe method to restrict someone’s airway or blood flow.”
Legally, the idea that strangulation is permissible if consensual is false. Since 2022, non-fatal strangulation (NFS) has been classified as a criminal offence. Consent does not apply where serious harm occurs; perpetrators face up to five years in prison.
In the year following the legislation, police in England and Wales recorded 23,817 reports of non-fatal strangulation. In addition, the government has announced plans to ban pornography depicting strangulation to reduce normalization of the practice.
The Police and Crime Commissioner’s ‘No Safe Way to Strangle’ campaign provides new training for frontline professionals to discuss the risks of NFS effectively. Within two days of launch, over 400 people enrolled in the training.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 999. Anyone strangled within the last 72 hours, or experiencing symptoms related to strangulation, should seek urgent medical attention.