Childhood Sexual Abuse

[leo9]

I don't believe this to be the case, generally. Of course, others could argue the opposite point but in general, I don't believe that "abusers" are dominant as a rule....any more than their victims are always submissive.

I have a suspicion that abuse survivors are as likely to turn to dominance as to submission. The important thing is to manage and feel safe with power relationships. As for abusers, they certainly have a need to control, but that's not the same thing as being a dominant, any more than a rapist is the same as a top.

Is it coincidence that there seem to be quite a few of the BDSM population who have been abused at some point in their lives? Maybe. Gather any large group of people from various backgrounds and there are bound to be a fair number with some type of abuse in their history.

My personal belief is that there are no more abuse survivors in the BDSM scene than in any random group, but because BDSMers tend to be frank about their sexual history (at least in a safe setting like this), there will be more people reporting a history of abuse.