Key Tips For Safeguarding Your Sexual Health At Kink Events
from
Recon News
13 February 2025
By
Dr Liam Wignall & Dr Tom Carpino,
Welcome to the first of some (semi) regular blog posts and deep dives into crossovers between kink and psychology. I'm Dr Liam Wignall, a psychology lecturer and kink researcher. For this first blog article, I'm joined by Dr Tom Carpino, a sexual health researcher.
The season of kink events is slowly approaching. It's the 15th anniversary of Darklands Europe; it's the 25th anniversary of Recon with celebrations at Fetish Week London; and Folsom Europe (Berlin) and Folsom Street (San Francisco) remain staples in many calendars. People often travel internationally to meet old/new friends, live their best kinky lives, and forget about "normal" life for a bit.
In my research, kinksters told me that they would plan their entire year around big kink events, foregoing traditional holidays of rest and relaxation in favor of "kink holidays." However, these events haven't just gotten the attention of kinksters – they've also appeared on the radar of World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2020, Darklands was one of the last big international kink events before social lockdown due to Covid-19. Many people were watching the event in anticipation to see what would happen. Darklands issued a statement about how measures were in place, including more disinfecting and hand sanitation stations. As expected, people reported increased rates of Covid-19 transmissions.
We spoke afterwards to people who went (some who caught Covid-19), saying they would still go back again, even aware of the increased risks. They weighed up these concerns against the need for potential benefits of intimacy, connection, and kink – something many of us were missing out on at the time. Covid-19 posed a risk to physical health, but for some, not attending Darklands would've impacted their mental health.
Even more recently in 2022, mpox (previously referred to as monkeypox) emerged as a public health emergency, being linked to large kink and fetish events. Quick refresher: mpox is a viral infection that can cause severe and painful bumps and rashes and can be particularly rough for people living with HIV. Kink events have been labelled as "superspreader" events for mpox due to the increased physical contact, with the WHO issuing a news release about the importance of taking precautions before kink events.
Chatting with Antoin at Team Recon, there are always health concerns with setting up Fetish Week London and play parties across the world. Recognizing the need for clear information, the San Francisco Aids Foundation released a guide on how to navigate mpox at Folsom Street and still have fun.
This article isn't meant to be alarmist and make you feel bad or nervous about going to kink events. There are risks associated with all activities – taking a train or bus puts you at risk of catching a cold or flu; getting takeout from a restaurant might lead to food poisoning; speaking to your line manager might cause migraines. Rather than stay indoors and avoid everyone and everything, most of us understand that there are risks in everyday life and think about how to navigate them.
This framing of navigating risk also applies to kink more generally. Some kink activities are inherently risky – bondage when too tight can reduce circulation; impact play when done wrong can cause long-term injuries; playing with consent in a kink scene can potentially lead to psychological distress. In kink, we don't pretend that these risks aren't there, but instead we think about how to navigate and potentially reduce the risks of these activities.
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Physical connection and intimacy (sexual and non-sexual) are incredibly important. So, if you're thinking about going to big kink events soon, we're sure you'll have an amazing time (and we hope we haven't put you off with our discussion so far!) Instead, our takeaway message is that we want you to be mindful of the potential risks involved in attending kink events, and kink more generally, and think about how you can navigate them. Some examples are:
• Consider your sexual health – If you're sexually active (or your kink involves some sort of sexual contact), keep on top of your health screenings and testing. It might even be a good idea to have a screening booked a few weeks before and a few weeks after a kink event. Also please remember - doing anal and penile swabs won't tell you if you have an infection in your throat, or vice versa! When possible, always swab all three.
• Speak to your sexual health advisors – Honest communication is integral to getting the treatment you may need. For example, if you engage in rimming or fisting, consider getting the Hepatitus A vaccine. Or if you're having a weekend of lots of condomless sex, throatfucking, and more, DoxyPEP, used within 72 hours, can greatly reduce the risk of gonorrhea and chlamydia. You can also speak to your general health advisors about vaccinations for other illnesses, like Covid-19 or meningitis, or other infections that can spread from skin-skin contact.
• Plan for your medications - If you're not living with HIV, taking anti-retrovirals and undetectable, consider taking extra precaution by using PrEP. If you're already on PrEP, you might also consider a long-acting version, so you don't have to juggle with pills schedules while you're travelling for events.
• Be open with others - sexual communication looks different for everyone. It may be difficult, but if it's important to you, don't wait until you're about to go down on somebody at a Glory Hole or until you're already engaged in penetrative sex to ask questions – that is not the time! Have these conversations beforehand. Not a requirement, but you could also put your vaccination or HIV status on your Recon profile.
• Listen to your body – if you're not feeling well, don't push yourself to attend things. You might end up with FOMO, but it would be even worse to attend something while not feeling great, have a rubbish time, and potentially pass on to other people anything that you have (we need to look after our community). We have mentioned mpox and Covid-19, but the flu is just as rubbish, and there will always be another kink party!
• Look after your body – if you're planning a long period of kink and sex, it's important that you look after your body, to be on top form for enjoying yourself. Eat food, drink water, go outside. Even if you're planning on deep penetrative fun, you still need to stay fed and hydrated (fun fact – eating yogurt can help boost your microbiome which can be useful if you're doing heavy ass play).
• Be kind to yourself – Although this blog has mostly focused on physical health and STIs, we know that taking care of your mental health is important and that everything for you can be a juggling act – whether that be physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs. It's important not to judge ourselves if needing to 'take a breath' or 'night off', especially during a hectic and fuck-filled event. Stigma is a real thing, and it doesn't always come from others, but the expectations we put on ourselves of how we should behave or act in various spaces.
• Make friends – Connect with people. Be curious. Ask questions. Build community. And if you take somebody's load (or anything else), maybe also take their contact information. Sure, this may not be possible in a darkroom, but one of the real benefits of an app like Recon at kink events is that you can contact people on it for future fun. It also allows you a way to let your partner(s) know if you may have given them something so they can take care of themselves. If the opportunity happens, why not cruise or message each other on the apps.
Finally, and most importantly, have fun.
For more information on STIs, sexual health, and kink, you can look up the links below!
***If you'd like to share a fetish or kink experience in a member article, send your ideas or a first draft to: social@recon.com
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