BBC News
A rubber fetishist who raises money by going out in public in a bondage suit said he hoped his efforts would start a debate on stereotypes.
‘The Gimp Man of Essex’ gives £1 to Colchester Mind every time someone posts a photo with him to his Facebook page, which has more than 2,000 likes.
He said most people he met on the streets were friendly, but others made assumptions that he was “a paedophile or a pervert”.
So far he has raised £375 for charity.
A bondage suit, or “gimp suit”, is usually made from PVC, leather or rubber, and is used in bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadism and masochism (BDSM).
“When I first starting going out in my suit, someone suggested I could make a charity thing out of it,” he said. “I could go round and do some good.
“People call me a legend, but I only donate a few hundred quid and walk round looking a fool.”
James McQuiggan, the chief executive of Colchester Mind, said the charity was thankful for Gimp Man’s support and donations.
‘Adult enough’
Gimp Man, whose wife and children are unaware of his alter ego, said he does not go out during school holidays or at weekends.
“Most people are very welcoming when I tell them what it’s all about,” he said. “I don’t go round to scare the life out of people.
“I’ve been called a nutter before, but I don’t react to comments like that.”
Some social media users have questioned his authenticity and motives, but Gimp Man, who started taking to the streets in June 2013, said there was “no ulterior motive”. …
I’m open to changing my mind, but it seems to me that Fetlife is not an appropriate place to bring criminal charges. Any open forum could similarly be accused of failing it’s users if it didn’t allow unsubstantiated claims of abusive or criminal behavior. The police and the courts are the appropriate places to bring criminal complaints. If complaints of criminal activity were uncritically allowed on Fetlife, or any other forum, false claims could just as easily be made. And I don’t see any way that forum moderates could separate the false from the true claims.
people need to get their facts strait before they start lying to the world, reporters are idiots, how do they know fetlife has over 3.5 million members. they dont. most of those profiles are dead, some are duplicates and a lot are fake, i see many groups that have profiles, i see a few clubs that have profiles. i see many people set up a profile to see what fetlife is all about and never come back.
if this idiot would read the rules before setting up his phony profile, then he would know that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. then thet are banned.
i do know their are rapist using fetlife, but this is the fault of the police and the courts that allow rapists to live in our society, if they dont do thier job correctly then how does a website, that follow the rules of the land,do the jobs that our courts dont do
i see why fetlife does this. all you need is someone who has been broken up with; they are angry and has a “ill fix them” attitude. they can ruin someones’ life over this. fetlife is not the place for abuse allegations. if you have been raped, you go to law enforcement. if your limits are always being breached, maybe you are not taking enough time to get to know a potential play partner before playing with them. i waited a good 6 months of talking and getting to know my husband before playing with him. by the way, the author of this should learn a little about bdsm. ssc is a good, but rack (risk aware consensual kink)also a practice that is done; which is the one we follow.
Fetlife works very hard to keep members safe. They also work to protect everyone’s freedoms. Criminal accusations should be made to local law enforcement, not in a social media venue. And from what I have seen over many years is that Fetlife strongly encourages members to contact local law enforcement if any wrongdoings occur. While yes, abusers absolutely can and do lurk within the kink lifestyle, a social media administrator has no way of knowing if a complaint is just sour grapes from a disgruntled partner, or an actual case of abuse or rape.