By Susan Wright, Director of IRR
The IRR Team assisted with 237 reports received by NCSF’s Incident Reporting & Response program in 2022, compared to 213 in 2021, 126 in 2020 and 183 in 2019. Under Criminal reports: 14 (22%) were about a kink/CNM community organizer, similar to NCSF’s Consent Violations Survey (2015) which found that 20% of the respondents reported that a kink community organizer had violated their consent.
NCSF maintains the confidentiality of those who come to us for help, however we balance that with the need to report the services we are providing and to provide the community with a record of where the need is the greatest. Here is a breakdown of the cases the IRR Team dealt with in 2022:
Groups
88 groups, events and businesses requested assistance or a member requested assistance with their group, compared to 74 in 2021, 36 in 2020, and 75 in 2019:
- 34 groups were asking about reports or reporting they had banned someone
- 21 groups asked for a consultation on their consent policies & procedures
- 6 people were banned by a group and want to appeal it
- 6 people were looking for resources and a KAP attorney to incorporate and open a club or shop
- 5 groups reported they were harassed by people who made demands about bans or their consent policies & procedures
- 5 groups asked for referrals for dealing with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion issues
- 3 groups needed to consult with a KAP attorney and/or insurance broker
- 2 groups needed resources to deal with zoning issue (1 involved an HOA)
- 2 groups were dealing with denial of services and de-platforming
- 2 groups needed assistance in reaching out to local authorities or services
- 2 groups reported a scam in their name
Criminal
75 people made reports & requested assistance compared to 71 in 2021, 40 in 2020 and 39 in 2019:
- 61 people reported assault, sexually assault, domestic violence, stalking, harassment, threats, theft, revenge porn,forced to take drugs, stealthing, recorded without consent or applying for a restraining order
- 7 people requested resources and referrals for attorneys and resources to assist in defending themselves against allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, a restraining order or they a needed an expert witness
- 5 reports were about public reports about warrants, arrest and conviction records for assault, sexual assault, or armed robbery
- 1 report involved FOSTA and online pornography
- 1 person reported being scammed
Professionals
21 requests from professionals about kink and non-monogamy compared to 27 in 2021, 22 in 2020 and 32 in 2019:
- 4 professionals, researchers and students needed information about kink or referrals for kink support group for clients
- 6 people were looking for a kink or polyamory aware therapist or medical professional
- 5 professionals reported licensing issues due to their kink or polyamory behavior
- 4 professionals reported online discrimination and deplatforming by services
- 2 professionals needed information about reporting licensing issues for other professionals
Outing & Doxing
20 groups or individuals reported being outed or doxed compared to 20 in 2021, and 4 in 2020. Due to the sharp increase, IRR created this new category:
- 5 people reported they were outed (3 on Facebook with 2 using FetLife screenshots, 1 during accusations of a consent violation, 1 on FetLife)
- 4 organizers and groups were outed or threatened with outing by people protesting their consent policy & procedures
- 3 people reported they were outed by an organizer (1 on FetLife)
- 3 people reported they were outed to their job (2 lost their job)
- 2 groups reported that a former leader outed their members
- 1 person reported being doxed
- 1 candidate for public office was outed as kinky by the media
- 1 person reported they were accused of outing and doxing
Civil
18 requests for assistance in civil legal issues compared to 11 in 2021, 16 in 2020, and 21 in 2019:
- 5 people needed assistance with job discrimination (1 for being kinky, 1 for kink and polyamory, 1 for being polyamorous, 1 for being transgender, and 1 for having an adults-only social media account)
- 4 people reported defamation and needed a mediator or attorney referrals
- 3 people reported threats of being sued for defamation after speaking out about consent violations
- 3 people needed a KAP attorney or expert witness to sue someone or a group (1 was a copyright issue)
- 1 person reported they were de-platformed
- 1 person needed a KAP attorney for a work visa
- 1 person was looking for nondiscrimination policies on sexual expression and gender identity to give to their workplace
Child Custody & Divorce
15 parents requested help with child custody issues:
- 5 involved kink
- 3 involved polyamory
- 2 involved kink and polyamory
- 2 involved swinging Lifestyle
- 2 parents reported they were reported falsely to CPS in retaliation for talking about consent incidents
- 1 involved cross-dressing
Year by year comparison for Child Custody reports, with 2021 the least reports ever received:
15 in 2022
10 in 2021
12 in 2020
16 in 2019
30 in 2018
27 in 2017
16 in 2016
26 in 2015
37 in 2014