Svein Skeid: Feiring av WHOs friskmelding i paraden under Oslo Pride 2018.
Verdens helseorganisasjon følger de nordiske land og fjerner samtykkende seksuelle minoriteter fra det internasjonale diagnoseregisteret. 8 år etter den norske friskmeldingen følger verdenssamfunnet etter.
Diagnosene som tas ut av registeret er fetisjisme, fetisjistisk transvestisme og sadomasochisme.
Ingvild Endestad
– Dette er en milepæl i arbeidet for menneskerettigheter for en betydelig minoritet, sier Ingvild Endestad, leder i FRI, Foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold. Anbefalingene fra FRI er i sin helhet tatt til følge.
Svein Skeid i FRIs diagnoseutvalg Revise F65, er svært tilfreds med at et over 20 år langt arbeid er kronet med hell. Basert på norsk modell og pionérarbeidet til det norske diagnoseutvalget, ble de tre fetisj- og bdsm-diagnosene fjernet i Sverige, Norge, Finland og Island i løpet av seks år.
– WHOs internasjonale friskmelding kan føre til at gruppene vil kunne nyte samme frihet og selvrespekt som andre skeive. Revisjonen kan også gjøre det lettere å avskaffe anti-bdsm-lover i en del land og muliggjøre lovregulert vern mot diskriminering på linje med andre minoriteter.
Svein Skeid og Odd Reiersøl.
Psykolog Odd Reiersøl, som sammen med Svein Skeid har ledet diagnoseutvalget, sier retten til å bestemme over egen seksualitet og retten til privatliv har vært grunnleggende i arbeidet med å fjerne homofili og deretter fetisjisme og sadomasochisme som sykdomsdiagnoser.
18. juni 2018 fjernet WHO de tre diagnosene globalt. Alle anmodninger fra Revise F65 ble tatt til følge i den nye oppdaterte versjonen av ICD-11, fordi diagnosene Fetisjisme, Transvestisk Fetisjisme og Sadomasochisme, ifølge WHOs arbeidsgruppe for Seksuelle Sykdommer og Seksuell Helse, ikke er ”relevant to public health and clinical psychopathology” but ”merely reflect private behaviour”. Disse vesentlige endringene er, ifølge WHO, ”based on advances in research and clinical practice, and major shifts in social attitudes and in relevant policies, laws, and human rights standards”.
Respekt, tillit og kjærlighet er grunnleggende i et bdsm-forhold.
* BDSM en seksuell identitet som dreier seg å frivillig å dominere andre eller selv å bli dominert, eller frivillig å gi eller å bli påført smerte.
* Seksuell fetisjisme er seksualitet der konkrete gjenstander, handlinger eller ideer gir seksuell tenning og nytelse.
* FRI satte i 1997 ned et utvalg for å drive arbeidet med avdiagnostisering. I 2010 ble fetisjisme og sadomasochisme fjernet som sykdommer i Norge. I 2018 skjedde det samme i WHOs diagnoseregister.
* På oppdrag fra WHOs arbeidsgruppe for seksuelle sykdommer og seksuell helse, har FRIs diagnoseutvalg Revise F65 levert to rapporter som dokumenterer at de tre diagnosene er utdaterte, uvitenskapelige og stigmatiserende.
Odd Reiersøl er en erfaren norsk psykolog som i 30 år har hjulpet mennesker med å godta seksualiteten sin, blant annet med individual-, par- og gruppeterapi, samt utdanning av andre fagfolk. Epost: solverv@solverv.com. Mobil: 94 03 46 88.
Ingvild Endestad er leder i FRI, Foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold. Epost: ingvild@foreningenfri.no. Telefon: 97 56 22 95.
Svein Skeid er initiativtager og leder av FRIs Diagnoseutvalg Revise F65. Han er prisbelønnet for sitt arbeid med homofiles og bdsm-eres menneskerettigheter gjennom 30 år. Han er offentlig godkjent fysioterapeut med videreutdanning innen psykiatrisk orientert fysioterapi. Epost: sskeid@online.no. Mobil: 95 80 29 85.
WHO TAKES 150 MILLION BDSM AND FETISH PEOPLE OFF THE SICK LIST GLOBALLY
The European ReviseF65 movement won a great victory June 18, 2018 when the World Health Organization (WHO) removed Fetishism and Sadomasochism as mental diseases from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
The ReviseF65 committee has since 2007 worked close to WHO’s Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health to repeal the diagnoses, and we got more than we asked for. Leather, fetish and BDSM people now have the same rights and status as other sexual minorities, according to WHO.
Rallying for Fetish human rights during Folsom Europe in Berlin 2018.
According to ICD-11, discrimination of fetish and bdsm people are considered inconsistent with human rights principles endorsed by the UN and the WHO.
MAJOR SHIFTS: Due to advances in research and clinical practice, major shifts in social attitudes and in relevant policies, and human rights standards, the World Health Organization June 18, 2018, removed Fetishism, Transvestic Fetishism and Sadomasochism as psychiatric diagnoses.
BDSM IS NOT VIOLENCE: The new ICD-11 classification (for the very first time) clearly distinguishes BDSM from harmful violence, in accordance with recommendations from Revise F65.
PRIVATE BEHAVIOUR: ”From WHO’s perspective, there is an important distinction between conditions that are relevant to public health and indicate the need for health services versus those that are simply descriptions of private behaviour without appreciable public health impact and for which treatment is neither indicated nor sought.”
NORMAL VARIANTS: The new ICD classification consider Fetishism, Fetishistic Transvestism and Sadomasochism as variants in sexual arousal.
RESPECT: The ICD-11 guidelines ”respect the rights of individuals whose atypical sexual behavior is consensual and not harmful.”
ABUSE OF BDSM PEOPLE: WHO’s ICD-11 Working Group admits that psychiatric diagnoses has been abused to harass, silence, or imprison sadomasochists. Labeling them as such may create harm, convey social judgment and exacerbate existing stigma and violence to individuals so labeled.
DISCRIMINATION: According to ICD-11, psychiatric diagnoses can no longer be used to discriminate against BDSM people and fetishists.
CHANGING LAWS: This landmark of a human rights reform have potential to remove anti bdsm laws in several countries and include sexual identity/fetish/bdsm in national laws against discrimination along with other minority groups.
SPREAD THE WORD: The challenge now is to reach out with this landmark of a human rights reform so that attitudes can change, empowering pride and identity in our community. You can help informing like-minded people and inspire others to do the same – in meetings, social settings, social networks and media. You can possibly also encourage others to engage in further sexual political work to follow up the WHO reform.
We already have got inquiries from therapists who want to hang up our banner in their health practices to inform about the reform.
Admin Nigel publised June 20, 2018 on BLUF.com:
– No more sick filth!
“Just in time for Pride, over twenty years of hard work by BLUF member Svein Skeid aka oslosuB (641) have paid off, with the World Health Organisation revising its classification of diseases, removing fetishism and BDSM.”
Mike W on the #gear365 FB group writes June 22, 2018:
“… this is an excellent posting. It’s well timed with my discovery of #Gear365. In a short space of time the international encouragement to get out and be who I am has done what years and years of angst and stress failed to achieve. Thanks guys, a huge thanks!
”This is great news for all of us in to fetish gear and BDSM. Now our leather and rubber communities can grow and we can wear our gear proudly.”
”This is absolutely tremendous news, Svein! Thanks for all your efforts to bring our amazing community out of the WHO biggot list once and for all. You’re a true hero!”
Polish Marcin has been in contact with Revise F65 since 2012. June 21, 2018 he writes:
”… that was great news, I had some personal problem with that – my previos wife tries to take my kid from me, and I have to go to several sexologist and psychiatrist to prove, that I’m normal. Now I can tell everyone, that I’m normal, and I have it in written ;).”
Ground-breaking pioneering work
Svein Skeid and Odd Reiersøl. Photo: private.
– Denmark, which removed sadomasochism from its national list of diseases in 1995, was our big source of inspiration, says Svein Skeid, the leader of Revise F65. Skeid and psychologist Odd Reiersøl started a ground-breaking cooperation across national borders and sexual orientations where dozens of activists, organizations and professionals contributed.
– It is very important for these individuals that society recognizes them as equal citizens, expressed the director of the health department, Lars-Erik Holm, to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter November 11th 2008, when the three diagnoses were abolished in Sweden.
– I heard the news on a Norwegian radio station and understood that an equivalent removal could also be within reach in Norway, Skeid tells.
– I had recently been in Stockholm during Europride and given the organization RFSU our arguments, he says. I became very touched by the Director General’s statement: ”The health department wants to emphasize that these behaviors are neither illnesses nor perversions.”
The Nordic model
CELEBRATION DURING BERGEN PRIDE: Svein Skeid in the middle. Bergen Pride June 9th 2018. Photo: private.
– Within 6 years the diagnoses were repealed in all the Nordic countries, patterned after the Norwegian model and the pioneering work of Revise F65, psychologist Odd Reiersøl tells. – Thus the pressure increased on The World Health Organisation to follow suit. After a while Revise F65 achieved direct contact with the authorities in Geneva.
– In 2009 we received a commission from Senior Project Officer Dr. Geoffrey Reed, who has been the leader of WHO’s Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health. This resulted in a 3 page report documenting that the diagnoses in question are outdated, non scientific, and stigmatizing, says Reiersøl.
Dr. Reed asked for additional evidence, and November 11, 2011 ReviseF65 delivered a 50 page summary of research based knowledge, documenting that sadomasochism and sexual violence are two different phenomena. Among other things, the fetish/bdsm population has equivalent scores with the rest of the population regarding democratic values such as empathy, responsibility and gender equality.
Already the next day Dr. Reed gave feedback about perfect timing since the revision committee soon would have their very first meeting discussing the reports.
Respect, trust and love is basic in a bdsm relationship. Photo published with permission by probondage.de
* BDSM is a sexual identity/orientation about voluntarily to dominate or being dominated, or voluntarily give or receive pain.
* Fetishism is a sexuality involving specific objects, actions or ideas, which give sexual exitement and pleasure.
* The right to have control over one’s own sexuality and the right to privacy have been fundamental in the work to repeal homosexuality and subsequently fetishism and sadomasochism as mentally illnesses.
* The Norwegian LGBT organisation FRI in 1997 established a committee to work for the national and international repeal of bdsm and fetish diagnoses. In 2010 the diagnoses were removed from the Norwegian list of diseases. In 2018 the World Health Organisation followed suit.
Svein Skeid is founder and leader of the Revise F65 project. He is award-winning for his work in the field of bdsm human rights for three decades. He is a Norwegian registered physiotherapist with professional background in psychiatry. E-mail: sskeid@online.no. Mobile: +47 95 80 29 85.
Odd Reiersøl is an experienced Norwegian psychologist for 30 years working with adults, couples and groups and educating other professionals. E-mail: solverv@solverv.com. Mobile: +47 94 03 46 88.
Verdens helseorganisasjon (WHO) følger de nordiske land og fjerner samtykkende seksuelle minoriteter fra den internasjonale sykdomslista. 8 år etter at Fetisjisme, Transvestistisk Fetisjisme og Sadomasochisme ble fjernet i Norge følger verdenssamfunnet etter.
(tekst oppdatert 5.5.2019)
FORSKNING OG POLITIKK: Bakgrunnen for at Verdens helseorganisasjon 18.6.2018, i tråd med anbefalingene fra Revise F65, fjerner Fetisjisme, Transvestisk Fetisjisme og Sadomasochisme som psykiatriske lidelser, er ”fremskritt i forskning og klinisk praksis, betydelige endringer i samfunnets holdninger, helsepolitiske vedtak og menneskerettighetsstandarder.”
Helene Delilah og Svein Skeid rollespiller WHOs friskmelding på scenen under Europride i Stockholm 4.8.2018.
SM ER IKKE VOLD: Den nye ICD-klassifikasjonen skiller (for første gang), i tråd med Revise F65s anbefalinger, klart mellom BDSM og skadelig vold og overgrep.
PRIVATE FORHOLD: WHOs nye ICD-11-klassifikasjon betrakter fetisjisme og sadomasochism/bdsm som private forhold der behandling verken er indisert eller ønsket.
NORMALVARIANTER: Den nye ICD-11-klassifikasjonen betrakter fetisjisme og sadomasochisme som normalvarianter på linje med homoseksualitet som ble friskmeldt i 1990.
DISKRIMINERING: Videre fremgår det at psykiatriske diagnoser ikke lenger kan brukes til å trakassere eller diskriminere fetisjister og bdsm-ere. WHOs arbeidsgruppe for klassifisering av seksuelle sykdommer og seksuell helse innrømmer at psykiatriske diagnoser har blitt misbrukt til å stigmatisere og diskriminere fetisjister og bdsm-ere.
MENNESKERETTIGHETER: Videre fremgår det at stigmatisering og diskriminering av fetisjister og bdsm-ere ifølge ICD-11 er i strid med menneskerettighetene vedtatt av FN og Verdens helseorganisasjon.
Dette er informasjon fra WHOs arbeidsgruppe som vedtok friskmeldingen av fetisjister og bdsm-ere (fetisjisme og sadomasochisme).
– Dette er en milepæl i arbeidet for menneskerettigheter og for seksuell frigjøring, sier Ingvild Endestad, leder i FRI, Foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold. Samtykkende seksualitet har ingenting i psykiatrien å gjøre. Dette er en enormt viktig anerkjennelse av det seksualitetsmangfoldet som finnes blant oss, fortsetter hun.
Ingvild Endestad
Endestad gir Svein Skeid og FRIs utvalg Revise F65 mye av æren for seieren. Gruppens menneskerettigheter er del av det faglige grunnlaget for revisjonen der anbefalingene fra FRI i sin helhet er tatt til følge.
Arbeidet med å avskaffe fetisj- og bdsm-diagnosene har vært del av FRIs og tidligere LLHs arbeids- og prinsipprogram siden 1996. Etter over 20 års lobby- og informasjonsarbeid har FRIs diagnoseutvalg Revise F65 med Svein Skeid i spissen oppfylt sitt mandat om både nasjonal (2010) og internasjonal friskmelding.
– Opphevelsen av fetisjisme, fetisjistisk transvestisme og sadomasochisme som sykdomsdiagnoser kan føre til at disse gruppene vil kunne nyte samme frihet og selvrespekt som andre skeive. Revisjonen av ICDs F65-kapittel kan også gjøre det lettere å fremme forskning, avskaffe anti-bdsm-lover og muliggjøre lovregulert vern mot diskriminering for gruppen.
Grensesprengende pionérarbeid
Svein Skeid og Odd Reiersøl.
– Danmark, som fjernet sadomasochisme fra sin nasjonale sykdomsliste i 1995, var vår inspirasjonskilde, sier leder i Revise F65, Svein Skeid. Skeid og psykolog Odd Reiersøl startet et grensesprengende arbeid på tvers av landegrenser og seksuell orientering der dusinvis av aktivister, organisasjoner og fagfolk bidro.
– Det är väldigt viktigt för de här individerna att samhället erkänner dem som fullvärdiga medborgare, uttalte generaldirektør i Socialstyrelsen, Lars-Erik Holm til Dagens Nyheter 17. november 2008 da de tre diagnosene ble fjernet i Sverige.
– Jeg hørte nyheten på radioens p4 og forsto at friskmelding også kunne være innen rekkevidde i Norge, forteller Skeid.
– Jeg hadde nettopp vært i Stockholm under Europride og gitt RFSU våre argumenter. Jeg ble svært rørt over generaldirektørens erklæring: ”Socialstyrelsen vill med den här förändringen understryka att det här är beteenden som inte är sjukdomar och inte heller är perverst”.
Den nordiske modellen
– I løpet av seks år ble diagnosene avskaffet i hele Norden etter norsk mønster og pionérarbeidet til Diagnoseutvalget Revise F65, forteller psykolog Odd Reiersøl. Dermed økte presset på Verdens helseorganisasjon som hadde startet arbeidet med å revidere ICD-10. Diagnoseutvalget fikk etter hvert direkte kontakt med de ansvarlige i Geneve.
På oppdrag fra Senior Project Officer Dr. Geoffrey Reed, som ledet revisjonen av WHOs liste over mentale sykdommer, oversendte Revise F65 i 2009 en tre siders rapport som dokumenterte at de tre diagnosene er utdaterte, uvitenskapelige og stigmatiserende.
Dr. Reed ønsket ytterligere informasjon og 11. november 2011 leverte Revise F65 en 50 siders litteraturgjennomgang med forskningsbasert kunnskap som dokumenterte at sadomasochisme og vold er to ulike fenomener. Blant annet skårer fetisj/bdsm-gruppen likt med befolkningen forøvrig på demokratiske verdier som empati, likeverd og likestilling.
Allerede dagen etter meldte Dr. Reed at timingen var perfekt fordi revisjonskomiteen snart skulle ha sitt første møte der rapportene ville bli behandlet.
18. juni 2018 fjernet WHO de tre diagnosene globalt. Alle anmodninger fra Revise F65 ble tatt til følge i den nye oppdaterte versjonen av ICD-11, fordi diagnosene Fetisjisme, Transvestisk Fetisjisme og Sadomasochisme, ifølge WHOs arbeidsgruppe for Seksuelle Sykdommer og Seksuell Helse, ikke er ”relevant to public health and clinical psychopathology” but ”merely reflect private behaviour”. Disse vesentlige endringene er, ifølge WHO, ”based on advances in research and clinical practice, and major shifts in social attitudes and in relevant policies, laws, and human rights standards”.
Kodeverket tas i bruk umiddelbart, mens endelig versjon vedtas i 2019 etter tekniske tilbakemeldinger fra medlemslandene. Struktur, koding og øvrig materiale, vil ifølge WHO forbli uendret etter implementeringen i juni 2018.
Respekt, tillit og kjærlighet er grunnleggende i et bdsm-forhold.
* BDSM er en seksuell orientering som dreier seg om frivillig å dominere andre eller selv å bli dominert eller frivillig gi eller bli påført smerte.
* Seksuell fetisjisme er seksualitet der konkrete gjenstander, handlinger eller ideer gir seksuell tenning og nytelse.
* Retten til å bestemme over egen seksualitet og retten til privatliv har vært grunnleggende i arbeidet for å fjerne homofili og deretter fetisjisme og sadomasochisme som sykdomsdiagnoser.
* FRI satte i 1997 ned et utvalg for å drive arbeidet med avdiagnostisering. I 2010 ble fetisjisme og sadomasochisme tatt ut av sykdomslisten I Norge. I 2018 skjedde det samme i WHOs liste.
Ingvild Endestad er leder i FRI, Foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold. Epost: ingvild@foreningenfri.no. Telefon: 97 56 22 95 (kun presse).
Svein Skeid er initiativtager og leder av FRIs Diagnoseutvalg Revise F65. Han er prisbelønnet for sitt arbeid med homofiles og bdsm-eres menneskerettigheter gjennom 30 år. Han er offentlig godkjent fysioterapeut med videreutdanning innen psykiatrisk orientert fysioterapi. Epost: sskeid@online.no. Mobil: 95 80 29 85.
Odd Reiersøl er en erfaren norsk psykolog som i 30 år har hjulpet mennesker med å godta seksualiteten sin, blant annet med individual-, par- og gruppeterapi, samt utdanning av andre fagfolk. Epost: solverv@solverv.com. Mobil: 94 03 46 88.
The World Health Organization (WHO) follows the Nordic countries in repealing sexual minorities with consenting practices from the International Classification of Diseases in the new ICD-11 revision.
(Updated August 31, 2018)
RESEARCH AND HEALTH POLITICS: “Due to advances in research and clinical practice, major shifts in social attitudes and in relevant policies, and human rights standards”, the World Health Organization June 18, 2018, removes Fetishism, Transvestic Fetishism and Sadomasochism as psychiatric diagnoses.
BDSM IS NOT VIOLENCE:
Helene Delilah and Svein Skeid roleplaying getting off the WHO sick list at the stage during Europride in Stockholm August 4, 2018.
The new ICD-11 classification (for the very first time) clearly distinguishes BDSM from harmful violence, in accordance with recommendations from Revise F65.
PRIVATE BEHAVIOUR: ”From WHO’s perspective, there is an important distinction between conditions that are relevant to public health and indicate the need for health services versus those that are simply descriptions of private behaviour without appreciable public health impact and for which treatment is neither indicated nor sought.”
VARIANTS IN SEXUAL AROUSAL: The new ICD classification consider Fetishism, Fetishistic Transvestism and Sadomasochism as variants in sexual arousal.
DISCRIMINATION: Psychiatric diagnoses can no longer be used to discriminate against fetishists and bdsm people. WHO’s Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health admit that psychiatric diagnoses has been abused to harass, silence, or imprison leather men and bdsm women.
HUMAN RIGHTS: The Working Group emphasize that a disease label may create violence and discrimination and consider stigmatization of fetishism and bdsm as inconsistent with human rights principles endorsed by the UN and the WHO.
– This is a milestone in the work for human rights and sexual liberation, says Ingvild Endestad, leader of FRI, the Norwegian LGBT organisation for sexual and gender diversity. Consensual sexuality has nothing to do with psychiatry. This is an immensely important recognition of the sexual diversity among us, she says.
Ingvild Endestad. Photo: FRI.
Endestad gives Svein Skeid and FRI’s Revise F65 committee much of the credit for the victory. Human rights standards are part of the professional basis for the reform and the recommendations from Revise F65 are entirely taken into account.
– The work to remove bdsm and fetish diagnoses has been part of the Norwegian LGBT organisation since 1996. After more than 20 years of sexual political efforts the Revise F65 committee, with Svein Skeid in the lead, has fulfilled its mandate both nationally (2010) and internationally, she says.
– The withdrawal of fetishism, fetishistic transvestism, and sadomasochism as mental illnesses can lead to the same pride and freedom that other queer groups enjoy. The revision of the F65 ICD chapter can also make it easier to encourage research, get rid of anti bdsm laws and become included in national laws against discrimination, Endestad concludes.
Read responses from fetish/bdsm people to WHO’s June 18 announcement:
Susan Wright in the American organization NCSF (National Coalition for Sexual Freedom) reports July 12, 2018 about a child custody case in Belgium. The woman was so glad Revise F65 did this work so she has a defense.
Polish Marcin has been in contact with Revise F65 since 2012. June 21, 2018 he writes:
”… that was great news, I had some personal problem with that – my previos wife tries to take my kid from me, and I have to go to several sexologist and psychiatrist to prove, that I’m normal. Now I can tell everyone, that I’m normal, and I have it in written ;).”
Mike W on the #gear365 FB group writes June 22, 2018:
“… this is an excellent posting. It’s well timed with my discovery of #Gear365. In a short space of time the international encouragement to get out and be who I am has done what years and years of angst and stress failed to achieve. Thanks guys, a huge thanks!
Admin Nigel publised June 20, 2018 on BLUF.com:
– No more sick filth!
Just in time for Pride, over twenty years of hard work by BLUF member Svein Skeid aka oslosuB (641) have paid off, with the World Health Organisation revising its classification of diseases, removing fetishism and BDSM.
”This is great news for all of us in to fetish gear and BDSM. Now our leather and rubber communities can grow and we can wear our gear proudly.”
”This is absolutely tremendous news, Svein! Thanks for all your efforts to bring our amazing community out of the WHO biggot list once and for all. You’re a true hero!”
Ground-breaking pioneering work
Svein Skeid and Odd Reiersøl. Photo: private.
– Denmark, which removed sadomasochism from its national list of diseases in 1995, was our big source of inspiration, says Svein Skeid, the leader of Revise F65. Skeid and psychologist Odd Reiersøl started a ground-breaking cooperation across national borders and sexual orientations where dozens of activists, organizations and professionals contributed.
– It is very important for these individuals that society recognizes them as equal citizens, expressed the director of the health department, Lars-Erik Holm, to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter November 11th 2008, when the three diagnoses were abolished in Sweden.
– I heard the news on a Norwegian radio station and understood that an equivalent removal could also be within reach in Norway, Skeid tells.
– I had recently been in Stockholm during Europride and given the organization RFSU our arguments, he says. I became very touched by the Director General’s statement: ”The health department wants to emphasize that these behaviors are neither illnesses nor perversions.”
The Nordic model
MORE CELEBRATION: Svein Skeid in the middle. From Bergen Pride June 9th 2018. Photo: private.
– Within 6 years the diagnoses were repealed in all the Nordic countries, patterned after the Norwegian model and the pioneering work of Revise F65, psychologist Odd Reiersøl tells. – Thus the pressure increased on The World Health Organisation to follow suit. After a while Revise F65 achieved direct contact with the authorities in Geneva.
– In 2009 we received a commission from Senior Project Officer Dr. Geoffrey Reed, who has been the leader of WHO’s Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health. This resulted in a 3 page report documenting that the diagnoses in question are outdated, non scientific, and stigmatizing, says Reiersøl.
Dr. Reed asked for additional evidence, and November 11, 2011 ReviseF65 delivered a 50 page summary of research based knowledge, documenting that sadomasochism and sexual violence are two different phenomena. Among other things, the fetish/bdsm population has equivalent scores with the rest of the population regarding democratic values such as empathy, responsibility and gender equality.
Already the next day Dr. Reed gave feedback about perfect timing since the revision committee soon would have their very first meeting discussing the reports.
June 18, 2018 the World Health Organisation removed the three fetish and bdsm diagnoses globally. All recommendations from Revise F65 were taken into account in the new revised ICD-11 classification, because the diagnoses of Fetishism, Fetishistic transvestism and Sadomasochism, according to WHO’s Working Group, not are ”relevant to public health and clinical psychopathology” but ”merely reflect private behaviour”. These substantial changes are, according to WHO, ”based on advances in research and clinical practice, and major shifts in social attitudes and in relevant policies, laws, and human rights standards”.
Respect, trust and love is basic in a bdsm relationship. Photo published with permission by probondage.de
* BDSM is a sexual identity/orientation about voluntarily to dominate or being dominated, or voluntarily give or receive pain.
* Fetishism is a sexuality involving specific objects, actions or ideas, which give sexual exitement and pleasure.
* The right to have control over one’s own sexuality and the right to privacy have been fundamental in the work to repeal homosexuality and subsequently fetishism and sadomasochism as mentally illnesses.
* The Norwegian LGBT organisation FRI in 1997 established a committee to work for the national and international repeal of bdsm and fetish diagnoses. In 2010 the diagnoses were removed from the Norwegian list of diseases. In 2018 the World Health Organisation followed suit.
Ingvild Endestad is leader of the LGBT-organisation FRI, the Norwegian organisation for sexual and gender diversity. E-mail: ingvild@foreningenfri.no. Phone: +47 97 56 22 95.
Svein Skeid is founder and leader of the Revise F65 project. He is award-winning for his work in the field of bdsm human rights for three decades. He is a Norwegian registered physiotherapist with professional background in psychiatry. E-mail: sskeid@online.no. Mobile: +47 95 80 29 85.
Odd Reiersøl is an experienced Norwegian psychologist for 30 years working with adults, couples and groups and educating other professionals. E-mail: solverv@solverv.com. Mobile: +47 94 03 46 88.
