There is a case before Italian courts at present that directly involves Code d’ Odalisque. The case concerns a married couple and a contractual arrangement in which the woman was to act as a sexual slave for her husband. The two-page written ‘Contract of Submission’ has been cited in court after the woman filed for divorce and now claims that she was subject to “physical abuse.” The couple were married for six years. The man insists that the woman signed the contract with full consent and, moreover, was fully consenting throughout their marriage. The contract grants the man ownership of the woman’s body and sex and gives him permission to enjoy her in any ways he chooses except for violent and extreme acts. It provides for designated safe words and stipulates that the slave cannot be damaged or blemished. The provisions of the contract are based on the protocols of Code d’ Odalisque – the couple were practicing odalisque slavery. It remains for the courts to decide the legality of their arrangement and to determine whether or not the woman was indeed abused.
Like similar cases, it raises important questions about the nature of consent. It is also another disturbing instance where it seems that a woman has backed down from a consensual agreement and is crying “rape” after the event. This is increasingly common. A woman makes an agreement but then, much later, claims that her consent was not “informed.” Courts have shown that they are inclined to side with the woman in such cases. Even if the woman signed a detailed contract giving plain and unequivocal consent, she merely has to say that her consent was not “informed” and courts will throw out the contract leaving the man exposed to criminal charges.
Such cases underline how careful a man must be regarding consensual slave arrangements. It is a fact of life that relationships can go bad, and it is a fact of life that when relationships sour some women become vindictive and vengeful. Hell hath no fury…! Men should be aware of these facts. And they should be aware that, these days, the law often rejects the idea of personal responsibility. No matter how careful a man is to ensure consent, he must face the possibility that the woman may – even years later – contest that consent and will receive a sympathetic hearing in court when she does so. The law rarely smiles on Slavekeepers and isn’t designed to accommodate consensual slavery lifestyles.
Two points to note:
It is a fundamental principle of law that a person cannot sign away their rights. For this reason, consensual slavery can only ever be of the nature of a game. Legally, a person cannot be a genuine slave and cannot consent to be subject to criminal acts. You cannot give someone the right to murder you, for instance. It doesn’t matter how consensual it is, murder is murder. Similarly, it doesn’t matter how consensual it is, physical abuse is physical abuse. If someone is killed, harmed or injured, consent is no defense. Play safe. Stay within the law.
Code d’ Odalisque reinforces consent with witnesses. Every contract must be witnessed. The problem in legal cases – as we see in this case in Italy - is often that it comes down to his word versus her word. Consent means very little in such cases. The best legal guarantee is to have one or more witnesses. Contracts should be witnessed and signed by a third party. This third party should be independent and convinced that consent is free and forthcoming and is willing to testify to this if the matter should ever end up in court. These matters were considered when Code d’ Odalisque was being developed. We sought legal advice. The advice was that all contracts should be witnessed as a minimum standard. A Contract of Submission signed just by Master and slave carries little weight in law and is always open to challenge because of the inherent disparity of power and authority between Master and slave. The slave might always say she was intimidated and manipulated. A witness to the contract – where that witness is independently convinced of the slave’s free consent – is protection against this.
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