RACK and SSC: two ways of thinking about consent and risk
RACK and SSC are two short labels the community uses for how to think about consent and risk. This page explains what they mean, what separates them and how they relate to this site.
1. Ways of thinking, not rules or guarantees
The frameworks are informal. They are not official standards, not laws and not rules you can follow to be safe. They are a short way of reminding each other what matters. The definitions vary somewhat from place to place.
Neither SSC nor RACK gives protection against liability under the law, and neither makes anything safe.
2. SSC (Safe, Sane and Consensual)
SSC stands for Safe, Sane and Consensual. The starting point is that what you do can and should be safe, that both of you are clear-headed, and that both have said yes.
SSC is easy to remember, and gives a clear minimum standard to think from.
3. RACK (Risk-Aware Consensual Kink)
RACK stands for Risk-Aware Consensual Kink. It arose as a response to what some saw as unclear or too strict in SSC. The word "safe" can be read as meaning there is no risk, and "sane" is subjective and hard to judge. Some activities also cannot be made completely safe.
RACK therefore replaces the requirement that something be safe with the idea that the parties should know what can go wrong and choose to accept it. It emphasises that both know the risk, and that consent is given with that knowledge.
4. The difference between them
| SSC | RACK | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Activities can and should be safe. | Nothing is ever completely safe. Risk can be understood and chosen. |
| Emphasis | That it is safe, that both are of sound mind, and that both consent. | That both know and accept the risk, and that both consent. |
| Strengths | Easy to remember. Gives a clear minimum standard. | Open about risk existing. Fits activities that cannot be made completely safe. |
| Criticism | "Safe" can suggest that risk does not exist. "Sane" is subjective and can feel like judging who is "normal". | Can be read as lowering the threshold for risk. Acceptance does not remove the risk. Assumes the risk is actually known. |
| When some prefer it | When they want a simple standard to point to. | When they want to be open that risk exists. |
Some use both: SSC as a short description for outsiders, and RACK as a more honest description among those who know the activities.
5. Other frameworks
There are several informal frameworks, and the names are not used the same way everywhere.
- PRICK emphasises personal responsibility: each participant takes responsibility for their own choices and is informed about the risk. The abbreviation is given differently in different sources, for example as "Personal Responsibility, Informed Consensual Kink".
- Four C's stands for Caring, Communication, Consent and Caution.
They are less well known than SSC and RACK, and are not standards.
6. How this relates to this site
The site does not use any one framework as a rule. It uses some tools that can support such ways of thinking:
- The "High risk" marking and the safety notes show that something has a known risk, so that you can know and choose. For some items the note states that they cannot be made completely safe.
- Safeword and traffic lights are a way of stopping or slowing down.
- Check-ins and aftercare are a way of talking to each other along the way and afterwards.
- Review is a way of going through the agreement again.
- CNC and "no limits" are choices that increase risk because there are fewer fixed stops. That makes it especially important that both know the risk.
None of this makes anything safe. The contract is symbolic, and consent can always be withdrawn.