How we ensure the best experience for everyone who attends

At Erotic Living we host Spaces of Permission.

Spaces of Permission give us the chance to experience more than we generally think is possible for us in our lives.

Without permission you cannot grow.

And yet, with permission also comes responsibility.

So before you enrol we want you to know where we stand on safety and what we expect from you, if you chose to enter our world.

What We Expect From You as Participants

• You are fully aware of the new sexual consent laws in New South Wales. These laws refer both to intercourse and sexual touching. If you engage in a sexual act without saying or doing anything to find out if the other person is consenting, then you are breaking the law and may be charged with a serious crime. Moreover, you are over 18, if you enter the space - it goes without saying.

• If this is your first time at an EL festival, you must attend the “How To Navigate Spaces of Permission” orientation workshop on Zoom (usually held on the Thursday or Friday night before a week-end festival).

• You follow the facilitators’ instructions in each workshop. The purpose of instructions is to protect the safety of everyone in the group.

• You maintain the privacy and confidentiality of all attendees. Do not share identifiable information about other participants and/or take or share photos or videos during events without their explicit permission.

• You are not under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicant in the space without informing the people you interact with. From a legal point of view, this impacts on your ability to consent.

• You respect your own and other people’s “no”, whether expressed verbally or non-verbally; you do not make those who do not wish to interact with you feel uncomfortable.

• You learn about and communicate your boundaries with the people you interact with. It very often happens in these spaces that there are misunderstandings about boundaries. People sometimes don’t even know what their boundaries are until they are crossed. Learning about your boundaries and how to communicate them is one of the most important things that we practice at Erotic Living.

• Prior to entry to the festival, everyone (participants, team and facilitators) must sign a copy of the EL Waiver of Liability Agreement. It is emailed to all participants personally after booking and copies will also be provided at the event for participants to sign.

What You Can Expect from Us as Facilitators

• We provide you with tools to navigate Spaces of Permission.

• We rely on principles drawn from yoga, dance and the martial arts when teaching erotic practices. We do so because we believe embodiment is essential for healthy erotic life.

• We inform you of the risks involved in erotic activities and how you can minimise them. At EL we adopt a Dignity of Risk approach. Dignity of Risk means that rather than insisting that people practice certain activities in certain ways, we believe in respecting each individual's autonomy and self-determination to make choices for themselves as long as they have been informed in advance.

• During clothing-optional activities there will always be a facilitator supervising the space to make sure that the rules in the space are being followed.

• No facilitator will ever force you into doing anything. All activities with us are optional, whatever the format. It is always okay to step out or not participate. Erotic spaces are never about coercion. Erotic life is freedom with responsibility.

What You Should Not Expect From Us as Facilitators

• We are not qualified therapists. Therapy as such is not part of our offering. We are firstly educators and space holders. Should trauma come up for you while you are with us, we are more than happy to offer listening and support and recommend to you experts who may be able to help.

• We cannot guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong.

• At the end of the day we are human beings who also have a need for fun and pleasure. From time to time we interact in the space as private people. We inform you when we do that so as to avoid confusion.

When Spaces of Permission are well held by facilitators and participants behave responsibly, Erotic Living helps to promote a culture that is more knowledgable, free and mature when it comes to love and intimacy. This is our ultimate purpose.

Further Reading

• EL Policy on Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)?

• Frequently Asked Questions