What is Sexual Sadism?
It is important to distinguish between "Sadism", which is the term used in conjunction with Sadistic Personality Disorder, and "Sexual Sadism" which may be associated with SPD yet is classified as one of the paraphilias because of the specific sexual component. The two are most certainly related and an understanding of sadism is paramount to the understanding of sexual sadism but this particular section deals only with the paraphilia of sexual sadism.
Sexual sadism refers to the derivation of sexual pleasure from the infliction of pain, suffering and/or humiliation upon another person. The pain and suffering of the victim, which may be both physical and psychological, is pivotal to the sexual arousal and pleasure. The ICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1992) defines sadism as "preference for sexual activity that involves bondage or infliction of pain or humiliation."