Moreover, discrimination of fetish- and BDSM individuals is considered inconsistent with human rights principles endorsed by the United Nations and The World Health Organization.The classifications of sexual disorders reflect contemporary sexual norms and have moved from a model of pathologization or criminalization of non-reproductive sexual behaviors to a model which reflects sexual well-being and pathologizes the absence or limitation of consent in sexual relations.The ICD-11 classification, contrary to ICD-10 and DSM-5, clearly distinguishes consensual sadomasochistic behaviours (BDSM) that do not involve inherent harm to self or others, from harmful violence on non‐consenting persons (Coercive sexual sadism disorder).In this regard, "ICD-11 go further than the changes made for DSM-5 … in the removal of disorders diagnosed based on consenting behaviors that are not in and of themselves associated with distress or functional impairment. "In Europe, an organization called ReviseF65 has worked to remove sadomasochism from the ICD. On commission from the WHO ICD-11 Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health, ReviseF65 in 2009 and 2011 delivered reports documenting that sadomasochism and sexual violence are two different phenomena. The report concluded that the Sadomasochism diagnosis were outdated, non scientific, and stigmatizing. In 1995, Denmark became the first European Union country to have completely removed sadomasochism from its national classification of diseases. This was followed by Sweden in 2009, Norway in 2010, Finland in 2011 and Iceland in 2015.
For Deleuze, insofar as desire is a lack it is reducible to the "Look".Finally, after Deleuze, René Girard included his account of sadomasochism in Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World (1978), making the chapter on masochism a coherent part of his theory of mimetic desire. In this view of sadomasochism, the violence of the practices is an expression of a peripheral rivalry that has developed around the actual love-object. There is clearly a similarity to Deleuze, since both in the violence surrounding the memory of mimetic crisis and its avoidance, and in the resistance to affection that is focused on by Deleuze, there is an understanding of the value of the love object in terms of the processes of its valuation, acquisition and the test it imposes on the suitor. Modern psychology
There are a number of reasons commonly given for why a sadomasochist finds the practice of S&M enjoyable, and the answer is largely dependent on the individual. For some, taking on a role of compliance or helplessness offers a form of therapeutic escape; from the stresses of life, from responsibility, or from guilt. For others, being under the power of a strong, controlling presence may evoke the feelings of safety and protection associated with childhood. They likewise may derive satisfaction from earning the approval of that figure (see: Servitude (BDSM)). A sadist, on the other hand, may enjoy the feeling of power and authority that comes from playing the dominant role, or receive pleasure vicariously through the suffering of the masochist.