An element that runs through all sexuality is consent, as a matter of personal autonomy. In kinky play there are other factors, such as specific activities being consented, duration of session permitted and any additional considerations required for all partners involved to still be considered as actively consented to play. In some types of play, such as bondage and D/s consent can become more of a difficult topic because of the nature of the form of play. In general safewords are to protect from danger in D/s and SM sessions when they become too intense, but are not designed as a means of mediating consent.

In some sessions where bondage or D/s is involved emotions can change rapidly, resulting in situations where the bound or submissive partner feels the need to exit a session without a regular criteria for safewords (danger, nearing limits, etc) being met. Both partners retain the right to retract consent during a session, but this type of play creates a somewhat gray area of agency. Part of the appeal of bondage and D/s is the "no way out" fantasy, wherein once bound or submitted the subject has no mechanism for backing out. The right to withdraw consent complicates that element. In some relationships it is just accepted that this capacity exists as a component of personal autonomy. In other relationships it is agreed that the right to withdraw consent is suspended for certain types of activities, for example, after the subject is bound their ability to withdraw consent is suspended for the duration of that activity. In cases where the right to withdraw consent is suspended it is assumed that the dominant partner will exercise good judgement on any request for release to determine if any risk exists for the session to continue or if some type of accommodation (emotional support) needs to be made to continue. Morally this suspension functions through treating the pre-bound or pre-submitted state of mind as "mentally sound" and the bound/submitted state as "impaired judgement", granting the dominant partner partial proxy of consent, which carries the responsibility of taking the action that will cause the least harm.

Why might consent be suspended? Ending a session prematurely can create feelings of disappointment or regret. Emotions that arise during a session can result in shifted priorities for a time, which may not be consistent with the desires or goals of the individual, things that an observant dominant partner would be aware of. Exercising communication before and during a session can assist in understanding the needs of each partner.

As with most things in kink play, communicating before a session or generally discussing preferences with a partner can be beneficial in determining the best way to handle consent.