Flogging, an element of corporal punishment, was already practised by early humans. Sources can be found in the context of nearly all antique societies: the Sumerians did it, as did the Israelites; it was carried out in ancient India, China and Rome.

Sexual Punishment Through History – a picture story is reviewed at BDSM Files with plenty of tasty erotic dominance illustrations

Becoming particularly widespread in mediaeval times as a punishment, it was practised within Christian movements in the form of self-flagellation right up to the 19th century. In the USA, at the time of slavery, flogging was a frequent form of punishment, as it was under the National Socialist regime in Germany.  To this day, flogging is carried out as an element of sharia law in some Islamic societies. Even the corporal punishment of children by whipping survives in some countries to this day. Alongside the gradually declining punishment, there also exists sexually motivated flogging, or spanking, a BDSM practice.  

This photographic documentation consists of over 300 representations of flogging, among them a large proportion of erotic illustrations and depictions from antiquity to today. The images come from the most varied collections and sources. Certain of them have been further elucidated with text. They range from academic to porno trash and represent probably the most interesting and erotic collection ever put together on the subject of flogging.

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