Swingers
Podcast

Swingers

BBC Radio Wales

7 episodes

Swingers tells the story of Ruth - a woman who joined a Swinging website and ended up having degrading sex with strangers more than 100 times.   Ruth thinks she is not alone, that there are women all over the UK like her and so she decided to tell her story, using her full identity, to investigative journalist Catrin Nye.  Ruth says that she never wanted to join the swingers website - but did it to please her husband who had been slowly persuading her for more than a decade to try swinging. She ended up having sex with strangers in lay-bys and filming it for her husband. She ended up pregnant by a stranger and giving oral sex to another man while bleeding from an abortion.    In this podcast Catrin pieces together Ruth’s story and asks what it tells us about sexual consent, pressure in relationships, and the swinger community. She digs deep into the online world of Fab Swingers - the website Ruth and her husband used. Catrin discovers countless crimes across the UK linked to the swinging website and speaks to a man who admits to having sex with women who he thinks were pushed into it.   She considers the police response to Ruth, the law and whether swinging can be a cover for abuse.    This is a story told in full honesty. It’s the trickiest investigation of Catrin’s career, but one she also feels must be told.

What this show covers

consentWhatsApp messagescoercive controljustice systemrelationship abuseleaving a marriagedomestic abuseBlack Mirrorpersonal testimonyfreedom and fearmental healthinvestigationtrue crimerelationshipscoercion

What listeners will find here

How do messages shape consent in controlling relationships?
This previewed episode looks at Ruth’s messages, which shift between enthusiasm, fear, trauma and wanting to stop. Based on the show notes, it explores why communication in controlling relationships can’t be read in isolation and how the justice system struggles with questions of consent.
A turning point: Ruth’s decision to leave after a moment of recognition
This preview is based on the episode notes, not the audio itself. Episode 6 follows Ruth as she reflects on the realization that led her to secretly prepare to leave her marriage, with help from friends and domestic abuse services.
How did Ruth’s life narrow into fear, secrecy and routines she says she never wanted?
This preview, based only on the published show notes, points to an episode about coercion, vulnerability and the gradual escalation of risky sexual encounters. It appears to explore Ruth’s account alongside friends’ memories, while asking how someone strong and outspoken ended up in a life she says she did not choose.
Inside a swingers club: rules, relationship pressure, and a FabSwingers data angle
This preview, based only on the published show notes, suggests an episode that contrasts the stated rules of swinging with the realities of pressure and risk. It also points to FOI data showing hundreds of police reports mentioning FabSwingers, the site Ruth and her husband used.
Inside the inbox: consent, pressure, and the men on FabSwingers
This preview-based episode looks at what happens after Catrin Nye joins FabSwingers and is flooded with messages from men. The show notes suggest a focus on how consent can become complicated online and in real-life encounters, including one male user’s doubts about whether women truly wanted to be there.

Episodes

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