Sunita Somvanshi
A 16-year-old girl’s death in Sydney has sparked urgent conversations about a dangerous practice that far more young people are involved in than most parents realize. The teen was found unresponsive at an Elanora Heights home on August 23 and died shortly after being taken to Royal North Shore Hospital. Police say their investigation is still ongoing, but sources indicate the death may be connected to sexual asphyxiation.
What makes this case significant is not just the tragedy itself, but what Australian research reveals about how common this behavior has become among young people. A landmark study from the University of Melbourne surveyed more than 4,700 people aged 18 to 35 and found that 57 percent reported having experienced this kind of neck pressure during sex. Among women specifically, the number climbed to 61 percent. Research data shows sexual strangulation was common among the surveyed population.
The research team called the behavior by its common name among young people: choking. Medically, it’s strangulation. And unlike what many believe, it’s not safe, even when both people agree to it.
Here’s what happens in the body when someone’s neck gets squeezed during sex. The carotid arteries supply blood to the brain. Compression of blood vessels in the neck can cause loss of consciousness within seconds, depending on the structures compressed and the circumstances. At higher pressure levels, the carotid arteries themselves stop functioning. The brain loses oxygen rapidly. That’s the immediate risk.
But there’s a delayed danger that medical evidence has documented. Strangulation can also cause internal vascular injury, including injury to neck arteries that can increase the risk of stroke. These injuries can emerge hours or days after an incident.
The University of Melbourne study uncovered another critical finding: 61 percent of participants said they learned about this behavior from pornography. Movies and social media came second. Friends and personal experience came later. Young people aren’t discovering this in sex education classes that teach safety. They’re finding it online, often without any context about medical dangers.
NSW law contains specific offences covering choking, suffocation and strangulation, including circumstances involving loss of consciousness or incapacity. That legal reality matters because it defines how the law treats cases where injury or death occurs.
This death has prompted women’s health advocates in Australia to call for clearer education. Denele Crozier, who leads Women’s Health NSW, said that young people need direct information about what happens when pressure is applied to the neck. Schools typically don’t teach this. Parents often don’t know to bring it up. Sexual partners may not understand the medical risks involved.
The broader conversation here isn’t about judgment. It’s about facts. Young people are engaging in this practice. A significant number of them are. And most of them don’t fully understand what can go wrong. The incident in Sydney reminds Australia—and other countries watching—that education about sexual health needs to include the medical realities of practices that young people are already engaging in. Without that knowledge, understanding risk becomes incomplete.
