Latex-clad 'CDC inspectors' and zipping clients into body bags — these are some of the requests a dominatrix has had in the pandemic

• Victoria Rage is a dominatrix who has adapted both her in-person sessions and her digital ones to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• As the disease spread, some of her clients began to work the situation into their requests.
• In some instances, she has played a "CDC inspector" who needs to punish an "infected" client.
• More of her clients have also moved online, which presents unique challenges to physical domination.

Victoria Rage, a dominatrix, has enacted a lot of creative kink scenarios before — from trussing up a man as a Thanksgiving turkey to getting others to play "fetch" like a dog.

By its nature, the Seattle-based dominatrix's work has pretty dark themes. But in the current pandemic, a portion of her clients' requests are now explicitly related to COVID-19, she told Insider.

The spread of the coronavirus has produced numerous challenges for sex workers, whose previous close contact with clients has been interrupted by lockdowns and social distancing measures.

As Rage explained to Insider earlier, BDSM work already has high hygiene standards, and she has adapted many aspects of how she handles in-person clients to lower the risk as much as possible.

Rage spoke to Insider about the kinds of requests she's had since the pandemic started.

Time to call the 'CDC inspector'

Rage noted that medical play has always been popular in the BDSM community. But in her personal dungeon, she said, there has been an uptick in requests for "very invasive" medical scenes.

And the pandemic has provided a newer twist to the genre: performing a "CDC inspection" scene that is likely a great deal more kinky than in real life.

Rage's version of a CDC officer wears a full rubber cat suit with a gas mask, and sets about determining whether her client is "infected."

"They must be, you know, completely inspected medically up and down," she explained. "They're often found to be infected, and therefore must be tortured for being in society."

Scenes like this can take an even darker twist, she said. "A couple of people have wanted me to be their 'executioner,'" she said. "I obviously don't kill anyone, but I have a body bag and I do this whole psychodrama."

Every sensory detail of the experience is thought out. Rage sets the scene with dramatic music and red lights, and uses an aroma diffuser to spread a sharp ginger scent around the room.

"I tell them it's a poisonous gas," she said. "And I'll say: When I count down from 10, this is going to have stopped your heart. I'm the last face you're going to see.

"And then I'll say something really dirty and count from 10," she continued. After the countdown, she abruptly covers their face "so it looks like 'lights out' to them."

"And that's their scene and they love it," she said.

Socially-distanced domination online

Lockdowns and, later, social distancing, forced many sex workers to find ways to handle clients digitally.

As with many dominatrices, video calls became a key tool, at the cost of most of the physical aspects of BDSM.

Mistress Amandara, a Berlin-based dominatrix, earlier told Insider's Canela López and Barbara Corbellini Duarte how she "whips" and teases her clients over video.

As she pointed out: "You cannot expect to spank someone online."

Video work used to represent about 5% of Rage's clients, but now it's around half of her work. So for that, she has had to get creative. "It was coming up with the ideas digitally that I found really hard at first," she said.

Clients who enjoy following orders, and those who enjoy what she calls "tease and denial," can be easily dominated over video, she has found.

One client who loves to dress up and behave like a dog can be easily told to sit, beg, and eat over video. But playing "fetch" presents a little more of a barrier.

Rage explained how she will throw a ball at the screen, and the client will also throw a ball themselves and "fetch" it for her.

Those who are into bondage save Rage the bother of having to tie them up, by tying themselves up before a call. Then they're "tortured" by seeing, but being unable to touch, a distant Rage through the video screen.

Masks, but with a twist

As part of her hygiene regimen when taking in-person clients, Rage asks them to wear masks on arrival.

Once inside, a whole range of head coverings common in BDSM — whether a black cotton hood or a fully encased latex mask — will do pretty much the same job.

Rage often completes her own outfit with an advanced-looking black mask with a breathing filter on, through which only her eyes can be seen. In terms of hygiene and aesthetics, it kills two birds with one stone.

"It's just normal PPE and I think it adds to the look," she said. "No one's complained so far!"