About a wellbeing framework
Five Domains of Wellbeing
The Full Frame Initiative (FFI) developed a model of working with people experiencing violence called the "Five Domains of Wellbeing" framework. While we are not affiliated with FFI, we have been using their approach to violence prevention and safety planning, and feel like it offers a practical alternative to the criminalization, shame, rescue approaches, and harms of demand reduction strategies.
The idea behind this framework is that when we have access to all five domains, we feel a sense of wellbeing. When we don't have access to all five, we make tradeoffs based on which ones seem realistic, important, and accessible to us. For example, we might choose to stay in a community where we feel less safe and stable because we value the social connectedness it provides, or in a relationship that is unhealthy because of the housing stability it provides. We might choose to work in a job that is less safe, or that offers fewer opportunities for a sense of mastery because we need income to pay our bills. We might choose to prioritize the stability of a regular job over a better-paying but less-reliable gig economy.
Each of these choices is deeply personal and unique to someone's circumstances, values, and history.
This is why there is no one-size-fits-all approach to ending exploitation in commercial sex.
THE WELLBEING MODEL IS ROOTED IN RELATIONSHIPS
A wellbeing model for ending violence and exploitation in commercial sex requires intentionally fostering trust with individuals and communities. We earn trust by being trustworthy.
Sometimes folks advocating for a person-centered, worker rights, wellbeing approach to ending exploitation in commercial sex are accused of "caring more about the rights of buyers than victims." While criminalization of consensual sexual behavior between adults is always a violation of human rights, the facts are simple: Worker safety reduces violence.
"Well if sex workers can organize for safety and to root out exploitation in commercial sex, why haven't they?"
They're trying! The sad reality is that most worker practices to try to foster safety are explicitly targeted by demand reduction approaches.
The reality is, not all survivors of human trafficking want or need the same things in the same ways. Individuals and organizations claiming to speak for all survivors have pushed for strategies that harm them. Not all survivors support these approaches, but those survivors have been essentially locked out of movement spaces for almost 20 years.