Pink: A mobile app that assists Sex Workers in their daily life.
This is an exploration of a concept that I had in my mind, with Pink I tried to address various problems that Sex workers face in their life but nobody looked at them.
Update: Test version of Pink App is now live on Android. The app has been renamed to “BetterBerry”.
I’m an indie developer. If you would like to financially support my work so that I can continue building more features and platforms, please refer to this link.
Background
There are officially over 600K sex workers in India alone, unofficially the number is copiously much higher, similar is the trend for other countries as well, estimates have placed the global figures upward of 40million. Despite being such a big industry with so many people directly and indirectly linked to it, The attitude and behaviour of society towards the industry of sex workers is very regressive and primitive, resulting, sex workers have always been deprived of basic rights, take for example safety. Within the recent past, there have been improvements like powering up their associations and decriminalization of their work, but still, there’s a long way to go.
Example, In India sex workers(SW) and the profession is regulated by the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. The act criminalises commercial sexual exploitation or prostitution and penalises those who facilitate and abet such activities, shows in short how much our governments missing the care required for them.
Before proceeding, watch this 90sec video of how Pink could create a positive impact this Pandemic.
Pink
Pink is a mobile app for Sex Workers (Primarily Female), it is a solution that targets to solve many of the problems that sex workers face in their life, the primary goal of the app is to assist them, to educate and to protect them. During my study of the field I found that Currently, there is no such solution available to them.
My Role
It was our responsibility to contribute and Ideate for the betterment of all sections of our society. The profession of Sex workers(SW) is one such domain, that’s considered dark and grey by many, it is because of such negative prenotions that our society has developed that many among them feel themselves belonging to a hostile and an isolated territory where they often feel forsaken and alone.
Governments and communities(especially regions with low HDI) have never put issues of sex workers on their priority list, resulting in their ignorance. For more inclusive and collective development of our society, we must address their issues, the first and major one is the cynical outlook by general population towards them, Other problems they face are related to health issues, fear of STD’s, lack of availability of contraceptives. Hence I decided to use my skills and create something helpful fo their community.
Process I followed
To arrived at the given below solution, I curated a design path containing necessary UX methodologies that I felt is necessary along with the application of proper product thinking resulting in an alluring experience.
It all started out with desk research discovering different possibilities and problems, putting myself in their shoes, putting on their perspective glasses and defining possible goals and design scope, followed by answers to questions such as how do I get this product fit in the existing system, competitive advantages. Finally putting all things together into iterations and beaut visual depictions.
Problem Briefing
“I really do feel strongly that we are all born into the society of sex workers. Somebody is going to sexualize you whether you like it or not.”
- Pauli cakes, a NY based sex worker
The biggest problem is with the mentality that has accepted the marginalised conditions of Sex workers and their industry as the new normal. It’s not! There is a major lack in design and development of assistance solutions for them as it’s considered to be an area which according to many hold little importance.
Such isolation of theirs from the mainstream community has forced to either hide their identity or live in solitude. Because of the regressive thinking from hundreds of years towards their basic rights and issues, they have accepted this solitude state.
Risk of getting Sexually transmitted diseases, the fate of having abusive clients, Selective negative treatment that their family members go through all is being normalised by both them and the society.
Core Direction, Possible USP
Multiple issues can be redressed by educating both the society and the Sex workers themselves, through this application, we could at least try to create a virtual assistant/partner to them. Someone that is always with them, listens to them, makes the workers aware of their rights and helps them in case of an emergency. Creation of an exclusive community that only has SWs as it’s a member is needed so that they are always connected and could fight for each other’s cause.
One Major root cause of many of their problems is their isolated state, arising a feeling and sense of someone by their side, assisting them has the potential to at least provide them much needed psychological relief.
Understanding SWs and Industry
Sex work is a form of a profession that falls under the service Industry, The nature of the work is mostly providing services related to pleasure. Many people, and especially those with conservative, religious views, consider it as immoral together with old beliefs of state authorities, creating countless problems for them, who are forced to work outside of the social security system, lack access to health services, recourse to the authorities in case of being the victim of a crime, and so on.
Not only are the victims of violence from clients, but they also suffer harassment from authorities. No matter the legal state of this industry criminalised or not, legalised or not. One should ensure that in any circumstances basic human rights of such workers shouldn’t be endangered.
Creating a Hierarchy of SWs
SWs provide services in multiple ways from working on streets to work under an Escort Agency. Broadly dividing their profession into three levels, people working at each level have there own fair share of problems and their requirements are different, though many of the issues overlap and are common to everyone. The hierarchy of Sex workers I created is as such:
Chart comparing all these different types of SWs
finding the intensity of problems faced by SWs and comparing them. Not every one of them has some issues but many of the issues certainly are something felt by everyone, for example, exploitation by their clients or Social taboos revolving around their job.
Research Take 2: knowing things from SW’s perspective
To get a better understanding of their problems, and the root cause of the same, It became equally important to know their and from their perspectives, views of them about their profession and the complete industry, the way they’ve been treated, hurdles either legal or social that they want to be resolved or let’s say any Health complication they may fear and they get it addressed right now, there are misconceptions that they must be trafficked into this and they aren't happy at all regarding their job but literally it depends, depends on each individual SW as many are proud of what they do but many feel forced.
Started by finding, watching and reading their existing interviews, (references mentioned below), while doing the same, I divided the whole process into three parts. And I ensured that I’m covering all different types of sex workers, Answers that cover vital issues such as, are they forced into this, how are they abused by clients or when they have a family and children to look after, how do they deal.
Video Reference
Looked at over 15 youtube videos comprising of interviews of Sex workers(SWs), working at all levels and in different conditions, because of videos I was more able to know the severity of a problem they are facing example through their expressions and body language.
Articles and Reports
Started by running a quick search on the internet to gain a broader understanding of this problem which would help form the basis of the solution. Many times, people are afraid to tell on camera or many places where recording from the camera itself isn’t allowed, there had been a lot of written interviews, Studied existing research in the field, looked at work done by existing associations.
“The benefits are, I’m my own boss. I get to make my own career. I get to make my own time. I get to promote myself the way I wish to promote myself.”
“Criminalization in spaces of sex is just reproductive oppression.”
“I was looking for a job where I could be a stripper, but with distance from other humans, and that’s what webcam modeling offered me.”
“I feel like that bled into a lot of niches in my life. And work is a very important niche.”
Questionnaire
It is always better to be sure of something, not completely relying on assumptions I planned to take a survey considering multiple women working as sex workers. On my search for participants I encountered multiple problems, the participant group was limited to the ones that are active on social media.
Disclaimer: I contacted various organisations such as SWOP(of various countries) primarily through social media but maybe because of COVID lockdowns I didn’t find many people ready to entertain my request, However, I was able to get 3 participants.
Takeaways
Empathising via Persona
Based on insights, I collected all that information and amalgamed them in form of 3 personas for easier understanding. To create an effective user-centric experience, we create individuals for key audience groups. One person is a fictional, yet real representative for the same user group. It includes a list of characteristics or demographic topics for the user. This does not mean that whatever we encounter will be exactly the same as user personality but the process of creating a person helped to create empathy for real people who will use our final product.
Domain already in Focus
It was important to note, that during my desk research phase I was not able to find any working digital solution that assists sex workers. Most of the steps that were taken to improve their condition were on the ground, either taken by multiple International Organisations(Amnesty International has been quite vocal for them as an example) or various NGO’s curated by them only.
Issues were majorly focused on providing them support in the decriminalisation of their profession and increasing awareness among their community regarding multiple issues, such as health complications and how to use contraceptives. Many key domains were still left idle.
Solution Scope
Based on the user research synthesis, it became apparent that multiple problem areas need to be addressed, but it was necessary to limit the solution and design scope, Here’s the strategy and scope for same, considered all possible aspects such as a person’s need, situations, and empathy to get the right answers.
Problem areas finalised
Even though during my research phase I found multiple problems that were different to different types of sex workers, but with Pink, I’ve tried to select and chose those problems that majorly experienced by all, needs urgent attention and are within the design scope, as mentioned above. I have broadly categorised them into 5 areas/domains. Note, that many problems overlap with each other.
P1
Issues related to Health risks, for example, STD’s and Mental Stress
“I visited a social hygiene clinic 3 years ago. The staff there probably suspected that I was a sex worker, because they were rude and spoke to me in harsh reprimanding voices. I felt humiliated. I definitely won’t go there again.”
Experience of Stigma by SWs while accessing Health Care Services, ultimately leading to low Utilisation, resulting in many complications. A survey carried out by a group of researchers in Hong Kong showed how stigma remains an important issue, among 89 SWs in Hong Kong reported that 55.1% of participants had never taken STDs tests and 43.2% of them used illegal clinics for induced abortion. Note, the response to self-stigma could either diminish one’s self-esteem and self-efficacy.
Many SWs wanted to protect herself with safer sex practices, but the men who pay her can make this difficult, as they may refuse to use condoms. They may even become violent if she refuses unsafe sex practices. Due to higher Drug consumption, many have Respiratory problems included allergies, sinus infections, colds, pneumonia, may lead to strokes.
Another survey carried out by researchers in Washington showed many sex workers also suffer from psychological problems “42% of the [100] prostitutes interviewed met the DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis of PTSD“. Assessed levels of psychological distress were commonly found in poor, inner-city SWs.
Drugs was another major issue, Agencies forcing SWs into them for ulterior motives example reducing their judgement and thinking capabilities. Also, Sex work is frequently linked with problematic drug use and drug-dependent sex workers typically work on the street, experiencing the greatest risks. prostitutes tended to use depressants, specifically heroin, as the drug of choice.
P2
Issues that are a direct result of Monetary pressure
Most women’s decisions about whether and how to participate in sex work are driven by financial considerations. The pattern observed was that many of the SWs entered very early into their profession, majorly because they had to fund themselves, they had little financial support from family.
Due to limited financial liberty, and the daily wage culture of the profession, they always find it difficult to manage their expenses, also with a possibility that a lot of that would be eaten up by their operators or due to health complications if they develop any, solving many of their other problems like precautions from health complications could directly save a chunk of their savings.
They lack expertise on how to inflate their worth so that they could earn more. It is import that they should know about ways they could earn more, also they should be told about other opportunities that give them a chance to make more, even if that’s possible by a change of service area or the profession if they desire.
P3
Issues involving Social Constraints, Taboos and Awareness/Education
Taboos and stigmas that prevent them from using healthcare and police/law services. The majority of the SWS worried that if they disclosed their identity they would be inviting moral judgments, leading to shame and embarrassment as well as possibly impacting the care that they would receive. Thus, the majority would attempt to protect their privacy when seeking any services.
“I will lose face if I disclose my sex worker identity to the health care provider. It is an untold secret.”
Beliefs that SWs lack education and are forced or trafficked into the profession is utterly wrong, as, in multiple surveys all around the world, it clearly showcased the fact that trafficking of women for SW is highly uncommon it is limited to very remote parts of the world.
They are a major lack of social awareness. Society isolation is faced by their family members is another sign of the sick mentality of our society resulting in multiple complications such as they had no knowledge of their own children’s health needs. Many of their infants were malnourished and lacked the most basic of immunisations.
Racism is another factor that needs to be addressed, in a survey carried out in Australia it clearly showed how people related to Asian ethnicity with massage parlours and bars. Criminal laws, racism, isolation, poor English language skills and stigma and discrimination combine to increase the vulnerability of Asian SWs.
P4
Authentication of their Clients and abuses by them
“It’s difficult. Hoping that they [clients] won’t hit you…it’s dangerous, you’re risking yourself being there.”
“If the guy has a lot of money, he can give a different version and they’ll put me in jail. I’d rather stay quiet.”
in a survey carried out in the UK, The mean age of clients was 34.7 years. Men reported paying for sex abroad (51%), and 27% were repeated users of prostitutes. Almost half the men (43%) paid for sex while in another relationship. Unprotected vaginal sex was more common in men who had paid for sex abroad. Violence was directly linked to unfair pressure by clients asking favours like having unsafe sex. On disapproval of same by the SWs, they resort to abusive means, in this situation SW feel helpless with little help and scared to report as already their profession is criminalised at many places.
There needs to be a mechanism through which they could be notified earlier about the behavioural aspects of the client or they should be empowered and made aware to take actions that punish such abusers and the same time they need to protected and supported while they consider legal actions.
Checking on Emotional or psychological violence: Includes, but is not limited to, being insulted (e.g. called derogatory names) or made to feel bad about oneself; being humiliated or belittled in front of other people; being threatened with the loss of custody of one’s children; being confined or isolated from family or friends, many situations reveal how young girls were even exploited by their families itself, leading to situations like trauma.
P5
The criminalisation of their profession and the hurdles involved
“rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave sex work of their own volition and to provide conducive conditions for sex workers who wish to continue working as sex workers” -Supreme Court ofIndia
Sex work is criminalised at most places, owing to this criminalised status they resort themselves from exploring legal help when they are abused. Or they are even afraid to reveal their identity.
Exploitation by agencies/brothels they may work for, in possible close coordination with current officials like some police offers. Fake raids, prisoning them in correction camps or threatening them that they will reveal their identity.
Migratory nature of work prevents sex workers from procuring identity documents essential to accessing entitlements. For instance, in 2009 it was estimated that only 20 per cent of over 5000 sex workers in Delhi had a voter’s ID card.
Increased Distress under COVID
Their entire ecosystem in jeopardy, facing an existential crisis, lack of income and resources are causing immense deprivation and distress, with not much redemption. To tell how serious this has become for we need to look at India and Japan. In Delhi High Court, early in the pandemic, a PIL was filed wherein the petitioner urged the court to take effective measures to provide financial aid to sex workers. The court dismissed the petition and said governments have already brought out several schemes and “the persons for whose benefit this petition has been filed are also entitled to such schemes ”.
The order, however, fails to recognise the realities. As sex work remains an unregulated profession, most members of the community do not have access to the schemes put forth by the government due to lack of documentation, also in order to access benefits, sex workers risk having to divulge their profession, which opens to the door to conviction under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act. Similarly in Japan, the mammoth $989 billion relief package is little useful to SW as they did not want to be identified as sex workers, given their profession remains criminalised in Japan.
There has been good example set by some governments too like Bangladesh were a special package of 30kg rice and 25$ assistance has been announced specifically for SWs.
Revolution through technology
Technology gives a chance to many for the resumption of their work while social-distancing protocols continue to remain in place due to COVID Pandemic.
“There is a Google group I belong to that is for women in the sex business.”
Technology has made Sex work safe and more profitable for many. Few industries have been transformed as quickly and profoundly by the internet as illegal sex work. a market where buyers and sellers can easily find each other. Needless to say, this did not apply for illicit sex work. The internet has enhanced transparency.
Online Sex workers definitely feel safer as there little chances of any physical abuse but it has given room to another problem of Internet Violence and online harassment along with child abuse and pornography and with a much greater risk of identity theft.
Plus it is still limited to those who have access to technology and basic education to operate, a lot of SWs especially old, or the ones in underdeveloped regions are directly indirectly ruled out.
Ideating Solutions
Solution derived is an App assistant and an online community space, Pink.
Evoke a sense of someone they can resort to, talk to and ask for any help, that supports them, help them overcome their physical and mental distress (if there any), helps them to learn and to grow.
The second aim is to create a close community space consisting only of SWs, where they can feel safe and protected among friends. This community trait also helps to fight issues together not at the individual level, also it helps to learn from each other.
Note: Pink is an assistant to them not a state solution that helps directly in changing laws, herd mentality etc.
Education Levels
A survey by Leeds University showed that over 70% of UK sex workers have previously worked in healthcare, education or charities, while more than a third hold university degrees. While none of these was streetwalker or ones working in illegal brothels.
While in Developing areas or Illegal red light areas, the trend of low education was observed with basic proficiency only.
Whereas in for those working out of streets, most of the respondents were actually dropped out of school and college.
Divide the audience based on their Proficiency with Smartphone Usage
Different operations through the app require a certain different level of technical proficiency. And technology proficiency depends on many factors, such as your existing smartphone usage Habits, what apps they already use. Your education levels, language proficiency etc.
It became equally important that we get an idea beforehand of the user and show the features or parts of the app that falls well within the user’s understanding area. In the observed patterns, it was seen that the top hierarchy of the SWs are most proficient in technology, while ones working at brothels are least.
Information Architecture, Type 02
Style guide
Lo-Fi Usability
After defining the Information architecture and the structure of the application, I moved on to produce Lo-fi wireframes of the same, I had not focused on details yet as my goal was to find basic issues primarily in interactions.
Testing Results
It is always important to test the app with real users from the early stages. I approached friends and family members to participate in the test.
Critical Improvements
- The bottom navigational bar needs an order update, chatbot location was misinterpreted, it needs to be shifted to the bottom.
- On the adding client review section, severity section needs to be omitted, as highlighted violence itself a very serious issue.
- Commonly asked Question needs a redesign in Chatbot, there needs to be an additional step for better division of information.
- Confusion with terminologies at the job portal, on the application screen
- Users were confused in the test of health section, people felt they were short of information.
Final Solutions derived
S1
Connect with the Community(My Profile)
Problems targeted P1 and P3
A sperate section(under your profile) that allows you to connect to friends and members of the community, also allows you to manage your subscription or member groups you have joined.
- Check on what people you want to be your friends, find, accept or reject requests.
- Manage Groups or associations you have joined.
- Edit all your personal information at one place.
S2
An Information directory that has all the necessary essential information, Symptom Test to check your health status.
Problems targeted P1, P4 and P5
This directory or information portal is there to provide all of the crucial information to the SWs, your legal rights, information about family redressal solutions, vital information such as how our body functions etc, knowledge of contraceptives, along with a symptom test.
- All information regarding Legal Authorities, Emergency contact, contact information of Doctors, and NGOs, legal and police authority, existing SW associations.
- Include information related to mental and psychological stress, information on Family planning, for example, Details of new-borns for mothers.
- An in-app facility where you could Test symptoms of any health complication. The symptom test would consist of Data entry points and Questionnaires with real-time results, this is highly necessary since many of the SWs are afraid to go to health centres for checkups.
S3
Monika, A Chatbot, that talks to you and answers all their questions
Problems targeted P1 and P3-P5
Continuation of Directory, There will be a chatbot, that is active 24*7, that will act as your partner and an assistant by your side, that can talk to you.
- if you feel low or any mental stress, it would talk to relieve that. it also plays with you with small games, that makes you care for yourself, reduce your anxiety and induce positive feelings.
- Give you all required Information on demand, connect you with doctor, police or NGOs. It gives you access to report incidents, with options to hide your identity.
S4
A Clients Information and review directory for safety and authentication purposes.
Problem targeted P4
Abusive clients that do violence still accounts for one of the major risks that SWs have to go through, especially those working on streets. As these offenders, not just could physically or mentally abuse them but also force for unprotected sex.
- The concept is to create a client directory that will be maintained by the SWs only, if SWs encounter any violent client, they can simply upload the name and characteristics of that person along with the narration of incident directly on the app.
- The next time any SW gets any client, the authenticity of the client can be vaguely checked by putting in their name, if the details match closely, it would help SW to be aware beforehand. This directory is ever-evolving.
S5
A Separate portal that will showcase all the opportunities customized to their preference
Problem targeted P2
Those who feel, they want to leave the profession but couldn’t due to monetary reasons or the ones that feel trapped, providing them with possible opportunities they can tap.
- For those who wished to shift to a different profession, the portal would simply showcase those opportunities with links through which they can apply. Data can be linked directly from Job search portals.
- would be linked to incentive-based educational courses already present on the app, one may learn the skills from there.
S6
A place to learn any new skill, day by day, step by step with Incentives
Problems targeted P2 and P3
The goal is to educate them and make them increase awareness. New skills that would help them to look further to a different profession if they want to or skills that would help them to increase profitability in the current profession only.
- Options where they can learn new skills that would help them to earn more or shift to a different profession altogether if wanted.
- All the courses would target step by step learning, where you were tasked to spend only some time every day learning new module.
- Incentives that would motivate them to continue and don’t stop in between. Incentives would be in form for ratings, These ratings will be celebrated and shared among the community.
S7
Social Media feed including posts and stories by friends, special messages and more
Problems targeted P1 and P3
The concept is to induce a social media feed that targets to evoke the sense of community and association among SWs, it targets to create a close personal space among their community. The secondary goal is to share messages and special posts to them such as a message on drug side effects.
- users can upload videos/photos in the form of stories inspired by other social media platforms,
- Feed, where users can post any information they want, there would be options for polls, posts asking help and contribution.
- every time at the start, A special message will be shown, would be any anti-drug/positive felling message.
S8
Giving SWs a chance to educate by Direct linking them to Public Speaking forums
Problem targeted P3
To break the taboos and stigmas our society holds against them, it is important that we give SWs a chance to connect to the general public and let them educate about themselves to society.
- Giving them a such a chance would help clear out misconceptions, taboos and stigmas that revolves around them.
- From the profile section, SWs will be given the option to write directly on the public speaking forums such as Quora or Reddit, prefabricated questions would appear in the feed/home redirecting them.
Marking and rating resource’s(clinics, doctors etc.) friendliness to SWs
There are multiple healthcentres and doctors for example where SWs can go for their treatment, similarly, there are multiple options of counsellors, Psychiatrist or other essential services that can be approached for help. But not all of them are friendly and supportive to sex workers. Some clinics are very supportive of them while some not.
Idea is to expand the Client Review and Authentication part of the app and include a similar feature of rating such as Healthcentres, doctor and clinic and mark how friendly they are to SWs. Such a step would help them to know beforehand where and to whom they should approach without any fear of any discrimination or stigmatization.
The constraint of Data, Host Location
A very valid point to look after how governments and Host Owners sensor data that involves SWs and the components involved in their profession. The App does require a database for both User Information to be stored along with details and data of Client authentication, hence, peer to peer data distribution is not viable. Hence as highlighted in the conversation it is important to select a nation that has not just decriminalised and recognized Sex work but also promotes initiatives involving their betterment! Possible locations where SW is both legalized and regulated could be Netherlands, Germany or France.
Revenue and Sustainability
The cost of developing such a project is not cheap and that is acceptable, but the audience and the outcomes it may possibly have been prodigious. to Fund this one way could be of approaching already existing mammoth technological companies and pitch Pink as a project they can undertake as a part of their CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) duties and targets. It’s necessary for companies all around the world to spend a certain percentage of their profits on CSR activities. Approaching a government is not viable as many have policies against Sex work and it would limit the solution their respective borders.
To sustain the app, it is important that is generates revenue. There are three possible ways for the same.
Ads
Multiple Ad points are identified inside the app, these Ad points are incorporated or are a part of the existing functionalities only, no new space is allocated towards them. Such Ad points help in better conversions for the Merchants owning them and at the same time doesn’t irritate or alters the ongoing user flow.
Example Ad points could be an Advertised post on Feed or an Advertised story on the same.
Possible Course Certificate fees
Pink vows to provide educational content in the form of courses free for Sex workers so that they could learn and help themselves grow. Such educational content shouldn’t be charged with any learning fees that created a barrier for them to enrol in it. But what possibly could open a revenue stream is charging them nominally for the certificates of completion or merit, only if they wish to attain it.
Charging Certain* Job Listers
Pink should allow most companies to List their Job requirements for free on the platform to allow more participation from both recruiters and applicants, but certain specific organisations, primarily other Agencies dealing in SW for whom Pink would be one of the primary sources of recruitment could be charged to list their posting.
What’s next?
MVP of Pink App(Community Section) is under development, it is expected that it will go live on App/Play Store by March 2021.
This project made me realise how much we are missing out on the mission to collaborate and developed for all sectors of your society. As Product designers it’s should be at our core to design solutions with an outward approach that helps and assists everyone. I learned a lot about sex workers and their lifestyle, the problems they face and I wish to further develop on Pink and make it live.
:D
Thank you for reading the change!
Please feel free to reach out to me at aditban@gmail.com or at adityaban.com
