Start with a question
WSR treats consent as a specific, voluntary conversation. Agreeing to speak with a writer does not mean agreeing to a date. A date does not mean agreeing to intimacy. Intimacy does not mean agreeing to recording or publication. These are separate choices. Our editorial process must give each choice its own space rather than treating one yes as permission for everything.
Make uncertainty visible
People may understand the same invitation differently. We ask authors to make expectations explicit and to avoid presenting silence, politeness or uncertainty as agreement. If communication is unclear, our principle is to pause. The possibility of an interesting story never outweighs someone’s ability to decline. Participation in the project does not require romantic or sexual interest.
Permission follows the actual material
A publication agreement should concern a particular version, its languages and the disclosures it contains. A pseudonym alone does not remove every identifying detail: a place, a voice or a sequence of events may matter too. Our intended review checks those details with the people involved. Translation must not quietly expand what someone agreed to reveal.
An open route for concerns
Someone should be able to raise a concern about consent, age, rights or identity without buying anything or proving adulthood. That is why the report form is separate from creator applications. This essay states our editorial approach; it is not medical or legal advice, and it does not claim that future verification procedures have already been completed.
Editorial · Our principles. Our principles ↗