Risk Profiles
Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
Definition
A risk profile is looking at all of the possible risks involved in a situation, the likelihood of those things happening, the possible consequences, and whether or not you are willing to accept them. Different people have different comfort levels, experiences, vulnerabilities, and desires, meaning the same activity, person, or environment may fall comfortably within one person’s risk profile while being completely outside of another’s.
What Is a Risk Profile?
A risk profile is something you probably already use in your everyday life without realizing it. Every time you decide whether or not something is “worth the risk,” you are using one. You are looking at the possible risks involved, the likelihood of those things happening, the possible consequences if they do, and deciding whether or not you are comfortable accepting those risks.
Kink is no different. Different activities, people, dynamics, and environments all come with different levels and types of risk. Your personal risk profile helps you decide what situations, activities, and environments feel acceptable to you and which ones do not.
Kink Is Not “Safe”
Kink is not “safe”. Anyone that tells you it is either does not understand what they are talking about or may be trying to convince you to agree to something you otherwise would not. There are definitely things you can do to make activities safe-r, but no activity, relationship, dynamic, or environment is completely without risk.
That does not mean kink should not be explored. It means it should be approached with awareness, education, communication, and informed decision-making. Understanding that risk exists helps you better recognize what situations do and do not fall within your personal risk profile.
Would you go skydiving?
Let me give you an example of a situation you have probably already come across in vanilla land.
Skydiving.
I bet you already know whether or not you would be willing to jump out of a plane with a parachute strapped to your back. How did you come to that decision? Did you decide the possibility of injury or death makes it something you are unwilling to do? Or do you feel the chances of something going wrong are low enough that the experience is worth it for you? Maybe the danger even makes it more exciting.
If you decided “absolutely not,” then skydiving is likely outside of your personal risk profile. If you would be willing to try it, then it may fall within it. Neither answer is universally right or wrong. It just means your comfort levels and risk acceptance are different.
Skydiving is not “safe,” but there are things people do to make it safe-r. They educate themselves, use safety equipment, jump with trained instructors, inspect equipment, follow procedures, and take precautions to reduce the chances of something going wrong. Even with all of those things in place however, there is still risk involved.
Kink works much the same way. Different people will have different comfort levels regarding different activities, dynamics, environments, and consequences.
How To Build Your Risk Profile
First, educate yourself. If you do not know the different ways something might go wrong, the possible consequences involved, or what safety measures exist to help reduce those risks, then you do not yet have enough information to properly evaluate whether or not something falls within your risk profile. You cannot create an informed risk profile without being informed.
Once you have the information you need, start looking at the possible risks involved. Think about what could realistically go wrong, what the possible consequences may be, and what can be done to help reduce those risks. Education, communication, vetting, emergency planning, experience levels, environment, and support systems can all affect how risky a situation may become.
After that, consider both the likelihood of something happening and the severity of the possible consequences if it does. Some risks may be fairly likely but carry smaller consequences. Others may be very unlikely, but have extremely severe outcomes if something does go wrong.
Once you understand the risks, safety measures, likelihood, and possible consequences involved, you can decide whether or not those risks are acceptable to you personally.
Risk Profiles Are Personal
No one else gets to decide your risk profile for you. Different people have different comfort levels, vulnerabilities, experiences, support systems, desires, and consequences they are willing or unwilling to accept. Something being within one person’s risk profile does not automatically mean it should be within yours.
Something being considered acceptable by another person or group does not automatically mean it falls within your personal risk profile. Different people evaluate risk differently. Understanding your own comfort levels, boundaries, and limits helps you make more informed decisions about the people, situations, activities, and environments you choose to involve yourself in.
Final Thoughts
The goal is not to eliminate all risk. The goal is to better understand it so that you can make informed decisions about the people, activities, dynamics, and environments you choose to involve yourself in.
Your risk profile may change over time as your education, experiences, boundaries, confidence, and interests change. Different people will have different comfort levels and risk tolerances, and that does not automatically make either person right or wrong.
Knowledge is power. Understanding risk helps you better recognize what situations are and are not acceptable for you personally.
Homework
Think about a few situations both inside and outside of kink that you already know are either within or outside of your personal risk profile. Why? What risks are you comfortable accepting? Which ones are you not?
Consider how different factors might change your answer. Would more education, experience, communication, vetting, safety measures, or support systems affect your comfort level? Are there risks you may be underestimating because of excitement, attraction, loneliness, social pressure, or trust?
Understanding your risk profile is an ongoing process. It may change over time as your experiences, boundaries, education, confidence, and interests evolve.
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