Dobra Družba as a European Precedent

Introduction

Europe likes to learn from history, but rarely from the present. Especially when something appears before it that does not fit into existing categories. Dobra Družba is not a non-governmental organization in the classical sense. It is not a company. It is not a platform in the Silicon Valley sense. And that is precisely why it represents a precedent – not only for Slovenia, but for Europe as a whole.

It is an attempt that goes beyond local initiative and opens a question that Europe has long avoided: how to organize marginalized work in a way that is simultaneously safe, autonomous, digital, and community-led.

Precedent does not arise by permission, but by necessity

Most European regulatory models are created 'top-down'. The state prescribes a framework within which reality is supposed to adapt to legislation. Dobra Družba is being created in the opposite direction: from a reality that already exists, but for which there is no appropriate legal, technological, and social framework.

A precedent does not mean that something is perfect. It means that something is new, inevitable, and repeatable. Dobra Družba is not emerging because the environment is favorable, but because the existing environment offers no functional alternative. Where the system fails, a precedent appears.

Between a cooperative, a platform, and a safety net

What separates Dobra Družba from most European initiatives is its hybrid nature. It is not merely an organizational form, but a set of functions:

• as a cooperative, it enables collective ownership and decision-making,

• as a platform, it offers digital infrastructure,

• as a safety net, it reduces the risks brought by unregulated markets.

Europe knows cooperatives. It knows platforms. It knows social networks. What it does not know – or refuses to admit – is their combination in the context of sex work and digital intimacy. And it is precisely this combination that breaks established mental frameworks.

Why now?

The timing is not accidental. Digitalization, fragmentation of the labor market, and the disintegration of classic employment relationships have created a new reality. Sex work has been forced to live this reality for decades – without protection, without bargaining power, and without institutional support.

Dobra Družba does not appear as an ideological project, but as a response to a structural void. When classic institutions no longer know how to protect the individual, new forms of collective self-protection begin to form. This is not a rebellion against the state, but a symptom of its inability to adapt.

European problem, European solution

One of the biggest mistakes of European policies is treating sex work as a local or national topic. In reality, it is a cross-border phenomenon: workers, clients, platforms, and payment systems know no borders. National legislations, however, still try to catch them in outdated frameworks.

Dobra Družba shows that the solution will not come from one capital or one ministry. A precedent means that it is possible to develop a model that is:

• transferable between countries,

• adaptable to different legislations,

• and at the same time robust enough to protect people, not interests.

This is a European challenge – and at the same time a European opportunity.

Precedent without pathos

Dobra Družba is not a manifesto promising an ideal future. It is a working experiment. And that is precisely its power. It does not claim to have all the answers, but to ask the right questions: who has control, who bears the risk, and who has a say.

Europe often waits for 'perfect solutions' before acting. Precedents, however, arise differently: someone starts, without guarantees, without applause, often even without protection. Later, history decides whether it was a mistake or a turning point.

If Europe is serious about safety, rights, and the digital future of work, it will have to take such precedents seriously. Not as a threat, but as a laboratory of the future.