  Participatory Design's vision of democratic participation assumes
participants' feelings of agency in envisioning a collective future. But this
assumption may be leaky when dealing with vulnerable populations. We reflect on
the results of a series of activities aimed at supporting
agentic-future-envisionment with a group of sex-trafficking survivors in Nepal.
We observed a growing sense among the survivors that they could play a role in
bringing about change in their families. They also became aware of how they
could interact with available institutional resources. Reflecting on the
observations, we argue that building participant agency on the small and
personal interactions is necessary before demanding larger Political
participation. In particular, a value of PD, especially for vulnerable
populations, can lie in the process itself if it helps participants position
themselves as actors in the larger world.
