A reader who reviews your manuscript for harmful, inaccurate, or stereotypical portrayals of marginalized groups before publication.
A sensitivity reader is someone with lived experience in a particular identity or culture who reviews your manuscript to flag representations that are inaccurate, stereotypical, or harmful. They're not censors or political correctness police. They're specialists who help you write characters outside your own experience with authenticity and nuance. Think of them as fact-checkers for human experience. They'll catch things you literally cannot see because you haven't lived them.
If you're writing characters whose identities differ from your own (and you almost certainly are), a sensitivity reader helps you avoid doing damage while thinking you're doing representation. Getting it wrong doesn't just hurt readers who see themselves reflected poorly. It weakens your story, because stereotypes and inaccuracies break trust with anyone who notices them. A good sensitivity reader makes your characters more real, not less interesting.
One person cannot speak for an entire community. A sensitivity reader offers their informed perspective, not blanket permission. Consider hiring more than one reader for major portrayals, and understand that the creative decisions remain yours.
Bring them in during revision, not after copy editing. If their feedback reveals a fundamental problem with how a character is constructed, you need room to make real changes, not just surface tweaks.
Every character exists within systems of identity and power. Sometimes a sensitivity reader catches problems with how your white, able-bodied protagonist perceives the world just as much as how a marginalized character is portrayed.
Pick a character in your current project whose identity or experience differs significantly from your own. Write a list of five specific assumptions you're making about that character's daily life, relationships, or worldview. For each assumption, note whether it came from research, personal observation, or 'it just felt right.' The ones that came from gut feeling are exactly where a sensitivity reader would help most.