- It’s not helpful to think that only “bad guys” or “jerks” would do something that violates the CoC or makes someone else feel uncomfortable or unsafe. It’s actions that violate the CoC, not people. You or I could do it.
- That said, the response of someone who is told they have made someone else uncomfortable/etc can be telling. Are they embarrassed and apologetic, or defensive and blame-shifting?
- Look out for the feeling of “I could make this mistake” interfering!
- Abusers know to target people who look like “bad victims”: newcomers, young people, vulnerable people, people alone, drunk people.
- Banish phrases like “Be excellent to each other” and “Just don’t be a jerk”...it’s glib and unhelpful. In fact any time you’re going to say “Just don’t be X”... just don’t. We have a code of conduct because we want to have a safe, welcoming, inclusive community.
- Steps when receiving a report: (for response team)
- The first priority is to protect the reporter.
- Move to a private channel/take to a private space
- Do they need quiet, water, rest, medical help, a trusted friend?
- Focus on gathering information
- Believe them
- Offer help reporting to police, if they want
- Don’t ask them what they want to happen. This is our responsibility
- If at all possible, keep the reporter’s identity private from everyone except the CoC team, unless the reporter has explicitly asked or demonstrated otherwise.
- Complete the Code of Conduct Incident report form
- Meet CoC team (2 or 4 others, so odd number total)
- Assess impact and risk of further harm
- Determine what action to take, who will take it
- Make a decision for “right now”. Decide longer term actions later
- Present suggested course of action to Event Lead Organiser; get agreement
- Take action (aim for this within half a day of report)
- Advice if you need to have “the talk” with a perpetrator
- Inform person who reported of outcome
- Complete report form and file with nominated Safety and Diversity Officer
- CoC team can access. Safty and Diversity Officer will summarise to organising team as necessary
- Inform attendees through announcement (Event Lead Organiser)
"<thing> happened.
This was a violation of our policy.
We apologise for this.
We have taken <action>.
This is a good time for all attendees to review our policy at <location>.
If anyone would like to discuss this further they can <contact us somehow>."
- It is important for attendees to know that reports are taken seriously
- It’s also important to avoid giving details that may lead to the victim/perpetrator being targeted (online backlash) - keep it general
After the conference, we could consider publishing a CoC transparency report. Example from DjangoCon Europe 2016
- Reports made to one of the conference’s Code of Conduct representatives (the response team) will be documented in a paper form. If there is an immediate threat to safety we will contact venue security and/or police. In other cases, we will meet with the rest of the response team and decide on what actions if any to take (aiming within half a day for reports during the conference days). We will follow up with the person who reported to communicate our actions.
- Data retention policy: Reports will not be passed on to successive teams.
Source: Enforcing your Code of Conduct (slides) - Audrey Eschright, OSFeels 2015
See in particular the 'risk and impact' categorisations from this talk to help categorise the severity of a CoC violation, and to formulate the response to a violation.
| Low risk | High risk | |
|---|---|---|
| Low impact | inappropriate joke made in private | attendee with previous arrest or assault |
| High impact | inappropriate jokes | persistent coordinated harrassment |
| Low risk | High risk | |
|---|---|---|
| Low impact | verbal warning | take notes, follow up later |
| High impact | public apology, remove person from event | coordinated whole-team response |