Code of Conduct & Harassment at OpenCon

[char-siuu-bao]

We've already gotten some feedback around sexual harassment at OpenCon. This is an upsetting and serious concern...as both a woman and staff member, I want our team to work harder on creating a space that doesn't perpetuate this kind of behaviour and doesn't silence people who are harassed and/or assaulted.

There are some key actions that we detailed in the report (based on the OpenCon 2016 feedback form we sent out last November), but moving forward, I think we need to be more explicit and intentional re: having a conversation about this as an organizing committee. Here are some things I think we should talk about / implement for OpenCon 2017:

Posting this on Github to allow others to participate/contribute:

(1) We need to create a clear definition of what "asked to leave the community" looks like and include this in the code of conduct. Moving forward, I (personally) think that anyone who is reported for sexual harassment will need to leave the conference immediately once we find out about this. They absolutely cannot be invited to future OpenCon events. They will be asked not to participate in community calls, and will not be permitted to host satellite events. We should make sure to make this really clear when announcing the Code of Conduct.

(2) We need to create a channel for anonymous reporting and make it clear that anonymous reports will be dealt with the same level of seriousness and attention — it's scary to report sexual harassment and assault (and many cases often go unreported!). This is feedback that has been provided by community members too. This could look like a google doc or something similar.

(3) I think we need to also think about how to best support those who experience harassment/assault at the meeting (including after hours), if it happens. This might look like having a conversation with the person who files the report — asking them what measures we can take to help them feel safe(r) for the rest of their conference/community experience. This might be trickier for anonymous reports, but could look like a question in the reporting form (e.g. "What can we do to make the rest of your conference experience feel safer?")

(4) We need to make it extremely clear that the code of conduct and anti-harassment policy extends to all aspects of the meeting — including at social events and "after hours". And we need to follow through with enforcing it (and come to an agreement amongst the organizing committee and staff on exactly how enforcement is handled).

(5) Finally, I think we need to better educate ourselves on how to handle these scenarios and create a safer space for our participants. Maybe we can look into finding training for our own staff members on this before OpenCon 2017?

Welcome feedback (you will need to create a Github account to comment on this issue) — or please email me directly at lorraine(at)sparcopen.org

[MikeTaylor]

"... I (personally) think that anyone who is reported for sexual harassment ..."

Presumably this doesn't really mean just "reported", but that the accusation is found to be supported to some reasonable level of confidence. Otherwise we have a mechanism that is wide open to abuse.

But presumably other conferences have faced the same issue, and already come up with a good form of words that can be adopted?

[char-siuu-bao]

@MikeTaylor, I would be really careful of this kind of mentality: it sounds like what you’re asking for is evidence to back up sexual assault/harassment reports—evidence that is often impossible to procure. This type of thinking (especially when put into practice/writing - for instance, in a code of conduct) is what encourages silencing of sexual assault survivors. Imagine being harassed or assaulted (which often happens in private, with nobody else around), summoning up the courage to report it, and then being told that you won’t be believed unless you have some sort of evidence so people can be “confident” of your claim. Victims of sexual assault are frequently told that they don’t have enough proof, are told that they “could be lying” and that they are “abusing the system”. Most sexual assault cases go unreported - and this type of norm further discourages people to report and gives the assaulter the benefit of the doubt.