Free Book :: How to Respond to Code of Conduct Reports

How to Respond to Code of Conduct Reports by Valerie Aurora and Mary Gardiner by Alex Tango Fuego on Scribd

https://frameshiftconsulting.com/code-of-conduct-book/

How to Respond to Code of Conduct Reports

You can now download a free book detailing how to enforce a code of conduct, “How to Respond to Code of Conduct Reports,” written by Valerie Aurora and Mary Gardiner and edited by Annalee Flower Horne. This comprehensive guide includes:
Basic code of conduct theory
How to prepare to enforce a code of conduct
Step-by-step instructions on how to respond to a report
In-depth discussion of relevant topics
Dozens of real-world examples of responding to reports
Valerie Aurora and Mary Gardiner were the lead authors of the Ada Initiative anti­-harassment policy, which is the basis of thousands of codes of conduct in use today. Valerie has more than 7 years of professional experience writing and implementing codes of conduct for software-related companies, venture capital firms, and non-profits. For more information on code of conduct training and consulting, click here.
The book is available under the CC BY-SA license, allowing free reuse and modification of the materials as long as you credit the authors.
Download here (Kindle, EPUB, PDF)
“Valerie helped us write and adopt a code of conduct that could be a model for our industry as well as a guide for our firm. She is deeply experienced and gave nuanced, direct advice and we look forward to using her book to train our staff.” —Samantha Wong, partner at Blackbird Ventures
“Val was a trusted adviser to us as we planned and practiced responses to Code of Conduct incidents that might arise at conferences or in our open source communities. Her advice was practical and paired with a diverse set of potential scenarios to build confidence, and with it we felt prepared to act in a responsible and orderly way.” —Brandon Philips, co-founder and CTO of CoreOS
“Valerie advised us when creating the code of conduct in Wikimedia’s technical spaces. Her input was invaluable in navigating the challenge of creating a code of conduct that was co-created by our community. Her advice was practical, flexible, and informative, and empowered us to produce a code that represents our communities’ values, has a framework for updates and improvements, and continues to improve the experience of our technical contributors all over the world.” —Moriel Schottlender, Senior Software Engineer, Wikimedia Foundation
Press kit

Anonymous Stories of Inappropriate Behavior In Tango

Here's the link to share your story, or share with a friend who has a story. Spread the word: https://www.suggestionox.com/r/Bk7Ngh



I have a theory that if people can remain anonymous, they are much more inclined to share their stories of inappropriate behavior in tango communities around the U.S. And around the world I suppose. With the goal of everyone hearing the stories, informing themselves, and hopefully informing and driving change in tango communities everywhere. And bearing witness. Supporting this growing number of victims. Someone said, "it's not an epidemic, but one is too many" - it is a known issue in every tango community - there is no doubt about that.

Well, I take that back, it appears there is substantial doubt that it is a problem. Or people just don't give a shit. Or that it's enough of a problem for the community to organize and do anything/something about. This aberrant thinking, group-thinking, which can paralyze a community into inaction. Inaction over many years because they believe it's not the community's place to put in an organizational or policy "structure". They believe the community has no authority to force some policy on teachers and organizers, when they want to be free and independent and autonomous operators under the greater community umbrella, selling their tango "products" to the consumers aka dancers. And making their own policies. Or the community believes that the teachers and organizers have no authority to implement a community-wide safe space policy. Nobody believes anybody has the authority.

A no-win situation. Lose-lose for everyone, especially the victims. Lose-lose for tango. Lose-lose for our souls. For our morality. For our ethics.

No one wants to stand up out of fear. Women don't want to come forward with their stories, justifiably, because they will be attacked, or scorned, or shunned, or not believed. The perpetrators will often be supported over their victims. We've all witnessed this in the news over the past two years. We've witnessed it in our tango communities.

Only one or two, or three or a half-dozen leaders who are chronic/serial offenders can cause a strong undercurrent of long-term discord in a tango community, cause followers to leave the community, cause new dancers not to engage, not to "stick", cause people to boycott milongas and practicas, venues, teachers, and yes, even festivals. If one of those chronic/serial offenders is in a position of authority in the community, and a group within that community continues to protect that individual, with community-level DARVO, it can do real damage to the health and growth of a tango community.

Tango communities fracture over this. Splinter groups form. Private, invitation-only milongas spring forth. The Tango Underground. It's even within the realm of possibility that an entire parallel community could spring up in a small town or large metropolitan area. A parallel universe of tango where safe spaces and codes of conduct are held as paramount principles for all to be mindful of, for teachers to interweave into their classes, and for all to adhere to and talk about. Without fear of reprisals. Without fears of being judged.

A Tango Universe of the dancers, by the dancers, for the dancers.

Note that I say "leaders" to keep it simple, ascribing to the historical male/leader - female/follower in tango. But obviously this works in all directions and all gender identities. Most commonly these incidents are male upon female.

I'm thinking something like the Standing Up For Safer Spaces Tumblr blog, only without the photos.

Here's the link to share your story, or share with a friend who has a story. Spread the word: https://www.suggestionox.com/r/Bk7Ngh

I'll be creating a new blog to publish these (with any identifying details redacted), along with resources for creating a safe space / code of conduct / behavioral guidelines policy for your tango community.


The actual stories will be posted over here: https://tangoincognitoblog.blogspot.com/

Standing Up For Safer Spaces :: Inappropriate Behavior in Tango

Tumblr blog I ran across in searching for information on developing a safe space policy for tango communities...

Obviously not tango-community specific...but other social dances...

This one strikes a chord:



“I support standing up for safer dance spaces because I have seen people bullied and ostracized by abusers who had more social clout in the community.”

First Post
From arguing when someone says “no” to a dance, to touching someone without their consent, we believe every incident that makes someone uncomfortable deserves to be addressed. We believe that (cis-)sexism, harassment, abuse, and assault are not just an individual problem but a community issue. Many of us have quit attending events or being in spaces that have failed to hear our concerns. We have come together to share our stories with the hope that our communities, including event organizers, will take serious measures to reform the status quo.

We suggest a variety of strategies including:
-listening to and believing survivors
-publicizing and implementing clear and rigorous codes of conduct
-reaching out to people who have expressed concerns
-re-evaluating whether current leadership is adequate or appropriate for addressing safety problems
-establishing a well-trained designated and visible event safety team
-continuing to work to create safer spaces for everyone

Stay tuned for the photos from our first Standing Up For Safer Spaces event!


https://saferspaces.tumblr.com/

or the archive

https://saferspaces.tumblr.com/archive

facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/standingupforsaferspaces/