Code of Conduct
ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICY FOR INCLUSION GEEKS SPACES
Inclusion Geeks (aka Inclusion Geeks) abides by a strict no-asshole policy. We’re dedicated to providing a safe, inclusive, and welcoming experience for everyone. We do not tolerate hate or harassment of members of our community in any form.*
Inclusion Geeks spaces are intended to be safe spaces. Members are encouraged to bring up topics of all sorts, including those that might be sensitive or touchy. Due to the nature of our community, the code of conduct applies to all Inclusion Geeks-related spaces, including Inclusion Geeks community events, professional development workshops, happy hours, Inclusion Geeks public and private workshops, trainings, virtual events, and special events. It also applies to our online spaces including but not limited to: Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from these spaces and/or general community at the discretion of the Inclusion Geeks team. Some Inclusion Geeks spaces may have additional rules in place, which will be made clearly available to participants. Participants are responsible for being aware of and abiding by these rules.
If you are being harassed by a member of Inclusion Geeks outside our spaces as outlined above, we still want to know about it. We will take all good-faith reports of harassment by Inclusion Geeks members, especially the Inclusion Geeks team, seriously. The Inclusion Geeks team reserves the right to exclude people from the Inclusion Geeks community based on their past behavior, including behavior that took place outside Inclusion Geeks spaces, and behavior towards people who are not in Inclusion Geeks. At the same time, the Inclusion Geeks team reserves the right to reject any report we believe to have been made in bad faith. Reports intended to silence legitimate criticism may be dismissed or deleted without response.
Individuals asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If an incident of harassment is suspected of having taken place, the Inclusion Geeks team may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from all Inclusion Geeks spaces and identification of the participant as a harasser to other Inclusion Geeks members or the general public.
We respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of Inclusion Geeks members or the general public. We will not name harassment victims without their affirmative consent.
*We will not tolerate comments, posts, discussions, actions, or words of any kind that promote or support harassment, sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, biphobia, queerphobia, and the like. Harassment includes:
- Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, or religion.
- Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, reproductive choice, and employment.
- Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names.
- Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behavior in spaces where they’re not appropriate.
- When in-person, physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “*hug*” or “*backrub*”) without consent or after a request to stop.
- Threats of violence.
- Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.
- Deliberate intimidation.
- Stalking or following.
- Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes.
- Sustained disruption of discussion.
- Unwelcome sexual attention.
- Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others.
- Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
- Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect vulnerable people from intentional abuse.
- Publication of non-harassing private communication.
- Inclusion Geeks prioritizes safety over comfort. Inclusion Geeks reserves the right not to act on complaints regarding:
- ‘Reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’
- Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”
- Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
- Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions
REPORTING
If you are being harassed by a member of Inclusion Geeks, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact the Inclusion Geeks team. If the person who is harassing you is on the team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. We will respond as promptly as we can.
This anti-harassment policy is based on the example policy from the Geek Feminism wiki, created by the Geek Feminism community.