Safe Space Policy

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== General friendly space policy for Wikimedia Australia events==
== General friendly space policy for Wikimedia Australia events==
Wikimedia Australia is dedicated to providing a welcoming experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, appearance, race, religion, or preferred free license (and not limited to those aspects).  We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants.  Participants violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the discretion of the event organizers.
Wikimedia Australia is dedicated to providing a welcoming experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, appearance, race, religion, or preferred free license (and not limited to those aspects).  We do not tolerate harassment of event participants.  Participants violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the discretion of the event organizers.


=== Definition of harassment ===
=== Definition of harassment ===

Revision as of 02:15, 12 July 2015


Currently under discussion for adoption as a policy of Wikimedia Australia
Please raise suggestions on the talk page or via email.

Friendly space policies are guidelines for in-person Wikimedia community gatherings which advise that all participants seek to encourage a positive and constructive experience for all other participants.

General friendly space policy for Wikimedia Australia events

Wikimedia Australia is dedicated to providing a welcoming experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, appearance, race, religion, or preferred free license (and not limited to those aspects). We do not tolerate harassment of event participants. Participants violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the discretion of the event organizers.

Definition of harassment

Harassment includes:

  • Offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, or religion.
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, unwelcome following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events.
  • Non-contextual display of sexual images, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.
  • Any other behaviour not explicitly covered above but which could reasonably be interpreted as unwelcome and unreasonable.

Participants asked to stop such behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

Potentially offensive content

Images and other media that may be offensive, distressing, or upsetting to members of the community must not be shown at conferences and events, except in cases where they are directly relevant to a Wikimedia-related topic, are presented in an appropriate context and are not gratuitous, and participants are clearly warned that the presentation contains such content prior to the content being shown. Some examples of such media would include (but not be limited to) images showing nudity, sexual content, violence, or medical images. Care should also be taken in portraying deceased Indigenous persons, not only with imagery but also in text or audio recordings, which should be avoided if possible.

In practice;

  • All such presentations need to be reviewed by the organising committee well beforehand,
  • prior to the commencement of the presentation a further announcement should be made with time given for people to leave the room

Corrective actions

As Wikimedia community events are managed by volunteers, event organizers depend on all attendees for help in maintaining the Friendly Space Policy. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of event staff immediately.

If organizers are concerned about the conduct of an individual, or receive a complaint, they may take action appropriate to the situation. This can include a private warning to the person concerned; in more serious cases it may be necessary to ask them to leave.

Individuals with a pattern of harassing behaviour, or who threaten to harass individuals or disrupt an event, may be asked not to attend. Event organisers may take steps to pre-emptively exclude individuals from events where there is a belief that their presence would lead to harassment or a "chilling effect" for other attendees.

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