Code of conduct 2024 October revisions

code-of-conduct-2024-addendum.md

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+# Process notes and drafted changes, for vote in November 2024:
+
+## Changes to new joiner messaging
+
+The following should be read to every new member when they join, in addition to the existing practices and guidelines that appear when a key card is activated:
+
+* No Harassment: This includes, but is not limited to, attention that comes after a request to stop. Our anti-harassment policy is part of our member agreement - please read it.
+* No Bullying: Recognize and respect everyone’s differences. Treat all members with kindness and respect.
+
+
+## New procedure/form for code of conduct incident reporting
+
+Board members should collect the following standard information when receiving an incident report. This may be an online form in the future but isn't being added as one as a part of this proposal.
+
+* Uniquely identifiable name of the reporter (Slack handle or full name)
+* Date/time of report
+* How would you like us to contact you about this concern/incident?
+* Confidentiality: We strive to keep all incidents confidential within the board, and to follow up with you before any follow up actions we take that could risk reidentifying you to a harasser. Is there any additional concern you have, or special handling that you need to request? (e.g. if a board member caused the incident, or if there is a time-sensitive concern)
+* Details of the issue/incident:
+  * Who?
+  * What?
+  * When?
+  * Where?
+  * How?
+* If there is any action you'd like to request that the board takes in response to this specific incident - let us know here. It may not be possible to take this action exactly as described, but we would like to respect your autonomy as much as we can in resolving this incident.
+* Please share any additional suggestions you have about how to prevent issues like this from happening.
+

code-of-conduct-best-practices.md

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+# Best practices for interaction at denhac
+
+
+## Purpose
+
+This document outlines best practices for behavior at denhac, complementing our existing code of conduct. It emphasizes each member's responsibility to assess their intent, action, and impact. The code of conduct establishes minimum standards for acceptable conduct, identifies unacceptable behavior, and describes the procedures for reporting such behavior to the board of directors. denhac's goal is to foster a positive environment where members and visitors engage constructively, minimizing conflicts and preventing harassment. This document does not need board vote for modification and is superseded by the Code of Conduct if the two are in conflict. 
+
+## Summary of Guidelines
+
+Err on the Side of Caution: If uncertain about appropriate behavior, seek and receive informed consent in advance.
+
+Respect Individual Boundaries: Each person communicates their own boundaries. When a reasonable boundary is set, it is your responsibility to adhere to it. While intent matters, it is not the sole factor in assessing an individual's action and impact.
+
+Acknowledge Diverse Perspectives: Assumptions about norms can lead to misunderstandings. Be mindful of differing viewpoints, particularly when in a position of leadership, power, and/or privilege.
+
+## Detailed Guidance
+
+### Seeking and receiving informed consent in advance
+
+For behaviors where consent can be obtained in advance, it is essential to do so beforehand. This applies to all interactions, not just those deemed risky, such as romantic or sexual advances.
+
+Questions to ponder: When you say something about yourself, are you sure there's nobody there who could think it was a harmful comment about them? How would you know? 
+
+Examples in practice: Before making a potentially sensitive joke, consider your audience and whether it may inadvertently harm them or another individual(s) nearby. A simple check-in can facilitate comfort in conversations. A small positive signal that other people feel comfortable, or a quick question that allows someone to know if they want to opt out, doesn't have to be a large ordeal. 
+
+### Defining what is appropriate for you and setting boundaries
+
+Boundary setting is the process of communicating specifics about how you do or don't want to be treated. Anyone can set a boundary for themselves that doesn't impact other people in a harmful way. You don't need the board of directors involved to set a boundary, but if a reasonable boundary is violated, it can be grounds for board actions around our code of conduct and anti-harassment policy.
+
+Questions to ponder: When something bothers you, when do you tell someone directly and unambiguously, and when do you ignore it and hope for the best? When you do something that bothers someone else, how do you know it's bothered them? 
+
+Examples in practice:
+
+* "I don't want you to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention, please wave from a distance or say my name" is a good boundary to set if the person doesn't want to be tapped on the shoulder. 
+* "I don't want you to wear the color red in the woodshop" is another example of a boundary, but it does impact people in a harmful way, so it is not reasonable to set within denhac.
+
+### Everyone has their own perspective
+
+denhac's membership is diverse, and communication issues can arise from assumptions of shared viewpoints. Careless actions and remarks can have unintended impacts.
+
+Questions to ponder: What viewpoints do you have that you think are commonly held at denhac? What viewpoints do you have that you think you are in the minority at denhac?
+
+Examples in practice: It can be respectful to check in with the people in a conversation if you realize you may have misread a situation based on their reaction. It's important to approach that conversation with genuine interest and curiosity in their perspective, rather than trying to make a point yourself. A denhac community where we all care about how other people see the world is a denhac where we can make friends and strengthen our community support network.
+
+### Leadership, power and privilege
+
+While denhac operates as a volunteer organization with minimal hierarchy, societal power dynamics still influence interactions. Awareness of these dynamics is crucial.
+
+Questions to ponder: Have you ever had someone assume you were new to something when you were an expert? Or that you knew what you were doing when really you didn't? Have you ever felt singled out by this?
+
+Examples in practice:
+* When attempting to give unsolicited advice, consider if your advice is objectively correct (e.g., safety concern) or if it is your opinion (e.g., how you would carry out a specific task). Be mindful about giving unsolicited advice by first asking if the advice is wanted and by considering if you're the right person or the only person to give this advice.
+* If you are in a position that has some power, such as a SIG trainer, be aware of how your actions may be perceived as powerful or as intimidating. Instead of scheduling a last-minute training, could you include more people by scheduling in advance? Think about what times of day are most inclusive for a newcomer or someone less comfortable with the space.

code-of-conduct.md

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 denhac does not promote or discriminate against any person, population group, or organization with regard to categories protected by applicable United States law. These include, but are not limited to race, color, religion, sex, gender expression, sexuality, physical appearance, language, education background, national origin, age, disability, and veteran status.
 
-denhac strives to create an inclusive environment where everyone can feel welcome and respected in our space. We know that, while there is not a formal hierarchy here as in a workplace, everyone comes into our space with their own different histories and social norms. We expect you to both communicate with each other about the boundaries/limits you wish to hold, and respect when someone else communicates a boundary with you. If a boundary is clearly expressed to you (whether in person, over Slack messages, or via other means), and you deliberately overstep that boundary, it will be treated as a violation of our anti-harassment policy. We believe that initial communication of a boundary can be done without board support in most cases, but please reach out to any member of the Board of Directors if you would like support of any kind in any phase of the process of boundary setting. 
+denhac strives to create an inclusive environment where everyone can feel welcome and respected in our space. While there is not a formal hierarchy here as in a workplace, everyone comes into our space with their own different histories and social norms. We on the Board of Directors expect members to both communicate with each other about the boundaries/limits you each wish to hold, and respect when someone else communicates a boundary with you. If a member deliberately oversteps a boundary that is clearly expressed to them (whether in person, over Slack messages, or via other means) it will be treated as a violation of our anti-harassment policy and the board may need to take disciplinary action, if relevant. Initial communication of a boundary can be done without direct board member support in most cases, but please reach out to any member of the Board of Directors if you would like support of any kind in any phase of the process of boundary setting.
 
-If you feel that you have been harassed at denhac or if someone has made you uncomfortable (even if you aren’t sure if it’s harassment), we encourage you to follow the reporting procedure in our code of conduct. We want to make the space better and creating a safe environment for you is important to making denhac better - but we can’t act to address potential issues if we aren’t made aware of them.
+If you feel that you have been harassed at denhac or if someone has made you uncomfortable (even if you aren’t sure if it’s harassment), we on the Board of Directors encourage you to follow the reporting procedure in our code of conduct. Everyone can help make denhac better, and creating a safe environment for everyone is important to making denhac better. Board members can’t act to officially address potential issues if we aren’t made aware of them.
 
 # Code of conduct and anti-harassment policy
 
-We expect everyone involved in our community to follow this code of conduct. This applies to all of our methods of communication.
+We, the denhac Board of Directors, expect everyone involved in our community to follow this code of conduct. This applies to all of our methods of communication.
 
-We do not tolerate harassment of people at our events or space in any form. 
+denhac does not tolerate harassment of people at our events or space in any form. 
 
 Behavior considered as harassment includes, but is not limited to:
 
 1. Offensive comments including epithets, slurs, negative stereotyping, verbal kidding, teasing, jokes, or intimidating acts related to race, religion, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, or physical appearance. Consider that calling attention to differences can feel alienating.
-2. Gratuitous sexual or obscene objects, images, discussions, or behavior.
-3. Physical contact, romantic advances, or sexual attention that continues after a request to stop or "no" response.
-4. Subtle or explicit demands for sexual activity.
-5. Verbal abuse.
-6. Threats or incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to engage in self-harm
-7. Deliberate intimidation by words, gestures, body language, or menacing behavior
-8. Stalking
-9. Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
-10. Continued one-on-one contact or communication after requests to cease
-11. Deliberate “outing” of a sensitive aspect of a person’s identity without their consent
-12. Deliberate misgendering. This includes dead-naming or persistently using a pronoun that does not correctly reflect a person’s gender identity
-13. Retaliating against anyone who files a complaint that someone has violated this code of conduct 
+2. Gratuitous sexual or obscene objects, images, discussions, or behavior
+3. Physical contact, romantic advances, sexual attention, or other contact or messaging that continues after a request to stop or a negative/"no" response
+4. Physical contact, sexual or romantic attention, or other actions where informed and voluntary consent can be expected to be received, but was not received in advance
+5. Subtle or explicit demands for sexual or romantic activity
+6. Physical or verbal abuse
+7. Threats or incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to engage in self-harm
+8. Deliberate intimidation by words, gestures, body language, or menacing behavior
+9. Stalking
+10. Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
+11. Continued one-on-one contact or communication after active requests to cease or other indicators of a lack of consent (such as a pattern of sending multiple long messages that are not necessary to space operations and that receive no response)
+12. Deliberate outing/sharing of a sensitive aspect of a person’s identity without their consent
+13. Deliberate misgendering. This includes dead-naming or persistently using a pronoun that does not correctly reflect a person’s gender identity.
+14. Retaliating against anyone who files a complaint that someone has violated this code of conduct 
 
 # How to submit a harassment report
-Reports should be submitted in writing on Slack or via denhac.org email to any member of our Board of Directors, listed at https://denhac.org/wiki/the-board; the entire board is also available via email at [email protected]. If your report is given to a single member of the Board, they will ask to pull in a second board member of your choice, to share the detailed context of the issue in order to better represent it to the rest of the board and help address the issue.
+Reports should be submitted in writing (e.g. on Slack or via denhac.org email) to any member of our Board of Directors, listed at https://denhac.org/wiki/the-board; the entire board is also available via email at [email protected]. If your report is given to a single member of the board, they will ask to pull in a second board member of your choice, to share the detailed context of the issue in order to better represent it to the rest of the board and help address the issue.
 
 # What happens when a harassment report is submitted
 Report information will be shared and discussed privately over board-only slack and/or private board executive session - current board members are the only ones present at the time of discussion, but future board members may have access to the discussion log as well. Board members will investigate the report privately (potentially including use of our camera footage but we will check in with the reporter before taking any actions which might reidentify the reporter to a harasser), discuss and decide on next steps to address the incident, and communicate back to the reporter on the next steps chosen within a week after the next Executive Session completes. Anonymous summaries of public events that require a statement, and/or summary statistics around incident management, may also be shared more widely across denhac for transparency.
 
 # Potential consequences of violating the code of conduct
-denhac reserves the right to terminate any membership at any time for any reason, but we strive for the process to be as fair and open as privacy and discretion allow us to be. Upon breaching of the denhac rules and member agreements, the following actions may be performed in any order:
+denhac reserves the right to terminate any membership at any time for any reason, but the Board of Directors strives for the process to be as fair and open as privacy and discretion allow us to be. Upon breaching of the denhac rules and member agreements, the following actions may be performed in any order:
 
 * The member will get a verbal warning from a Director or a Manager.
 * The member will be called before the Board to explain and/or discuss the behavior in question, usually within Executive Session.
 * The member will receive a formal Warning, via letter or email, signed by a board member.
-* The Member will be put on probation.
+* The member will be put on probation.
 * Membership will be suspended for a length of time.
 * Membership will be terminated.
 
 Note that some offenses – such as non-payment of dues, or negligence leading to danger to our members or physical space – can trigger automatic membership suspension or termination, without a formal review by the Board.
+Definitions of suspension and termination can be found in our [membership agreements](https://github.com/Denhac/denhac-official-docs/blob/main/membership-agreement.md).
 
 *Thank you to Geek Feminism Wiki for their [detailed code of conduct documentation](https://geekfeminism.fandom.com/wiki/Code_of_conduct_evaluations).*