All committee members and volunteers should read this document and be familiar with this document. Committee members and volunteers should also have a good understanding of the conference Code of Conduct and of what is expected from an attendee who reports a Code of Conduct incident (guidelines can be found here https://socrse.github.io/legacy-website/conf2019/how-to-report-coc-incident/).

Terminology

  • Reporter: Person reporting an incident.
  • Reportee: Person being reported.
  • Incident Response Group (IRG): Group of people who work on a specific incident. There will be a minimum of three people from the committee on the IRG.
  • Incident Response Lead (IRL): Person on the CoC committee heading the IRG. This person is appointed on a per-incident basis by the IRG. For the RSE conference, the appointed Response Lead is Tania Allard.

  1. First response

If there is any general threat to attendees or the safety of anyone is in doubt, summon security or call the police.

    • In a non-emergency call University of Birmingham security on  0121 414 4444 (Internal use — 4444)
    • In an emergency call the police on 999
  • If medical assistance is required, 
    • The number for the ambulance is 999 
    • The number for non-emergency medical assistance is 111 
  1. Ensure the safety of all people negatively affected by the incident as soon as possible. Offer them a private place to sit, for example, the Great Hall Rotunda.
  2. Ask if there is any friend or trusted person who affected people would like to be with or for us to contact. If the person is present get a volunteer to fetch them.
  3. Ask if they have any preference for the person dealing with their complaint (e.g. the gender) and arrange that they come as soon as possible, following the preferences if possible. 
  4. Call or text the code of conduct hotline +44 7520 631869

2. Response to an incident during a talk or a workshop

If an incident occurs during a talk or a workshop, the session Chair or a workshop chair has the power and responsibility to take action on the spot, in order to avoid further escalation of the situation. For workshops without chairs, volunteers should contact a workshop chair or other committee member as soon as possible. 

Possible actions include:

  • Contact the committee using the code of conduct hotline for someone to come over and assist in handling the situation, if not comfortable in undertaking the responsibility themselves.
  • Discreetly warn the perpetrator to stop behavior that violates the Code of Conduct.
  • Ask the perpetrator to leave the session. If the request is not peacefully followed, call security.
  • If the perpetrator is the speaker/presenter, this obviously means that the session will end early.

A formal report should then be made about the incident following the standard procedures as outlined in this document.

3. Taking action as a result of a report

The following is a list of steps to  be followed when responding to an incident reported in person or via the Code of Conduct hotline, email or Slack channel.

  1. Follow the steps outlined in section 1 (First response).
  2. Assess incident impact and risk level.
  3. Identify the resources needed.
  4. Resolve the incident – if not an urgent action that can be diffused in the moment then the decision should be made with the rest of the IRG and the logistics chair (details below).
  5. Respond to those affected, including the person who reported the incident (reportee).
  6. Record any remaining incident details and resolution.
  7. Follow up with conference committee.

What not to do

Do not:

  • Invite a reportee to withdraw a complaint, or imply that they might wish to (however, you can give them the option by using a form such as “We will [do such-and-such], as long as you are still happy with that.”
  • Ask for their advice on how to deal with the issue
  • Ask for their opinion on an appropriate sanction
  • However seriously you take a complaint, avoid implying that you will take a particular course of action until the committee has been able to consider the matter
  • Do not offer then input on penalties
  • If there is no obvious physical threat, do not call security or the police unless the reporter explicitly requests it

Keep a written record

It’s important to have a written record of the complaint, decisions, and actions taken. Some actions will need to be taken after the event. A written record ensures that the matter can be followed up adequately.

Try to get as much of the incident or complaint  in written form from the person reporting the incident. If that is not feasible, transcribe the report  yourself as it was told to you. The information gathered should include the following:

  1. Contact information for the reporter including name, email, and phone number
  2. The names of all people directly involved in the incident, including relevant nicknames or pseudonyms
  3. Include witnesses if possible
  4. Time and location where the incident occurred. Be specific.
  5. The account of what happened. Note any supporting materials, such as message screencaps, slack messages, or emails.
  6. Additional context for the situation, if appropriate
  7. Whether or not the incident is ongoing
  8. Any additional information that is relevant

Communicating with the reported person

  • Have a committee member from the IRG communicate with the alleged perpetrator as soon as possible. Make sure to inform them of what has been reported about them.
  • Allow the alleged perpetrator to give their version of events. This should be formally documented. 
  • Inform them of the process which will be followed from this point and of when they can expect to hear about the outcome.

Making a decision

Once you have received a code of conduct violation report, meet immediately with the logistics chair and other the IRG members. The main objective of this meeting should be to find out the following:

  • What happened?
  • Are we doing anything about it?
  • Who is the reported person?
  • Consequences of their behaviour and what will happen if they do not agree to modify their behaviour.

After this meeting and discussion, have a committee member (preferably the lead responder if available) communicate with the reported person. Make sure to inform them of what has been reported about them and their actions impact on the reporter or the RSE community.

Allow the reported person to respond. After this point, if the report stands, let them know what actions will be taken against them. Do not allow them to contact the reportee (in case they can identify them, do not disclose the reportee identitiy otherwise).

  • There should be a formal record of points discussed in this meeting and decisions reached.
  • All members of the group should be made familiar with the reports of both the incident reporter and the reported person
  • The discussion should include:
    • Evaluation of the veracity of the report
    • Evaluation of the severity of the incident
    • Whether further action is needed
    • If further actions (including punitive actions) are needed, a decision on their nature and practical implementation
  • The decision should be communicated with the alleged perpetrator and with the reporter as soon as possible.

Potential actions

  • A warning to the perpetrator to stop their behaviour and that any further reports will result in sanctions
  • Ending early a talk that violates the conference policy. 
  • Not publishing the talk or video that violated the policy
  • Whenever possible, aid in minimising any interaction between the harasser and the victim for the rest of the event, eg not assign them to the same table for dinner, or facilitate moving them to different sessions.
  • Requiring that the offender leaves the event
  • Immediately ending any event responsibilities and privileges the perpetrator holds
  • Banning the perpetrator from volunteering, presenting or otherwise participating at any other RSE conference (permanently or for a period of time)

The way we as a committee deal with the incident publicly is very important. We need to make sure that everyone is aware of the initial incident is also made aware that official action has been taken while respecting the privacy of the attendees. When talking about the incident to those who are aware of it, but were not directly affected, the best approach is to leave the details out.

Depending on the incident the conference chair might decide on making a public announcement to the community via the channels the committee judges appropriate (e.g. before a keynote session, using the slack channel). No other member of the committee should make official announcements

5. Independent review of complaint and decision

Any complaints received and decisions made on the day should be reviewed by the UK RSE Society code of conduct subcommittee. A week’s deadline from the incident will be given to contest the decisions made, after which point any decisions should be subject to this independent review.

 

This policy was updated on the 10th September 2019