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⭐️A CARING SPACE⭐️

THE CARING SPACE THAT WE WILL CO-CREATE WITH COMPASSION.

The Association for Progressive Communications is committed to providing a safer and welcoming environment for discussing issues related to its community. The APC Community comprises members of the network, all APC staff and team and its larger network of partners, friends and allies.

The manner with which we hold and co-create caring spaces is inspired and infused by years of engagement and interaction with activists in the Global South who have all shaped these caring spaces.

The code of conduct and anti-harassment policy apply to this meeting as well as to all APC hosted events, conference-related social events, such as parties or gatherings at restaurants or bars and spaces, and includes our mailing lists, wikis, platforms, websites and any other spaces that APC hosts, both online and off.  In this event, the code applies to anyone who is part of the event, which includes organisers, resource persons, participants and performers. 

 

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A CARING SPACE

It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we create a safe, creative, productive and welcoming space that can hold us in all of our uniqueness and diversity.

OUR COMMITMENT TO COLLECTIVE CARE

All APC meetings, virtual and physical meetings, are intended to be caring spaces and we ask participants, facilitators, interpreters, documenters and everyone involved to hold space for one another and to do our best to:

  • Create a safer space for all participants, in every moment.
  • Extend compassion and kindness to those who are in the same space.
  • Acknowledge the various histories and current lived experiences of who is in the room.
  • Be collaborative and participatory in our approach.
  • Make room for all emotional, spiritual and physical experiences and states.
  • Respect and be mindful of the privacy and boundaries of participants in the room.
  • Remember language diversity and encourage various forms of expression.
  • Embed / Infuse / Root contextual and local politics and practices of self and collective care.

EXPECTATIONS AND POSITIONALITY

This year, SPACE 2.0 will welcome participants from all genders and will not be limited to women, trans, queer and gender-diverse individuals. That is why it is important for everybody in the room to create a safer environment that supports self-expression along with learning and exchange. Alienating and othering participants based on gender stereotyping or on any other prejudice as well as intimidation and unkindness will not be welcomed.

All of us present in the room are responsible to support healthy discussions and acknowledge a diversity of opinions and experiences. As such, we expect everyone in the room to treat one another with respect and kindness. We will also encourage conversations and the exchange of perspectives especially when positions may not be aligned or be in agreement. It's important to remember that a learning space that is filled with tension does not support exchange and that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a generative one.

We trust that all of us in the SPACE room are committed to self and collective care and that through mindful approaches to communication and learning, we will co-create a caring space.

 

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Anti-Harassment

Kindly keep in mind that APC does not tolerate discrimination and harassment against all those who are present in SPACE in any form. We will take action in response to harassment related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, nationality, caste, ethnicity or religion.


Harassment
includes, but is not limited to:
  • Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurodivergence, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, race, caste, ethnicity or religion.
  • Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.
  • Physical or virtual contact and simulated physical or virtual contact without consent or after a request to stop.
  • Deliberate intimidation and attempts of silencing.
  • Sustained disruption of discussion and boundary breach.
  • Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
  • Sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment
is a broad term. For the purposes of this event it is defined as:

Any unwelcome sexual advance in the form of words, images, gestures or physical contact in physical, digital or communication spaces which may reasonably be expected, or be perceived,  to cause distress, intimidation, fear, humiliation, or harm to another. The term also covers any request for a sexual favour, or a threat  of a sexual  nature.  Sexual  harassment  may  occur in any space, including the workplace. This includes activities of face-to-face meetings, virtual meetings and digital communication of all kinds. It can be a one-time incident or a series of incidents. Sexual harassment may be unintended, deliberate, or coercive. Sexual harassment may occur both within formal working hours and spaces, and outside these. Men, women, transitioning and transgender individuals may be victims or offenders.

Sexual harassment may result in discrimination, and it may create a hostile working environment. Other forms of behaviour which cause discrimination, fear, and/or a hostile working environment may be implicated in sexual harassment, such as harassment based on race, gender, sexuality, national origin, physical appearance, age, ancestry, disability, economic disparity, nationality, or religious or spiritual beliefs. APC recognises that APC's staff members, partners and event participants are from diverse contexts, and that sexual harassment experiences are embedded within the cultural, social, historical and personal contexts.

Sexual harassment should not be confused with unintentional careless communication in a diverse working environment, or with our efforts to create a working culture which is open to conversations on sexuality and human rights. 

We understand that the impact of sexual harassment on APC's working culture can be highly destructive, and we understand the harmful impact of sexual harassment on any person’s work, mind and body.

Examples of sexual harassment include (but are not limited to):
  • Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour in spaces where they are not appropriate.
  • Unwelcome sharing of sexualised content in visual, audio or text form
  • Deliberate stalking, following or intimidation, online and/or offline
  • Harassing photography, video or audio recording
  • Inappropriate and/or unwanted physical contact
  • Unwelcome sexual attention, in any form of communication
  • Requests for sexual favours, verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature in exchange for an opportunity
  • Threats, either explicit or implicit, to withdraw an opportunity or resources unless sexual contact and/or communication is permitted
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour.

If you believe you have been harassed, or notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, you are encouraged to raise your concerns in confidence to the Event Incidents Team.

APC commits that each case will be considered, and concrete actions will be taken as appropriate.

Please refer to APC’s sexual harassment policy for how APC responds to sexual harassment.

 

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Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy Response Process

If you are being harassed by a member of the community or a participant or organiser at the conference, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the Event Incidents Team.

When a complaint is made or an incident occurs that breaches this code, the Event Incidents Team will confidentially review and respond to any participant who has experienced harassment or inappropriate behavior.

If the person who is harassing you is on the Event Incidents Team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. If the person who is harassing you is a member of the organising team, they will not receive differential treatment than any other participant in the handling of the complaint.

We will try to respond as promptly to complaints as we can. These steps will be taken once you make a complaint:

  1. One or more members of the Event Incidents team will discuss the issue with you.
  2. They may take notes, with your consent, of what you say.
  3. One or more members of the Events Incidents team will separately speak with the person(s) against whom the complaint is lodged.
  4. The process will involve attaining resolution while ensuring safety, dignity and respect for everyone involved.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the Response Team may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from all APC spaces during the event, and identification of the participant as a harasser to other APC members or the general public. The Event Incidents team will prioritise marginalised people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort.

 

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EVENT INCIDENTS TEAM

If at any point you feel that you were harmed by a comment or a remark made in the sessions, you can feel free to approach the EVENT INCIDENTS TEAM team who will be ready to support the resolution of the issue at hand. Any member of the Event Incidents Team can be contacted with any questions or concerns participants may have throughout the duration of an APC event. Anonymous complaints can be reported to the team via email or text message. The names and contact details of the Event Incidents Team are as follows:

Cynthia El-Khoury       cynthia@apc.org
Kathleen Diga               kathleen@apc.org

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