Re: [guadec-list] anti-harassment policy

[Matthew Garrett <mjg59 srcf ucam org>]

On Thu, Jul 10, 2014 at 12:13:01PM +0200, Alexandre Franke wrote:

> I've discussed this in private one-to-one conversations with several
> organization team members and everyone is uncomfortable with having
> such a policy.

I'm uncomfortable attending a conference run by people who feel 
uncomfortable with having such a policy. Such policies have proven more 
effective than generic "Be friendly" policies in creating an atmosphere 
of safety, and despite frequent claims that they'll result in a chilling 
effect there's been no evidence of that whatsoever.

I've been to five conferences so far this year. All have had a strong 
anti-harassment policy. People have complained about the lack of tea. 
People have complained about the distance from an airport. People have 
complained about having a rail freight line running through the 
convention centre. I have heard *no* complaints about the code of 
conduct. I have seen nobody's speech stifled. I have seen no false 
complaints made.

Given that many large conferences (including OSCON, LCA, the OpenStack 
summit and every Linux Foundation event) with a cumulative total of 
thousands of attendees have implemented such policies, if chilling 
effects were likely shouldn't we have seen complaints already?

-- 
Matthew Garrett | mjg59 srcf ucam org