Re: [guadec-list] anti-harassment policy

[meg ford <megford gnome org>]

Hi,

On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 9:12 AM, Matthew Garrett <mjg59 srcf ucam org> wrote:

> You're using an argument that's been rightfully dismissed when used
> the other way around. "If harassment was such a big problem, I would
> have heard about it".

 

 We've had to adopt CoCs for a few different groups in Chicago [1], and recently the local hackerspace also adopted one. The hackerspace adopted one because they found that many women who came to events did not return. When a woman joined the board for the space, she started asking questions and found that newcomers were leaving and the hackerspace never heard about the problems because people didn't feel comfortable raising issues publicly. So sometimes you don't hear about the cases. I think having a policy in place is helpful because, if there is an incident, then it is easier for organizers to deal with the problem without personal conflict. 

Cheers,

Meg

[1]https://openhatch.org/blog/2013/dealing-with-uncomfortable/