Code of Conduct

Organisers of Transforming Silence (TS) and participants in all TS programs including, but not limited to the Symposium Silence Will Not Protect Us: Sexual Violence and Institutional Power in Academia and the Community Discord, pledge to uphold the organisation’s multidimensional approach to challenging power disparities and systemic hierarchies that make abuse possible in academia.

We are devoted to equitable practices that maintain everybody’s dignity, safety and self-respect. To prioritise collective resistance as a vehicle for radical change in academia, we acknowledge the indispensable role of difference in conversations and dialogues about power. We will maintain a collaborate environment, both in-person and on-line, that dignifies differences and discourse while simultaneously protecting participants and organisers from assault, harassment, discrimination, and social and epistemic injustices.

In working to advance academia’s efforts to address these issues, both internally and externally, we will not tolerate epistemic and social injustices and discriminatory behaviour and/or discourse to be reproduced in any TS-sponsored events and activities. This includes but is not limited to: sexism; racism; classism and casteism; ageism; ableism; nativism and xenophobia; settler-colonialism, colonialism, and imperialism; Anglocentrism and Eurocentrism; homophobia and transphobia (and other forms of cis- and hetero-normativity such as ‘gender-critical’); Islamophobia; and antisemitism.

This Code of Conduct applies to all in-person activities such as conferences, workshops, and receptions, and to all on-line communications (including but not limited to email, social media, Community Discord). TS program participants in violation of any of these rules will be expelled from the event/activity and blocked from future association with TS and attendance of TS programs and events (including any events for which they have already registered) at the discretion of TS organisers. If requested by participants, or deemed necessary for community safety by TS organisers, violators may additionally be referred to venue security or local law enforcement.

I.               Certified Commitment to TS Values

a.     To participate in TS programs, in-person or online, attendees, speakers, sponsors and volunteers are required to self-certify by honestly and scrupulously affirming the following:

i.     I have never been the subject of adverse findings (e.g., partially-held complaint) in a discrimination or harassment proceeding, lawsuit, administrative or legal complaint, or disciplinary action and/or retaliation; and I am not currently the subject of an open investigation or proceeding related to professional misconduct, such as a discrimination or harassment lawsuit or administrative complaint.

ii.     If I become the subject of an open investigation or proceeding related to professional misconduct, such as a discrimination or harassment lawsuit or administrative complaint, I will relate this information to TS organisers promptly (within five business days) via email with my full-name and registered contact information.

b.     Speakers (defined as those contacted to speak on a Symposium panel and/or conversation on Day 1 to be distinguished from conveners defined as those contacted exclusively to manage Day 2 conversations and workshops) in violation of this statement will be expelled from TS programs (in-person and on-line) and required to payback their honorarium, which will be donated to the Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre.

II.             Harassment Policy

a.     We define harassment as offensive, prohibited conduct which impugns the dignity and respect of another to cause mental, physical, or emotional suffering. It can occur in isolation or alongside other forms of social/epistemic injustices and discrimination.

b.     Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

i.     Verbal harassment, threats, intimidation;

ii.     Using offensive spoken, written, visual, or bodily language related to, but not limited to: race; ethnicity; sexual and gender identity; disability; religion; age; health; physical appearance; body size;

iii.     Sexual misconduct, unwanted sexual attention, inappropriate physical contact including, but not limited to non-consensual touching with any part of the body or an object;

iv.     Stalking, including but not limited to: unwanted online communication and the creation of new accounts to harass persons encountered through TS programs;

v.     Inappropriate or unpermitted use of photo, video, or audio recordings or artistic reproduction of likeness;

vi.     Physical or verbal abuse and bullying;

vii.     Repeated disruptions of talks or events;

If you are being harassed or experience any other form of epistemic or social injustice and/or discrimination, or notice that someone else is being harassed or experiencing epistemic or social injustice/discrimination, or have any other concerns related to the wellbeing and dignity yourself or others, please contact Symposium Organisers immediately or speak with a Symposium Organiser in-person (they can be identified for in-person events as those wearing TS lanyard-cards). The Symposium Organisers will listen and take your concerns seriously.

For online events managed through the TS Discord please also refer to the Code of Conduct: Addendum for Online Programs found in Administrative Channels.