About

Inter Alia (IA) strives to create a safe and welcoming world for everyone; and maintaining a high standard of professional behaviour at our spaces, activities and events (both on-site and online) is critical to that goal.

This Code of Conduct outlines our expectations for all staff members, volunteers, participants, and attendees, including partners and affiliates, of any IA project, activity, or event, both on-site and online, including day-to-day office routines and processes. This Code also applies to our networks and communities. This Code also describes steps for reporting unacceptable behaviour. IA staff members will enforce this Code throughout professional activities and events, and in online and on-site communities related to our work and projects. We expect cooperation from everyone to help ensure a safe environment for everybody.

IA is committed to providing a harassment-free environment for everyone regardless of gender, sexuality, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, nationality, ethnicity, religion, level of education or life/work experiences.

Guiding principles

Be welcoming. All our employees, volunteers, participants, attendees, partners, affiliates, network and community members have different backgrounds and experiences. We expect all members and participants to welcome new members and participants, and have special consideration to help them orient themselves in our daily work, projects, activities, events, networks and communities.

Be respectful. Disagreement is no excuse for disrespectful behaviour. We work together to resolve conflict, assume good intentions, and do our best to act in an empathic fashion. We will not allow frustration to turn into a personal attack. We do not tolerate harassment or discrimination in our communities. A community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is neither conducive, nor productive. Be thoughtful in the words that you choose. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put them down.

Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a certain viewpoint doesn’t mean they are wrong. Disagreements, social and technical, are normal, but we will not allow them to persist and fester leaving others uncertain of the agreed direction. We expect staff members in day-to-day activities, and participants in any project to resolve disagreements constructively. When they cannot, matters should be forwarded to, and solved within established structures for resolution.

Always remember, our projects, activities and events are diverse and international in scope, where English is not the native language for the vast majority of participants. Always try to pick the short way to express the idea you are trying to share, considering the language and cultural barriers always present.

Be considerate. Our work will be used by other people, and we in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision we take will affect users and colleagues, and we should consider them when making decisions.

Be collaborative. Collaboration between people that each have their own goal and vision is essential. Collaboration reduces redundancy and improves the quality of our work. Wherever possible, we work closely with other people, projects and communities to coordinate our efforts. We prefer to work transparently, and involve interested parties as early as possible.

Ask for help when unsure. Nobody is expected to be perfect. Asking questions early avoids many problems later, so questions are encouraged, though they may be directed to the appropriate person or forum. Those who are asked should be responsive and helpful.Share leadership. The most powerful way an organisation can advance its cause is by bringing in new people, and supporting them to become leaders. The most influential among us should actively seek to mentor, promote, advise, and advance those with potential to have impact in their communities and networks.

Unacceptable behaviour

We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, sexuality, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, nationality, ethnicity, religion, level of education, or life/work experiences.
Violence, threats of violence or violent language directed against another person, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.
Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
Displaying or publishing sexually explicit or violent material.

Exception: Displaying, publishing and/or discussing sexually explicit or violent material may take place in the context of the Positively Different Short Film Festival (PDSFF) if it meets all of the following criteria: (a) IA has specifically granted permission in writing, (b) it is necessary to the topic of the PDSFF and no alternative exists, (c) it is presented in a respectful manner, especially towards women and LGBTQIA+ people, (d) attendees are warned in advance in the programme, and respectfully given ample warning and opportunity to leave beforehand. This exception specifically does not allow use of gratuitous sexual images as attention-getting devices or unnecessary examples.

Publishing or threatening to publish other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”).
Personal insults and offensive comments.
Inappropriate or harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes.
Spamming or trolling.
Uninvited or inappropriate physical contact. You should always get someone’s consent before touching them.
Unwelcome sexual attention. This includes sexualized comments or jokes, inappropriate touching, groping, and unwelcome sexual advances.
Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following (online or in person).
Sustained disruption of activities and events, including talks and presentations.
Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.
Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names.
Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others.
Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect vulnerable people from intentional abuse.
Publication of non-harassing private communication.
Advocating for or encouraging any of the above behaviour.

Enforcement

Actions we may take to enforce this Code include and are not limited to:

Asking anyone to stop a behaviour; the person asked is expected to comply immediately.
Asking anyone to leave the in-person and online spaces either temporarily, for the remainder of an activity/event, or permanently, without pecuniary reimbursement.
Removing anyone’s access to the in-person and online spaces that we manage either temporarily, for the reminder of an activity/event, or permanently.
Communicating to all activity/event participants and/or community members to reinforce our expectations for conduct, and remind what is unacceptable behaviour; this may be public for practical reasons.
Communicating to all activity/event participants and/or community members that an incident has taken place and how we will act or have acted – this may be for the purpose of letting activity/event participants and/or community members know we are aware and are dealing with the incident; this communication may include naming any person who has been asked to stop or leave – this would be for the purpose of enabling us to enforce the action.
Banning anyone from participating in IA-managed spaces, future events and activities, either temporarily or permanently.
For non-IA employees, a report to their organisation.
For IA employees, disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
No action.

Please note that there are spaces and platforms on which IA has no way to control access. These include but are not limited to:

Social media platforms, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.
Shared Google documents that the public can edit and/or not owned by IA.
Public repositories.

In these spaces/platforms, in addition to some of the other actions we can take above, we can:

Be the ones who report issues to the space/platform.
Support participants to report issues to the space/platform.
Support and encourage participants to block people.

IA prioritises marginalised people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort.

IA reserves the right not to act on complaints regarding:

‘Reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism’, ‘reverse sexism’, and ‘cisphobia’.
Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone”, “go away”, or “I’m not discussing this with you”.
Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial.
Criticising racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behaviour or assumptions.

Reporting violations

Your notification of any concerns is essential to us. We cannot help resolve a problem unless we know about it. Therefore, please bring any concerns to our attention as soon as possible so that we can take whatever steps are necessary to address the situation. Reporting is encouraged regardless of position, seniority, years of service, etc.

You can make a report either anonymously or personally.

A designated Safety Team will take the lead in acting on reports, and will work together with all IA staff members to assist with the enforcement of the Code of Conduct.

If your report concerns an IA staff member, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. And we will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.

We reserve the right to reject any report we believe to have been made in bad faith. Reports intended to silence legitimate criticism may be deleted without response.

Anonymous Report

You can make an anonymous report here.

We can’t follow up an anonymous report with you directly, but we will fully investigate it and take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence.

Personal Report

You can make a report by sending an email to [email protected].

When making a personal report, a designated Safety Team will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other IA staff members to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we’ll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we’ll handle it respectfully, and you can bring someone to support you. You won’t be asked to confront anyone, you will not be left alone, and all reports will be handled with discretion. Also, we will be happy to help you contact hotel/venue security, local law enforcement, local support services, provide escorts, or otherwise assist you to feel safe. We value you as a member of the IA network and community.

In your report, please do your best to include:

Your contact information.
Identifying information (e.g. names, nicknames, pseudonyms) of the person who has violated the Code of Conduct.
The behaviour that was in violation.
The approximate time of the behaviour (if different than the time the report was made).
If possible, where the violation happened.
The circumstances surrounding the incident.
Other people involved in the incident.
If you believe the incident is ongoing, please let us know.
If there is a publicly available record (e.g. mailing list record, chat record), please include an image or link.
Any additional helpful information.

After you file a report, a designated Safety Team member will contact you personally to review the incident, follow up with any additional questions, and make a decision as to how to respond. If the person who is harassing you is part of the IA team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.

We reserve the right to reject any report we believe to have been made in bad faith. Reports intended to silence legitimate criticism may be deleted without response.

Confidentiality and data policy

All reports, and any additional information and personal data included, are collected and stored solely for the purpose of enforcing this Code of Conduct. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for more information about our personal data processing practices.

We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of IA members and the general public. We will not name harassment victims without their affirmative consent.

Questions

For questions about codes of conduct in general, we recommend you check this Code of Conduct 101 + FAQ. Please also feel free to message us at [email protected].

Licence, attribution and acknowledgements

This Code of Conduct is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Attribution and a Creative Commons licensing of your version is required.

To attribute this Code of Conduct, you can use the text and links below:

Inter Alia Code of Conduct, CC BY 4.0. This Code of Conduct is based on several sources, including the example policy from the Geek Feminism wiki, created by the Geek Feminism community (CC0), the conference anti-harassment policy, which is the work of Annalee Flower Horne with assistance from Valerie Aurora, Alex Skud Bayley, Tim Chevalier, and Mary Gardiner (CC0), the Creative Commons Global Network Code of Conduct (CC BY 4.0), and the Invest in Open Infrastructure Code of Conduct (CC BY 4.0).

Updates

Version 1.0 – current version, 29 August 2024.

Code of Conduct