Wikimedia New York City/Code of Conduct

As instituted is a code of conduct for events, meetups, edit-a-thons, and other kinds of chapter meetings. It is an independent document, yet designed to complement the practices of ArbCom, the Wikimedia Foundation, and other governance bodies within the Wikimedia Movement. All attendees, including volunteers, participants, speakers, co-sponsors, etc., at any Wikimedia NYC event are required to agree with the following code of conduct. Official organizers from Wikimedia NYC will enforce this code throughout the events. Additionally, this code of conduct pertains to online activities during the event or related to the event. If you are found violating the code of conduct online before, after and while attending the event, you will be instructed to leave or may not be allowed to attend future events.

Policy

Wikimedia NYC is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for every individual, regardless of age, non-technical/technical ability, accessibility, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), creed, political orientation, preferred intellectual property license, and technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment of participants or volunteers in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any event. Unless it relates to the topic of the event in focus (e.g., history of gender in images, HIV awareness, etc). This includes talks, workshops, parties, Wikipedia talk pages, social networks and other online media. Additionally, any disparaging or harassing remarks made about other attendees while at the same event may result in expulsion from the event. Anyone violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the event at the discretion of the organizers. If you have questions about this code of conduct or behavior, please ask a volunteer.

Additionally, Wikimedia projects and Wikimedia NYC honor the ability to be anonymous. If a person is going by their handle, a pseudonym, or doesn’t wish to use their name, please respect their wishes and privacy. This is a non-outing (aka doxxing) zone, similar to the Wikimedia Projects: this also includes ‘outing’ someone’s workplace, age, gender, real name, etc, without their consent. We take people’s privacy and their comfort very seriously.

If a person tells you “no” in conversation, your business with them is done. If you attempt to continue to have contact with that person after they have asked you to stop speaking or interacting with them, you may be asked to leave for the remainder of the event. Additionally, there are all types of attendees with all different kinds of communication styles. If someone walks away from a conversation, let them, and do not follow them. They may be tired, need a break, upset, etc, but they are communicating they are done with the conversation and they are allowed to be left alone. “Go away” means go away.

Remember:

“No” means no.

“Stop” means stop.

Harassment includes:

• Unwelcome sexual attention.
• Remember, attire and/or clothing is not a sign of consent.
• Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion, etc.
• Engaging in micro-aggressions (such as touching someone’s hair without asking, asking where someone “really comes from,” etc all have racist undertones and are offensive)
• Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names
• Not respecting physical boundaries. Ask before engaging in physical contact, and stop physical contact after being requested to. Ask someone and get consent if you can touch them (such as touching their arm), or touch their belongings, like a computer (even if it’s to help!), or whatever they are working on (such as if they are looking up a reference in a book). Please respect people’s personal space.
• Threats of violence, both online and offline
• Stalking or following- if someone walks away from you or asks you to stop engaging with them, stop immediately
• Photographing, recording, livestreaming, live ‘tweeting,’ or blogging to intimidate, censor, harass, or discredit attendees. This includes logging online activity
• Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease
• Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent

Reporting

If you are being harassed at an event, please notify the designated volunteers at the event. If you experience or witness harassment or threatening behavior, please find the nearest Wikimedia NYC organizer. All Wikimedia NYC volunteers will be identified at events by organizers. If, at any time, you feel that your personal safety or the safety of others is in jeopardy, please notify an organizer. We take reporting seriously, privacy is important to us, and aim to respect the privacy of those reporting.

Attribution

This code of conduct is based on the Wikimedia Friendly Spaces policy, WisCon code of conduct, the general JS Conferences code of conduct and the Geek Feminism code of conduct.