Hi Virginia,

Our dance (Cambridge MA) has a safety team that handles these issues (and
other sorts, like people dancing in ways that hurt those around them).  We
have a description of what we do at bidadance.org/safety
<https://www.bidadance.org/safety>, and especially
bidadance.org/safety/approach <https://www.bidadance.org/safety/approach>.
Here are some other resources I'm aware of:
jefftk.com/p/safety-committee-resources
<https://www.jefftk.com/p/safety-committee-resources>

Jeff

On Tue, Dec 5, 2023 at 5:09 PM Kimbi Hagen via Organizers <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> The attached document was most recently amended in 2019, before the
> (recent) name change from Chattahoochee Contra Dancers to the Atlanta
> Contra Dance.
>
>
>
> This procedure is normally reviewed and, as needed, updated on a yearly
> basis by the Steering Committee and is now overdue for its first
> post-pandemic review. (*Note to self – add this as an agenda item for
> next Steering Committee meeting*).
>
>
>
> The original version of the procedure was first drafted after we had been
> threatened with legal action by a creeper that we banned. (Unfortunately
> for the creeper, the lawyer he selected to represent him was also a dancer
> and, once we took him aside and revealed the full story, withdrew his
> agreement to represent the creeper in a suit against us, advised the
> creeper not to pursue additional action, and advised our Steering Committee
> to develop a formal procedure for disciplinary action/banning and put it in
> writing, which we promptly did).
>
>
>
> To date we have only needed to use the procedure outlined here to
> “permanently” ban one dancer.  Permanently is in quotes because, after
> being banned, that dancer proactively went to extraordinary measures
> (including attending anger management classes and getting therapy) to
> demonstrate a sincere desire to rehabilitate himself.  As a result, we
> eventually allowed him to begin attending our dance again and now realize
> that the next iteration of the procedure needs to include a process for,
> and conditions under which we would, re-visit permanent bans.
>
>
>
> -Kimbi Hagen
>
> Atlanta Contra Dance
>
>
>
> *From: *Virginia Varland via Organizers <[email protected]
> >
> *Date: *Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 3:41 PM
> *To: *[email protected] <[email protected]
> >
> *Subject: *[Organizers] Organizational policy regarding “creeps”
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> There’s been a lot of discussion regarding generational transition and one
> of the things that has come up over and over is that to engage young
> people, especially young women, dances must be able to deal with any
> “creeps” who routinely cause discomfort to targeted others.
>
>
>
> Beyond a statement of values, which sets the expectation for behavior at a
> dance, what actionable policies has your organization successfully (or
> unsuccessfully) implemented regarding this issue?
>
>
>
> Looking for:
>
> - reporting policy and organizational response to reports.
>
> - communications with those who violate community values, including
> warnings.
>
> - addressing continued unacceptable behavior.
>
> - mistakes organizations can make when forming for executing policies.
>
> - anything else relevant to the topic.
>
>
>
> Not a fun discussion, but perhaps a helpful one to have.
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Virginia
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