Events: Code of conduct

Our goal is to provide a warm and nurturing environment where attendees are treated with respect and dignity. We would like all attendees to come to our events with an open mind and to engage thoughtfully with others at all times. By attending our online or in-person events, along with us, you agree to comply with the guidelines set by the following Code of Conduct.

We at Chayn would like to ensure that by attending our event you are within a space that is inclusive, safe and non-discriminatory. Our events are open to all regardless of gender, gender expression, social class, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, sexual characteristics, physical appearance, disability, age, and any action or behaviour that shows bias against any of prior mentioned will not be tolerated. We would encourage everyone to feel comfortable by being themselves while respecting the rights of others.

This Code of Conduct is set to help you understand our community guidelines on how to behave while interacting with others at our events, what constitutes harmful behaviour and what needs to be avoided while you are in our community space.

‍We want our events to be safe and warm spaces for everyone. We will act according to the following principles and expect the same from our attendees.
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‍Survivor-centred: We ‘build with, not for.' Give primacy to those sharing from lived experience. We know this is a difficult topic for many, so please feel free to take time away from our events, if and when you need.

Open: We’re open by default - with our technology, our content and our learnings. The discussion and notes of our events will be shared as part of the dissemination of our learnings, and you should feel free to do the same. However, if anyone shares personal experiences during our events, please do not attribute these to them unless explicit permission is given.

Intersectional: Oppression doesn’t exist in isolation. Be aware of how factors like race, class, gender, religion, sexual identity and disability might impact one’s experience of gender-based violence (GBV) - and how they might shape the dynamics of this space.

Innovative: Our projects are always a work in progress, and our events are no different! Please learn with us, and share feedback with us after the events.

Enabling: Do what you can to support and empower everyone to participate. Keep contributions clear and concise to give everyone a chance to contribute.

Accessible: We’ll strive to make our events accessible to all and ask participants to do the same. Try to avoid jargon, and explain any cultural or sectoral context that other participants might not be aware of.

How to behave
‍We have put down actions and behaviours that we deem healthy, which we would like to encourage, to ensure that our space is nurturing and supportive for everyone:

Accepting our differences, since we are from around the world. Also, understanding that activism has distinct forms in different countries. For example: In some countries, the population might be very responsive, while in others, people are more self-contained and conflict avoidant.

Promoting positive interactions and facilitating collaborations. We should listen to other people’s opinions without interruptions and wait for our turn to speak.

Being respectful of different perspectives and ideas. For example: In our meetings, we prefer building on the ideas of others, instead of fighting over who has the best one. All ideas are appreciated during brainstorming, and we welcome them by saying “yes and” instead of “yes but”.

Demonstrating empathy and kindness towards others. We listen to other people’s experiences and support them by validating and reassuring. Phrases that can be helpful are: “Thank you for sharing”, “ From what you’re saying it looks like [mirror and rephrase their words]” and “I liked what you said about [reference one of their ideas]”.

‍Giving constructive feedback and receiving it gracefully. We can approach feedback from a place of how we would want the information communicated to us. So, try saying phrases like, “Yes, and you might also try this other way” when you were expecting a different output, or reference their actions and results when holding someone accountable with a, “Hey I noticed [a concrete observation about their work]… is everything okay?”.

Taking accountability, which means accepting responsibility, apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from those situations and experiences.

Caring for the community as a whole and not just ourselves as individuals.

How not to behave

‍We have also put down actions and behaviours we would like to discourage:

Using slurs or swear words. Some of these words might have sexist, ageist, and ableist connotations so better to keep them off our vocabularies.

Being dismissive of other people’s ideas. When someone expresses an idea, we should try to avoid saying things like, “No, but it wouldn’t work because of [reasons]”

Having indecent behaviour. An example of this is someone showing or touching their genitals during the meeting. We consider this indecent because these are acts that are done without our consent.

Making sexual advances of any kind during events.

Cyberbullying or unacceptable online harassment. Some of these actions entail sending unsolicited and/or threatening DMs and emails, sending viruses, impersonating, sending pornography or other graphic material that is knowingly offensive.

Publishing other’s private information. For example, sharing social media accounts without consent.

Harassing others. We do not tolerate actions like trolling, insulting, sending derogatory comments, ridiculing others, and attacking people for their personal, political and religious views.

Threatening behaviour. These could include actions like shaking fists or throwing objects on to a screen.

Team responsible

‍The Executive Team and Board of Trustees of Chayn will be responsible for administering this Code of Conduct.
All reports of violation should be addressed to either the Executive Team or Board of Trustees. We are currently expanding on the reporting guidelines and will update the document once the process is finalized.‍
Each person will be responsible for ensuring that their behaviour is in accordance with the terms of this policy and that their environment is free of oppression and discrimination.