Our Pledge
We, as members and contributors to the work of the Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party, pledge to make participation in this community a harassment-free experience for everyone. This means that regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, neuro-diversity, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, immigration status, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation, every effort will be made to insure that everyone participating in the Liberty Union Party will feel safe and valued.
We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community. We understand that the purpose of Liberty Union is to promote a socialist society with greater justice for all. We expect members to conduct themselves in line with these fundamental values, the goals expressed in the Party Platform, and the Party Operations Protocols.
Community Conduct Guidelines:
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
* Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people.
* Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback.
* Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes.
* Following the “Rule of 1” and the “Rule of n”: When you speak, make 1 point and then let others speak. When in a group of “n” people, speak “1/nth” of the time.
*In group discussions or personal conversations, being mindful not to interrupt others. Listening actively and expecting others to do the same.
* Listening to input and comments by others; assuming the best intention on the part of the speaker and trying to reach the most benign interpretation of what has been said. If a comment is phrased in a way that might be misinterpreted, ask for clarification or the intent of the statement. If the comment is discomforting or hostile, seek moderation from within the group.
* Focusing on what is best for the overall community, not just for yourself as an individual.
* Keeping in mind that the more concise and relevant the point you are making, the greater its impact and contribution to the discussion.
* Being mindful that the Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party‘s primary purpose is to promote a just socialist society. If you find yourself at odds with this purpose there are other groups that may be more appropriate for your participation.
Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
* Advocating for and/or supporting fascists, fascist policies or fascist groups.
* The use of sexualized language or imagery, unwanted sexual attention or advances of any kind, or making physical contact that could be deemed inappropriate by the other person.
* Trolling, making insulting or derogatory comments, or making personal attacks. Publicly or privately harassing another member of the party. (Note that If you feel you are being harassed or notice that someone else is being harassed, please contact a moderator from within the party or use prudence in attempting to mitigate the action yourself).
* Deliberate mis-gendering or use of rejected names.
* Engaging in any other form or intimidation or silencing of others, including grandstanding and denying opportunity for others to participate.
* Disrupting party meetings or online discussions, repeatedly or aggressively bringing up points that have already been settled, derailing in any way the work of the party.
* Spreading disinformation, on or off party platforms, that could reflect upon the party.
* Making publicly available in any in any form, the private information of another individual in the party. This applies in particular to physical or email addresses, or photographing or recording anyone in the party without their explicit permission.
* Promoting, in any public or party forum or platform, materials that promote discrimination on the basis of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, immigration status, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation. The Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party will not tolerate predatory behavior or disregard for other persons, personally or professionally, from and towards anyone.
* Promoting, in any public or party forum or platform, illegal or violent action. (Note that defense of self or of others will not be considered violent. However, promoting any form of police or vigilante violence is not only inappropriate but potentially presents a grave danger to others).
Harassment is NOT:
* Feeling persecuted for your social privilege
* ‘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.”
* Refusal to explain or debate social justice issues when the person being asked is put in a defensive position based on their lived experience, personal identity, or safety.
* Communication in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial.
* Discussion of sensitive topics.
* Criticizing racist, sexist, cis-sexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions.
Enforcement Guidelines:
Scope:
As a community we are responsible for upholding our standards of acceptable behavior and collectively taking appropriate action in response to any behavior that is deemed inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces and spaces that potentially may reflect upon the party or individual members of the party. It also applies when an individual is officially representing the party in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.
Enforcement and Restoration:
All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly. Members of the community are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.
Those who act in the capacity of moderators of the party’s social media accounts have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments and contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct. Reasons for moderation decisions will be communicated as appropriate. The role of the moderators is restricted to official on-line platforms of the party–the party website, “Google Groups,” Facebook, and any other social media account that the party may establish.
Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable on line behavior may be reported to the moderators of the community via personal email or other electronic media as long as a permanent copy may be retained. The moderators may subsequently remove, edit, or reject comments and contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct. Reasons for moderation decisions will be communicated as appropriate.
Inappropriate conduct reflecting upon the party in physical spaces or on other social media platforms (platform accounts not otherwise associated with the party) will be addressed by the membership in attendance at the monthly meeting. The Community Conduct Guidelines will be applied in determining the response to unacceptable behavior on the part of an individual member or member(s) of the party found to negatively impact the party or individual members of the party.
In responding to breaches of the Code of Conduct, we will draw on the established principles of Restorative Justice Practice when applicable.
Members of the party will engage the Conditional Consensus Decision-making process to determine responses and institute consequences for behaviors in breach of this Code of Conduct.
Phase 1:
A member asked to stop harassing behavior impacting another member of the party is expected to comply immediately, whether asked to do so by the victim, by another person to whom the victim has reported the harassment, or by witnesses such as members of the party in attendance at the monthly meeting.
The perpetrator of the harassment will be afforded the opportunity to apologize to the victim and retract the offending statements or actions, with consent of the victim, in person, publicly at a meeting of the party, or, as deemed appropriate by the moderators, on the party’s social media platforms.
When possible, instances of harassing or offending public behavior and speech by members of the party in breach of this Code of Conduct will be addressed at a monthly meeting, with opportunity for both victim(s) and offender to contribute to the conversation.
The party’s social media platform moderators may communicate with the offender directly via private email concerning offensive speech and postings deemed inappropriate by the moderator. A private, written warning from the moderator, providing clarity on the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate, is the first step in the restorative process.
Phase 2:
If, following attempts to employ these remedies, the offender continues to perpetrate the offense, the offender may be asked, by members attending the monthly meeting, to “take a break” from party activities for a defined period of time, after which the offender may seek readmission.
Party members attending a monthly meeting may institute a temporary ban on unsolicited interaction between the offender and the victim(s) and between the offender and those charged with enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes interactions in community spaces and external channels such as social media platforms.
If the offender does not cease detrimental on-line behavior in violation of the Code of Conduct immediately, the moderator may limit the offender’s participation on the party’s shared on line communication platforms.
Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
Phase 3:
Demonstration of a pattern of violation of community standards and the Code of Conduct, including sustained inappropriate behavior toward or harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals or of the party, will result in the following measures:
If the offender persists in engaging in detrimental on-line behavior in violation of the Code of Conduct, the moderator may ban the offender from participation in the party’s shared on line communication platforms.
As a final resort, a member may be barred from participation in and association with the party. This consequence will result after an offender persistently abrogates conditions of this Code of Conduct, continues to perpetrate the harmful offenses already addressed, and/or increases harm and danger to the party and individual members by posting offensive comments or exposing personal data on social media platforms or accounts not affiliated with the party, denigrating the party or threatening to cause harm and endangerment to individual members of the party.
Attributions:
This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.0, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/0/code_of_conduct.html.
Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by Mozilla’s code of conduct enforcement ladder.
For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see the FAQ at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq.
Translations are available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations.
Additionally https://annualmeeting.aam-us.org/code-of-conduct/ .
Parts stolen from: https://decentralizedweb.net/conduct/
and https://www.rightscon.org/code-of-conduct/ .
Thanks to: https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Policy#Anti-harassment_policy_text