CITRIS and the Banatao Institute is dedicated to providing a harassment-free and inclusive experience for everyone regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion, or other protected category. We do not tolerate harassment of building occupants, visitors or event participants in any form. CITRIS takes violations of our policy seriously and will respond appropriately.
All building occupants, visitors and event participants must abide by the following policy:
- Be respectful to each other. We want interactions within CITRIS and Sutardja Dai Hall to be welcoming for everyone regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion, or other protected category. Participate while acknowledging that everyone deserves to be here — and each of us has the right to enjoy our experience without fear of harassment, discrimination, or condescension.
- Speak up if you see or hear something. Harassment is not tolerated, and you are empowered to politely engage when you or others are disrespected. The person making you feel uncomfortable may not be aware of what they are doing, and politely bringing their behavior to their attention is encouraged. If a participant engages in harassing or uncomfortable behavior, the Building Management Committee or event organizers may take any action they deem appropriate. If you are being harassed or feel uncomfortable, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the CITRIS leadership team or event staff immediately.
- Harassment is not tolerated. Harassment includes, but is not limited to: verbal language that reinforces social structures of domination related to gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion, or other protected category; sexual imagery in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; offensive verbal language; inappropriate physical contact; and unwelcome sexual attention. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
This policy extends to talks, forums, workshops, social media, parties, hallway conversations, all attendees, partners, sponsors, volunteers, event staff, etc. CITRIS reserves the right to refuse admittance to, or remove any person from, any CITRIS-hosted event at any time. This includes, but is not limited to, attendees behaving in a disorderly manner or failing to comply with this policy, and the terms and conditions herein. If a participant engages in harassing or uncomfortable behavior, the event organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning or expelling the offender from the event with no refund.
CITRIS staff can usually be identified at events by special badges/attire. Our zero-tolerance policy means that we will look into and review every allegation of violation of our Community Guidelines and Anti-Harassment Policy and respond appropriately. Please note, while we take all concerns raised seriously, we will use our discretion to determine when and how to follow up on reported incidents, and may decline to take any further action and/or may direct the participant to other resources for resolution.
Event staff will be happy to help participants contact hotel/venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing discomfort or harassment to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance.
Exhibiting partners, sponsors or vendor booths, or similar activities are also subject to this policy. In particular, exhibitors should not use sexualized images, activities, or other material. Participants and exhibiting partners or sponsors disobeying this policy will be notified and are expected to stop any offending behavior immediately.
Why this policy is important
Harassment at events and in online communities is unfortunately common. Creating an official policy aims to improve this by making it clear that harassment of anyone for any reason is not acceptable within our events and communities. This policy may prevent harassment by clearly defining expectations for behavior, aims to provide reassurance, and encourages people who have had bad experiences at other venues to participate fully. Further resources and guidance are available through UC Berkeley’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination.
License and attribution
This policy is based on and influenced by several other community policies including: Google, Ohio LinuxFest Anti-Harassment policy, Con Anti-Harassment Project, Geek Feminism Wiki (created by the Ada Initiative), ConfCodeofConduct.com, JSconf, Rust, Diversity in Python and
Write/Speak/Code.