Code of Conduct

CoNZealand Code of Conduct

CoNZealand welcomes all fans and is committed to providing a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all. To ensure this, we ask all members to be mindful of others and to alert staff or volunteers to any dangerous situations or individuals in distress.

Assault and harassment are both grounds for removal. Assault is any unwanted or threatening physical contact, and harassment is any unwanted or threatening presence or verbal or written contact.

Unacceptable behaviour also includes advocating for or encouraging harassing behaviours, as well as falsely accusing others of these behaviours.

Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately and not to resume.

This is a living document and will be updated as required to ensure safe, positive experiences for everyone. 

You can read the full code of conduct below.

 

Full CoNZealand Code of Conduct

This is a living document and will be updated as required to ensure safe, positive experiences for everyone.

Purpose

Science fiction is no place for xenophobia. Our mutual experience is enriched by the participation of fans with varied and diverse backgrounds, and CoNZealand welcomes all of the many facets of fandom. To this end, we are committed to providing a safe, and welcoming environment for all regardless of background, fandom, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, geno/phenotype, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, body size, planet-of-origin, religion (or lack thereof), or ANY other differentiator.

Scope

This Code applies to all CoNZealand Attendees, and in all CoNZealand spaces— whether they are used for planning, relaxing, or celebrating—both online and in-person, as well as in all one-on-one communications pertaining to CoNZealand business. It outlines expectations for all those who participate in our community, as well as the consequences for unacceptable behavior. We invite all CoNZealand attendees to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone. With that in mind, please take a few minutes to review and consider our Code of Conduct.

In addition, violations of the Code of Conduct outside CoNZealand spaces may affect a person’s ability to participate within them.

Fandom Citizenship

Maintaining a welcoming community helps keep it vigorous. Recognise the relationships between words and actions and their effect on our community. Sharing spaces requires active demonstrations of respectful conduct, such as:

  • Participating authentically and actively, which contributes to the health and longevity of this community.
  • Exercise consideration when talking, taking care not to talk over others and using a moderate vocal volume. This can be especially important in an online situation.
  • Be mindful of other nearby attendees. Make sure you leave other people a clear path to an exit and limit the expansiveness of gestures.
  • Ask verbally or with a friendly gesture before initiating physical contact, and avoid proceeding without a positive verbal or physical response.
  • Maintain consent by observing non-verbal and verbal clues that the other party may wish to end the interaction. If you aren’t sure, ask.
  • Attempt collaboration before conflict, and try to resolve disagreements constructively. Being unable to understand someone’s viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong.

Please inform us if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential. Also, please inform us if you notice someone who is making an extra effort to ensure our community is welcoming and friendly to all. We want to know.

Anti-racism Statement

Racism is on the rise around the world. CoNZealand is committed to working towards a decolonised, oppression-free society. Racism is often expressed through prejudice, bias, the expression of privilege, aggressions, and microaggressions.

Communities mirror the societies in which they exist and positive action is essential to counteract the inequalities that exist in today’s society. We want to ensure no one is talked over, ignored, or dismissed, and we are committed to making CoNZealand accessible to people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Problems non-white Attendees of fandom events often reference include, but are not limited to:

  • Dismissing their lived experiences,
  • Expecting a person of colour to be an authority on non-white characters,
  • Assuming that people of colour are less knowledgeable about fannish topics,
  • Critiquing the cosplay costumes of people of colour without being asked,
  • Presuming that people of colour do not belong in fandom and should not be featured in storytelling,
  • Using Social Justice Warrior (SJW) as a pejorative term to demean or belittle the idea of diversity and inclusion in fandom and storytelling,
  • Targeting people of colour with acts of aggression, harassment, or retribution for calling out harassers and abusive behavior.

This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.

Unacceptable Behaviour

There is a wide range of unacceptable behaviour, and listing specific actions is not practical. As is generally the case with unacceptable behaviour, it is the unwelcomeness of the behaviour that is the problem—such as unwanted touching, unwanted remarks of a sexual nature, or unwelcome comments about people’s body or appearance.

This is not an exhaustive list of unacceptable behaviours, but a guide to make it easier to enrich all of us and the fannish communities in which we participate. Harassment can include offensive comments related to appearance (e.g. race, size) or personal identifiers (e.g. gay, genderqueer), deliberate intimidation, following, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

Unacceptable behaviour also includes advocating for or encouraging harassing behaviours, as well as falsely accusing others of these behaviours.

If someone tells you ‘no’ or to leave them alone, your business with them is done. If you continue to attempt to have contact, you may be removed from the premises.

Reporting

Reporting unacceptable behaviour can be upsetting. We will handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you. You will not be asked to confront anyone and anonymity requests will be respected. Breaches of the Code of Conduct reduce the value of CoNZealand for everyone. We want you to have fun at CoNZealand. People like you make CoNZealand a better place.

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, or if you are subject to or witness a Code of Conduct breach and you feel comfortable making the request, please ask the person in question to stop. To help us identify patterns of behaviour and possible repeat offenders, we would be grateful if you would also report the harassment as set out below.

If you do not want to address the person directly, or if you engage with them and the harassment or Code of Conduct breach does not stop, please report the issue as soon as possible. Any staff member can direct you to a listener, or you can email listeners@conzealand.nz. Listeners are available to help members feel safe. In the context of in-person events, organizers will also provide escorts as desired by the person experiencing distress.

Responding

Reports are taken very seriously. We will act upon every report received and will attempt to mediate a solution.

Our Listener Team will respond to you as quickly as possible, and ensure that you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other CoNZealand staff to ensure your report is managed properly. We will do our best to protect your identity if we take action as a result of your report.

Details of your complaint will only be disclosed to the team or Committee members who are dealing with it. We will keep you advised of the progress we’re making in handling the issue, and of any action we decide to take.

We will take into account your views when deciding on that action. Please be aware that if you report a serious criminal matter, or we believe that you or someone else may be in danger, we may need to contact the police. We would take into account any concerns you may have around involving them.

If you wish to take further steps following your report and our response, our team will be happy to help you contact venue security, local law enforcement, local support services, or otherwise assist you to feel safe for the duration of the event. Above all, we want you to feel valued, safe and included at our convention!

Consequences

Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately.

CoNZealand retains the right to take necessary measures to keep our spaces welcoming to all Attendees. We may take action to redress anything disrupting the event or making the environment hostile.

Measures taken may include warning the offender, mediating solutions between parties, or any other action, up to and including temporary or permanent expulsion from the convention with no refund, at our discretion. Police will be notified if appropriate.

All accused parties will have the opportunity to give their side of the story, either with or without the complainant present, as preferred by both parties.

Addressing Grievances

If you feel you have been falsely or unfairly accused of violating this Code of Conduct, you should notify the Ombuds (ombuds@conzealand.nz) with a concise description of your grievance. Your grievance will be handled by the Ombuds in accordance with the CoNZealand Reconsideration Policy [link].
CoNZealand reserves the right to consult outside legal counsel.

License and Attribution

This Code of Conduct is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution—ShareAlike license. Portions of text derived from the Django Code of Conduct, the Geek Feminism Anti-Harassment Policy, Open Source Bridge, Dublin 2019 Code of Conduct.