Harassment in any shape or form is not tolerated in guild events. The aim is that every participant feels like the organizing party is trustworthy and approachable. The organizers are responsible in harassment situations that occur during the event, and all notices of harassment should be taken seriously.
Before the Event
Before the event, the organizers need to decide who is/are the harassment contact person(s) of the event. For example, the main organizers can be the harrasment contact persons (HCPs). The names and the Telegram nicknames of the HCPs should be available somewhere, for example at the end of the song booklet. The contact information of the HCPs can also be printed and taped to the bathroom walls for which you can use the template that can be found here. Before the event, the organizers should inform everyone working at the event who the HCPs of the event are.
At the Beginning of the Event
At the beginning of the event, a few things should be mentioned about possible harassment situations. The organizers, song leaders or HCPs of the event can give a short speech where they address at least the following things:
- Harassment in any shape or form is not tolerated in the event
- Who the HCPs of the event are
- How the HCPs can be contacted (for example, the contact information can be found on song booklets / bathroom) and/or how they can be recognized
It could also be mentioned that anyone working at the event can lead you to the HCPs. And that if anyone sees an abnormal situation, they can also go there and ask what is going on.
The speech could for example be the following:
“Hi, we would like to remind everyone that harassment in any shape or form is not tolerated in this event. The harassment contact persons of this event are [name] and [name]. You can always go talk to them or you can send them a message via Telegram. The contact information of the harassment contact persons can be found [where] and you can recognize them from [what]. In addition, anyone working at this event can lead you to the harassment contact persons. If you see anything weird going on, you can also go and check the situation yourselves, make sure that everything is okay, and go get the harassment contact person if needed.”
If the event might contain alcohol, one should add also:
“Some of you might be using alcohol at this event, so let’s all remember to behave well even if drunk, and respect others’ bodily integrity and personal space.”
During the Event
If harassment situations occur during an event, the most important thing is to get the inappropriate behaviour to stop. The organizing party has the right and responsibility to notify the harasser that their behaviour is unacceptable. If a harassment situation occurs during an event, it is advised to first explain to the harasser clearly and calmly that their behaviour is inappropriate. It is important to listen to all parties involved fairly during and after the event.
As the Organizer, You are Allowed to:
- Notify the person clearly and calmly that their behaviour is inappropriate and it is not tolerated in the guild events
- Ask the person to stop the inappropriate behaviour
- Refuse to serve anything to the badly behaving person, or prevent them from participating in the program of the event
- Ask the person to leave or remove them from the event if necessary
If you see an abnormal situation, you should always go talk and ask what is going on. The harassment situations do not necessarily require heavy actions since having a conversation might often be enough and sometimes the whole situation might be just a misunderstanding. It is still important to make sure that nothing severe is going on so that you do not later wonder whether you should have done something. You can always have a polite chat with someone – however, strong accusations almost never lead to an outcome that serves anyone.
After the Event
If after the event, the harassment situation bothers parties involved or should some party or parties involved have been under the influence, the discussion should be revisited also after the event. The HCPs of the event are working only during the event, and afterwards one should contact the HCPs of the guild or the AYY. The event organizer also has the right to contact a HCP if the incident continues to weigh on their mind.