Again, I am writing from many, many years of having to write what we called incident reports and then also being a front line manager having to enforce a CoC once one was developed. At the library where I worked, incidents that took place not on library property were not reportable as such, even if it took place in the city park across the street or in the library in the courthouse two blocks away. If an incident took place on our property grounds, and we had 10 branches and a bookmobile, an incident report could be filed. The library was not responsible for people’s behavior elsewhere.
Having said that, if an incident took place on library property and it was mentioned another incident took place somewhere else, that could be included in the description of what happened as having been mentioned by one of the people reporting the situation in case legal (police, court, etc,) action resulted, but it did not determine the action the library itself could take. Convention organizers are not responsible for people’s actions elsewhere. So, this is my opinion based on personal experience and should not be taken as a legal pronouncement. If an incident occurs during a convention but offsite and/or “off hours”, such as within a individual’s hotel room or while out for dinner with a group of convention attendees, report it. Better safe than sorry for everybody, including the convention organizers. Abuse of power can be reported, but it has to take place during the convention’s period of responsibility. If nothing can be done the first time except maybe issue a warning, repeat offenses carry an increasing amount of weight. And remember, while rare since people’s personalities seldom change, but their behavior can change. I’ve seen individuals who have changed offensive behavior after having it pointed out to them, or who had to go through individualized harassment prevention training and no further problems happened. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes it does. Carol Martinson Sent from my iPad > On May 18, 2021, at 3:21 PM, Laura R <[email protected]> wrote: > While issues that have a sexual or racial connotations are the ones that > most people will think about in relation with a CoC, there are other issues, > e.g. abuse of power, that are important to consider for a CoC. > > However, if coming to an agreement on how to implement the rules related > sexual and racial misdonduct (how to behave, how to report and how to handle > a report), I wonder how much more difficult this discussion will become when > we discuss what abuse of power means (it is easier to label an abusive person > a jerk and that’s it.) > > Perhaps an abusive person does not behave as such during the whole meeting, > but he is enough of a psychopath to allienate and/or frighten others in a > different context. > > So, if I know that someone attending a convention exercised a sexual > misconduct or an abuse of power over me to the point to become traumatized > for months afterwards, but the act happened in a different environment (not > at the convention), should I make a report during the convention just because > he and I are there and I'm feeling unconfortable? Should I make the report > elsewhere (where?) because as someone said in another email we are a > “close-knit community” (are we?) Or the only cases to be considered will be > those that happen during the event? > > Laura Rozenberg
