Harassment Policy

The NZ Skeptics are dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race or age. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference at the discretion of the conference organisers.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • Sexual images in public spaces
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
  • Harassing photography or recording
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • Inappropriate physical contact
  • Unwelcome sexual attention
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour

Enforcement

Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, the conference organisers retain the right to take any actions to keep the conference a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the conference.

Conference organisers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the conference or making the environment hostile for any participants.

We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference venues and conference-related social activities. We think people should follow these rules outside of conference activities too!

Reporting

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Harassment and other code of conduct violations reduce the value of our conference for everyone. We want you to be happy at our conference. People like you make our conference a better place.

You can make a report either personally or anonymously.

Anonymous Report

You can make an anonymous report here:

https://conference.skeptics.nz/harassment/report

We can’t follow up an anonymous report with you directly, but we will fully investigate it and take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence.

Personal Report

You can make a personal report by contacting a conference organiser, identified by badges, lanyards or shirts.

When taking a personal report, an organiser will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other conference organisers to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we’ll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we’ll handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you. You won’t be asked to confront anyone and we won’t tell anyone who you are.

Our organisers will be happy to help you contact venue security, local law enforcement, local support services, provide escorts, or otherwise assist you to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We value your attendance.