Dear Fireflies,
In order to make our community and events safer and more transparent, the members of the Board of Firefly Arts Collective have developed a Code of Conduct and related Policies & Procedures. These were primarily drafted by Sadiya Carr and Dan Snyder. The policies and procedures were reviewed by current board members of Firefly Arts Collective, representatives of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC), several lawyers, and alt sex community hosts and moderators. The policies were also informed by Zay Thompson's investigatory procedures for incidents in Burner communities, as well as policies recently adopted by local conventions such as Readercon and Arisia.
In order to resolve open reports the current Board elected itself to act as Interim Conduct Committee in the month leading up to the 2014 Firefly Festival. Experience on the Interim Conduct Committee suggests that each reported instance takes about two weeks to resolve. This translates to anywhere between 5 to 15 hours per report. Types of reports and complaints that have been handled include: non-consensual dosing, threats of violence, sexual assault, physical assault, abuse of power, and unsafe behaviors at Firefly events that could cause us to be shut down.
Going forward we would like to invite community members--Fireflies--to take part in this important work by serving for a year-long term on the Conduct Committee. At this time Firefly Arts Collective is requiring that each Committee member have taken the BARCC training on responding to disclosures of sexual assault. The organization will schedule and pay for the training. As the committee evolves there may be need for additional trainings or workshops that the committee is empowered to ask for.
In particular, Fireflies serving on the safety teams (Rangers, Medical, Sanctuary, and FAST) are encouraged to apply, as are Fireflies that have related training (Social workers, BARCC trained advocates, counselors, facilitators etc). The current Board of Directors will review applications for membership. There will be a sufficient number of Board members serving on the Conduct Committee to reach quorum on recommendations made by the Committee.
Please email us at conduct-committee@fireflyartscollective.org to express your interest.
Thank you,
Sadiya Carr
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Firefly Arts Collective
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Background about the Conduct Committee:
The goal of the Conduct Committee is to:
Receive reports of behavior potentially contravening the Code of Conduct from affected participants.
Document the report, and, if appropriate, speak further with the reporter
Determine whether the report is actionable by speaking to witnesses and reviewing available evidence
Determine whether there is enough evidence to indicate that someone is endangering a participant, or Firefly Arts Collective’s ability to hold events
Develop enough of an understanding of the situation that a recommendation can be made on how to handle it
The goal is NOT to determine guilt or innocence. We do not have the resources that the criminal justice system has to solve crimes. Multiple reports about an individual can result in action for having a pattern of complaints against them. We do not label people as criminals or determine whether reports are true beyond reasonable doubt. We simply want to gather enough information to be able to make a fair and reasonable decision whether to allow someone continued access to events or volunteer infrastructure.
Working procedure for the Conduct Committee:
Conduct Committee Lead(s) or public contact receives a report
Conduct Committee Lead(s) assigns two responders to investigate report, confirming these are acceptable to reporter. Responders will be members of Conduct Committee and/or involved in the initial reporting process (e.g. Ranger, Medical volunteer, Sanctuary volunteer, or BARCC trained advocate).
Responders review what has been reported and contact reporter to gather further information. Responders explain possible outcomes to reporter.
Responders talk to subject of report.
Responders talk to witnesses, look at photos of event, gather other information as available.
Responders consult with Rangers, other event hosts, and follow up any leads of similar behaviors to establish if there is a larger pattern
Responders bring the results of their investigation back to the Conduct Committee for discussion
Conduct Committee makes a recommendation to the Board
A quorum of the Board may:
Confirm the recommendation
Request further detail or investigation
Agree on a different course of action
Refer the matter to a meeting of the entire Board
Board representatives contact the people involved in the original report officially with the decision
If recommended, the Board determines whether to announce the decision to the Firefly community or other events