This document forms an integral part of the EuroPython Society Code of Conduct.
If you believe someone is in physical danger, including from themselves, the most important thing is to get that person's help. Please contact the appropriate crisis number, non-emergency number, or police number. If you are a EuroPython attendee, you can consult with a volunteer or organiser to help find an appropriate number.
If you believe a Code of Conduct incident has occurred, we encourage you to report it. If you are unsure whether the incident is a violation, or whether the space where it happened is covered by the Code of Conduct, we encourage you to still report it. We are fine with receiving reports where we decide to take no action for the sake of creating a safer space.
If you find that you need to make a report, and you cannot find the appropriate Code of Conduct reporting contact, you may report to the EuroPython Code of Conduct email alias below. The EuroPython Code of Conduct committee will handle your report. If this happens, please also mention that you could not find specific reporting information so that we can improve.
General reporting procedure:
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the Code of Conduct committee immediately. They can be reached by emailing coc@europython.eu.
If you prefer, you can also directly contact:
- Naomi Ceder <naomi@europython.eu>, Telegram: @nceder, Discord: @naomiceder
- Vicky Twomey-Lee <vicky@europython.eu>, Telegram: @whykay_ire, Discord: @whykay_lee
- Cheuk Ting Ho <cheuk@europython.eu>, Telegram: @cheukting_ho, Discord: @cheukting
- Lumír Balhar <lumir@europython.eu>, Discord: @lumirbalhar
- Jakub Vysoky <jakub.vysoky@europython.eu>, Discord: @kvbik
Report Data
When you make a report via email, we suggest that you include:
- Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you)
- Type of incident, e.g. Harassment, Intimidation, etc.
- Date and time of the incident
- Location of incident
- Any other information you think is relevant
The Code of Conduct committee might contact you for more information.
Confidentiality
All reports will be kept confidential. When we discuss incidents with people who are reported, we will anonymise details as much as we can to protect reporter privacy.
However, some incidents happen in one-on-one interactions, and even if the details are anonymised, the reported person may be able to guess who made the report. If you have concerns about retaliation or your personal safety, please note those in your report. We still encourage you to report, so that we can support you while keeping our conference attendees and online spaces safe. In some cases, we can compile several anonymised reports into a pattern of behaviour, and take action on that pattern.
For transparency, we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. In any case, the identities of all impacted people and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.
Report handling procedure
When you make a report to the Code of Conduct committee, they will gather information about the incident according to the Procedure For Incident Response.
After an incident responder takes the report, they will immediately consult with the rest of the Code of Conduct Committee, unless there is a conflict of interest, in which case any non-interested committee members will be contacted (see Conflicts of Interest section below for more details).
If the incident is ongoing and needs to be immediately addressed, any Code of Conduct committee member or organiser may take appropriate action to ensure the safety of everyone involved. If the situation requires it, this may take the form of a referral to an appropriate non-EuroPython agency, including the local police. EuroPython is not equipped to handle emergency situations.
If the incident is less urgent, the report will be discussed by the Code of Conduct committee, who will discuss it to determine an appropriate response. Examples of possible incident responses are outlined in the Procedure For Incident Response.
Before the conference, the Code of Conduct committee will review incident response procedures. After the conference, the Code of Conduct committee will attend a debriefing session to discuss all incidents and determine any necessary follow-up actions.
Following up with reporters
Within one week of an incident report, a member of the Code of Conduct committee will follow up with the person who made the report and provided their contact information. The follow-up may include:
- An acknowledgement that the Code of Conduct committee discussed the situation
- Whether or not the report was determined to be a violation of the Code of Conduct
- What actions (if any) were taken to address the reported behaviour
In some cases, the Code of Conduct committee may need to ask additional questions about the incident to better understand the incident.
Conflicts of interest
If a member of the Code of Conduct committee has a conflict of interest for a report, they will need to declare and recuse themselves from the discussion and handling of the incident. The incident documentation will not be available to them, and they will excuse themselves from any conversations involving handling the incident.
Should more than two of the EuroPython Code of Conduct committee members need to recuse themselves, another incident responder will be appointed by the Code of Conduct committee, or if the entire Code of Conduct committee has recused themselves, by the EuroPython Society board, to step in as a temporary member of the Code of Conduct committee.
Attribution
This procedure was adapted from PyCon US “Procedures for reporting incidents” which itself was adapted from the Ada Initiative’s guide titled “Conference anti-harassment/Responding to Reports”, the Django Project reporting guidelines (CC BY 3.0), with additions by Otter Tech.
Changelog
- 2024-07-24: Update Code of Conduct committee members. Update content to correct typos.
- 2023-06-12: Update Code of Conduct committee members.
- 2023-04-11: The current and first version of the Code of Conduct Incident Reporting Procedure is approved by the EPS board on 11 April 2023.