What happens when I make a report?

The following are meant as general guidelines only. Each case is unique, and we will approach each on its own terms. We may need to alter some steps below to make them more appropriate to a certain situation. These procedures are not a replacement for contacting legal authorities when appropriate. But, in general: 

1. WE RECEIVE THE REPORT

You file a report using our Consent Incident Form. Reports can be filed anonymously if desired, though to request any further action from us we will need a name and contact information.

2. WE CLARIFY THE REPORT

We will either contact you or not, depending on your wishes.

If you have not requested a follow-up, the information you give us will be filed so we can keep track of whether further incidents occur involving the reported person. 

      • If we receive a first report about someone, we will keep our eyes and ears open for more, but refrain from assuming anything further about that individual. If we receive additional concerns/reports/whispers, we will then have enough information to frame a conversation with them about the reports being made about them.
      • We will never divulge names or other identifying information associated with your report without first obtaining your explicit consent. If we undertake a conversation with someone based on multiple no-follow-up reports filed about them, we will default to maintaining your anonymity whenever possible.

If you request a follow-up, we will contact you as soon as possible to schedule a time to talk on the phone. Our process for these calls is the following:

      • Calls will involve two organizers, of differing genders, to ensure that we don’t miss any details or misunderstand anything.
      • We’ll ask you to set aside about 30-45 minutes in a location where you can speak freely, and tell us more about what happened. We will listen, we will repeat back to you what you’ve told us to make sure we have received your report correctly, and we will take notes for our own reference. We may ask a few clarifying questions not included in the form you submitted to ensure we correctly understand what you say. We will never ask you to explain your actions, or put you on the defensive. We want to hear your account of what happened, and we want to understand your experience of those events. (How did this affect you when it happened? How is it affecting you now? etc.)
      • We’ll let you know about all of the options and resources we are aware of that we think may be applicable for you. We’ll explain these and let you take the time you need to decide what course of action you need to feel safer, well, and whole again. Options might include: Do you want the person contacted about the incident? Would you like to file a police report? Would you like professional mediation? Would you like an apology or some other response from the reported person? No action required? Is there another specific outcome or resolution that would help you? Is this resolution something the organizers can help facilitate?

3. WE ENGAGE THE REPORTED PARTY, IF NEEDED (and with your consent) 

If your desired outcome(s) involves asking the reported person to take corrective action (e.g. asking for an apology, requesting they take a consent workshop, requesting restrictions on attending certain events, temporary or long-term banning from our events, etc.) then we will need to have a conversation with the reported person before we can proceed. This step will not be undertaken without your prior consent. 

      • If it is decided that we will contact them, we will need to release your name during the conversation so that they may be given the opportunity to comment and reflect on the specific event.
      • It is important to note that the goal of this call is not to ensure that you and the reported party reconcile. We are not sufficiently trained professionals to take on the responsibility of getting a victim redress or reprisal, neither are we in the business of rehabilitation, but we can gladly point people to professionals who specialize in these things. We are here to use what abilities we do have to make our spaces as safe as we can for our attendees, to help the community grow, and to hold people accountable for their actions, fairly.

If it is decided that the reported person will be contacted, we will schedule the call as soon as possible. The call will have two main goals:

      • To try to determine whether or not the person(s) reported understands that their behaviour caused harm, whether they intended to violate any boundaries, whether they are willing to engage with our process, and whether they are interested and/or capable of learning how to prevent something like this from happening again.
      • To try to facilitate any of your requested outcomes that are within our abilities.

4. WE REPORT BACK  

After contact with the reported person — unless you’ve requested us not to — we will contact you again to provide an update on the status of your requested outcomes, and to decide if any new or altered outcomes are necessary. Based on the outcomes of the call with the reported person and any follow-up calls or activity with you, we will also decide on any additional action for the reported person that might be appropriate. Outcomes might include, but are not limited to: facilitating an apology, asking them to take a consent workshop, asking them to seek therapy or engage in another form of outside self-development, taking some form of public accountability, or banning them from future events.

 

What happens when I make a report about an organizer?

The same process described above, with a few additions: 

      • We strongly suggest you include your name in the report so that we may address it. Unfortunately, we are unable to actively pursue anonymous reports and we feel that because organizers should be held to a higher standard, it is important that all reports about organizers result in measurable action.
      • If we are able to pursue the report, the organizer in question will immediately be informed of a report against them.
      • They will be asked to step away from the organizing body while the report is being resolved. They will not be included in the intake call or any other conversations about the situation, other than the scheduled call we have with any reported party. 
      • During the course of the above procedure and resolution we will also determine if the organizer is able to rejoin the organizing team, if any action needs to be taken by them before they can return, or if they must remain off of the team permanently.

 

 

This is a living document that will be reviewed and updated as appropriate. 

These procedures have largely been compiled and adapted from those developed by Organ House. Additional content and influence has come from House of Yes and Kinky Salon Toronto.

If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our policies, or you see any blind spots we might not have considered, we would love to receive your feedback. Knowledge is power, and the more we know, the safer we can make Planet Fabulon for everyone in the future. Please feel free to email us anytime at: greetings@planetfabulon.online