Code of Conduct

Purpose

As a professional organisation, The Bisexual Research Group is committed to diversity, equity, professional exchange of ideas, and respectful treatment of all members, volunteers, and employees.

Attendees at all events, activities, and programs by The Bisexual Research Group seek to learn, network, and enjoy themselves, free from discrimination or harassment.

In order to provide all participants with the opportunity to benefit from events, The Bisexual Research Group is committed to providing a friendly, safe, and discrimination and harassment-free environment for all attendees, including but not limited to discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

Therefore, this Code of Conduct sets forth expectations for the professional conduct of participants in The Bisexual Research Group’s events or activities such as meetings, journal review and editorship, online venues, and educational programs.

"Participant" refers to anyone present at The Bisexual Research Group’s events or activities regardless of membership status, including speakers, vendors, venue staff, media representatives, exhibitors, sponsors, volunteers, and all other attendees. "Events or activities" include any aspect of the annual convention (e.g., during programming, at scheduled social events, while out to dinner or at a bar), pre-conferences, and other forums and trainings.

Policies alone cannot eliminate problematic conduct. Accordingly, this Code of Conduct includes an expectation that all participants proactively seek to establish a culture of respect in which everyone feels welcomed and valued. To accomplish this, participants are asked to speak up and take action when these values are not adhered to, and recognize that power differences and hierarchies inherent to academia may inhibit many parties (including students and junior scholars) from feeling free to object to or report problematic behaviour.

The behaviour of members outside of The Bisexual Research Group’s events and venues also reflects on The Bisexual Research Group and influences its climate. Members are expected to embody the values and to adhere to the guidelines articulated in this Code of Conduct in all professional settings. For these reasons, professional misconduct outside of The Bisexual Research Group’s events may warrant sanction if they violate this Code of Conduct.

In addition to general misconduct, this Code of Conduct specifically addresses sexual harassment, which is according to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in the UK is behaviour of a sexual nature that “has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a worker, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them”. Something can still be considered sexual harassment even if the alleged harasser didn't mean for it to be. It also doesn't have to be intentionally directed at a specific person. Examples of sexual harassment include written or verbal comments of a sexual nature, such as remarks about an employee's appearance, questions about their sex life or offensive jokes, displaying pornographic or explicit images, emails with content of a sexual nature, unwanted physical contact and touching, and sexual assault. Sexual harassment is perpetrated and experienced across genders and professional roles. 

Expected Behaviour

This Code of Conduct affirms the positive and constructive behaviours to which The Bisexual Research Group aspires as a professional and scientific society. Such expected behaviour includes, but is not limited to:

  • Professional and constructive communication, in-person and on-line; courtesy and civility in handling dissent or disagreement; respect when providing feedback; and openness to alternate points of view.

  • Responsible and respectful sharing of information about the organization or any attendees via social media and public communication channels.

  • Being proactive to help mitigate or avoid harassment or harm to other convention participants, including but not limited to alerting someone from The Bisexual Research Group if they witness a situation in which someone may be in imminent danger.

Prohibited Behaviour

The Bisexual Research Group does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of members or participants in any form. Prohibited behaviours include, but are not limited to:

  • Intimidating, harassing, lewd, demeaning, bullying, or threatening speech or actions.

  • Persistent and unwelcome solicitation of emotional or physical intimacy, including but not limited to that which is accompanied by real or implied threat of professional harm.

  • Physical assault, including unwelcome touch or groping.

  • Any real or implied threat of physical harm.

  • Victimisation of or retaliation against an individual for reporting harassment or prohibited conduct or for participating in an investigation of a claim of harassment or discrimination.

Reporting Prohibited Behaviour

The Bisexual Research Group encourages reporting of all perceived incidents of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation taking place at or in conjunction with a program or activity, regardless of the person’s identity or position in The Bisexual Research Group. If you believe you have been the target of such conduct (or have observed such conduct) you are urged to email bisexualresearchgroup@gmail.com.

You can also use the free online reporting tool Spot, which allows you to create a structured report of what happened by going through the incident with a chatbot trained to administer a written version of the cognitive interview. Spot timestamps your pdf report, and allows anonymous reporting. Witnesses and targets are both encouraged to use the tool. You can access Spot at https://app.talktospot.com/. Spot will ask you to whom you want it to send the report. Reports should be sent to bisexualresearchgroup@gmail.com sending a report through the Spot, gives you the option to stay anonymous. You can also save a report for later if you are not yet ready to report it to The Bisexual Research Group.

In the event that you feel your physical safety is in jeopardy, The Bisexual Research Group encourages you to contact the appropriate law enforcement agency to make a report. The Bisexual Research Group strongly respects an individual's interest in confidentiality and will handle all reports with sensitivity, with information related to a report only disclosed on a need to know basis for the purposes of investigation. The Bisexual Research Group will also work to assist and facilitate a complainant in exerting their right to report a potential violation of the Code of Conduct to the home institution or employer of the individual in question.

Consequences for Prohibited Behaviour

Violation of this Code of Conduct is considered by The Bisexual Research Group to be a serious form of misconduct. The consequences for violations will be determined by factors including the immediacy of the threat to attendees, the severity and frequency of the violation, and whether the individual has been found to have past violations.

Agreement to this Code of Conduct constitutes acknowledgement that

  1. the possible disciplinary actions for its violation include but are not limited to a verbal warning, removal from an event without refund, and

  2. The Bisexual Research Group reserves the right, in consultation with the complainant, to notify a home institution or employer of a finding of misconduct in violation of this Code of Conduct.