Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment

Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment

The organizers of CHI 2022 are dedicated to providing an accessible, equitable, harassment-free, nondiscriminatory, and pleasant conference for all. We want each participant and organizer to both feel and be welcomed, included, and safe at the conference. Moreover, we will do our best to accommodate specific needs, such as accessibility or dietary requirements. We cannot promise to solve every issue but will try our best.

Anyone witnessing or subject to unacceptable behavior should notify the Conference General Chairs. In addition, SIGCHI CARES exists to serve as a resource for those who experience discrimination and/or harassment at or around CHI 2022 (for anything to do with the conference and its organization). CARES can also help navigate the ACM processes.

The organizers of CHI 2022 do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Attending CHI 2022 is not an automatic right, so CHI 2022 general chairs reserve the right to remove conference participants, from both online and on-site participation, due to unacceptable behavior.

ACM Policy Against Harassment at ACM Activities

The Policy Against Harassment at ACM Activities (Adopted by ACM Council June 21, 2018) applies to all participants and organizers of CHI 2022. This policy includes details on expected behavior, unacceptable behavior, the consequences of unacceptable behavior, and how to report unacceptable behavior.

We expect all interactions between anyone involved in CHI 2022 (including reviewers, organizers, and participants) to be respectful and constructive, including interactions during the review process, at the conference itself, and on social media. Conference participants violating the ACM policy may be sanctioned or removed from the conference (without a refund) at the discretion of the conference general chairs. A response that the participant was “just joking,” “teasing,” being “playful,” or something similar will not be accepted.

Anyone witnessing or subject to unacceptable behavior should notify the Conference General Chairs. For more, please read the Policy Against Harassment at ACM Activities.

SIGCHI CARES

SIGCHI CARES exists to serve as a resource for those who experience discrimination and/or harassment around all SIGCHI-related professional events. CARES supports such individuals by allowing them to work with established members of the SIGCHI community, who are approachable and willing to listen and help navigate the SIGCHI and ACM reporting and accountability process.​

SIGCHI CARES does not replace the role of the General Chairs for CHI 2022 or the ACM process.

You can reach out to CARES in a confidential manner. To learn more about CARES, please visit https://sigchi.org/resources/sigchi-cares/
SIGCHI CARES is currently co-chaired by members of the SIGCHI executive committee. You can contact SIGCHI CARES at sigchi-cares@acm.org

Terminology

What is discrimination?

Discrimination is the unfair and/or harmful treatment of others based on aspects of who they are (their gender, orientation, race, ethnicity, culture, class, body, ability, education, language, skin color, natality, nationality, and/or beliefs). 

What is harassment?

Harassment is a discriminatory behavior that drives someone to feel upset, disturbed or harmed. Ultimately, harassment is related to power: who has it, who wants it, and how it’s obtained, kept, or transferred. What constitutes harassment is defined by the target, not the perpetrator. This may be:

  • Coercion, or pressuring someone to agree to or do something you want and they don’t 
  • Insult or challenge to someone’s identity: who you are, how you appear, what you believe 
  • Territoriality, or trying to prove you are better, more skilled/correct than another; impressing others at the expense of someone else; elevating yourself through insult or belittling another
  • Predation, or getting a thrill out of doing something shocking or provocative at someone’s expense and the charge comes from the person’s reaction
  • Resistance testing, whereby a harasser starts with a joke or comment then escalates to see how far they can push an interaction

Discrimination and harassment can be deliberate or unintentional. Members are asked to take one another in good faith with mistakes and accidents as we all make them; however, harassment and discrimination often occur alongside the best of intentions. What matters is whether others consent (to your words and actions) and if those words and actions are respectful in nature and reception. What is consensual and respectful is determined by the person affected. 

What is bullying?

Bullying is harassment and discrimination repeated whether by an individual, group, or system. 

What does this mean for you?

Acknowledging the impossibility of creating a safe space, our intention is to create a safer space. This means that we will hold ourselves and each other to high standards and uphold strict repercussions in response to instances of abuse (harassment, discrimination, bullying) that are brought to our attention. We, the organizers of CHI 2022, have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying and violence. Attendance, publications, membership, and or larger ACM event membership may be revoked at any point should someone violate any of the policies outlined within this document.

As SIGCHI members, conference attendees, and guests to the space (physical and digital) arrive with varied understandings of appropriate/respectful behavior, inclusion means providing individuals with the chance to correct their behavior where smaller, first-time issues or conflicts arise. Offending individuals may be met with a warning or awareness notice of an issue and given a chance to correct their behavior before harm is repeated. Should the harmful behavior be repeated, the behavior will be deemed bullying and fall under our zero-tolerance policy. ACM SIGCHI, Conference General Chairs, and SIGCHI CARES reserve the right to exercise their best judgment on such cases. 

 

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