Rural Ireland Tech Advocates (RITA) is fully committed to providing a harassment-free, welcoming, and inclusive experience for everyone involved in the community. Put simply: any form of harassment will not be tolerated and will be acted upon swiftly and fairly.
RITA is built by a community of volunteers who share their time, expertise and passion to help others. Volunteers from a wide range of religions, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, nationalities, sexual orientations, body sizes, physical appearance, mental abilities and physical abilities. Use this as an opportunity to respectfully interact with a diverse group of individuals in a professional and safe manner whether this is through the website, events organised by RITA or otherwise.
We are all here to learn and grow. RITA is not the appropriate medium to question individuals on their underrepresented status and it is not a dating site. Anyone found to be behaving in any way that makes community members uncomfortable or impedes the intended goals of this community will be in violation of this Code of Conduct and will be banned from taking part in any future RITA events and community membership.
The following is presented as a guide of what we require everyone involved in the community to agree to. Being involved in the RITA community means the following is something you not only accept but fully support.
- Be kind.
- Be mindful.
- Be professional.
- Be responsible.
- Be patient.
- Be welcoming.
- Be respectful of other viewpoints and ideas.
- Be helpful and look out for each other.
In case there is any confusion about what the opposite of the above looks like, the following unwelcome behaviours are in direct breach of RITA’s Code of Conduct:
- Offensive, inappropriate, or unwanted comments related to gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size or type, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or age, or other protected categories under applicable law.
- Visual harassment e.g. sexual imagery or use of sexual language at RITA organized community events
- Disrespectful towards differences of opinion
- Deliberate intimidation, stalking, intrusive and/or covert photography or recording
- Inappropriate or unwanted physical contact
- Intimidation or bullying (online or in-person)
- Unwelcome sexual attention
All of the above covers interactions in person, online, and via written or verbal communication with any and all parties associated with the RITA community. If you or someone else are subjected to inappropriate behaviour or have any other concerns please follow the Reporting steps below.
The RITA team recognise the common tactic of those who harass is to question the legitimacy of what constitutes harassment. This is easily combated, however, through the committee’s position to decide quickly, fairly, and unequivocally what is deemed inappropriate.
In closing, we ask all members of the RITA community to be attentive and look out for each other. If you are subject to or witness any violation of RITA’s Code of Conduct we ask that you inform the RITA Team immediately : [email protected]. When in doubt, shout.
Portions derived and inspired from the following : Slack Developer Community Code of Conduct, The Ada Initiative, geekfeminism.org, Global Diversity Call for Papers and Drupal Events Code of Conduct.
REPORTING STEPS
If you need to report an incident please contact a member of the RITA Team. If you are uncomfortable approaching a team member directly, please inform the team by contacting [email protected].
Rural Ireland Tech Advocates 