Code of Conduct

Welcome to Govandi Arts Festival. 

To ensure that the festival is a safe, supportive and inspiring space, we have adopted this code of conduct and require all those who participate to agree and adhere to these guidelines.

These guidelines aim to create space where people of Govandi and the audiences from outside the neighbourhood are able to feel safe to participate, introduce new ideas and inspire others, regardless of: background, family status, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, native language, age, ability, caste, race and/or ethnicity, national origin, socio-economic status, religion, geographic location or any other dimension of diversity.

Govandi Arts Festival is built on values of collaboration, empathy and mutual respect. These guidelines exist to enable diverse individuals and groups to interact and collaborate. This document outlines both expected and prohibited behaviours during these interactions.

Expected Behaviour

The following behaviours are expected of all participants including residents of Govandi, participating artists, creative professionals, mentors, vendors, and audience members, volunteers who come to visit the festival. 

Be Respectful

Value each other’s ideas, perspectives and viewpoints. We may not always agree, but disagreement is no excuse for poor manners. Be open to different possibilities and to being wrong. Be kind in all interactions and communications, especially when debating the merits of different options. Be aware of your impact and how intense interactions may be affecting people. Be direct, constructive and positive. Take responsibility for your impact and your mistakes – if someone says they have been harmed through your words or actions, listen carefully, apologise sincerely, and correct the behaviour going forward. Understand that you will be interacting with people whose values might be different from yours - it is important that it does not lead to lack of respect or abuse. 

Be Direct but Professional

We must be able to speak directly when we disagree and when we think we need to improve. We cannot withhold hard truths. Doing so respectfully is hard, doing so when others don’t seem to be listening is harder, and hearing such comments when one is the recipient can be even harder still. We need to be honest and direct, as well as respectful. 

It is also important to recognise when you need help in facilitating difficult conversations. In such a scenario, please reach out to the organising team to help. 

Be Inclusive

The festival is built on diverse perspectives from different cultures. Encourage all voices. Help new perspectives be heard and listen actively. If you find yourself dominating a discussion, it is especially important to step back and encourage other voices to join in. Be aware of how much time is taken up by dominant members of the group. Provide alternative ways to contribute or participate when possible. Make way for other voices and listen actively to them. 

Appreciate and Accommodate Our Similarities and Differences

The festival is situated in Govandi, where the residents are working class people from all religions, however the neighbourhood is predominantly Muslim. There are visible cultural differences between participants from outside Govandi which include official religious observances, to personal habits and even clothing. 

Be respectful of people with different cultural practices, attitudes and beliefs. Work to eliminate your own biases, prejudices and discriminatory practices. Think of others’ needs from their point of view. 

Use preferred titles (including pronouns) and the appropriate tone of voice. However, understand that the community members might not be able to comprehend pronouns - recognise that this doesn’t come from a place of disrespect but cultural differences. 

Respect people’s right to privacy and confidentiality. Be open to learning from and educating others as well as educating yourself. 

Lead by Example

Your actions influence others to behave and respond in ways that are valuable and appropriate for our collective outcomes. Design your community and your work for inclusion. Hold yourself and others accountable for inclusive behaviours.

Dress Appropriately 

Dress conservatively, avoiding revealing clothes and don’t think of this act as infringement of your right to dress the way you want, but to respect the cultural ethos of the residents of Govandi who are opening their homes to you for this festival. 

Behaviour That Will Not Be Tolerated

The following behaviours are considered to be unacceptable under these guidelines.

Violence and Threats of Violence

Violence and threats of violence are not acceptable – online or offline. This includes incitement of violence or explicit remarks toward any individual or a community, including encouraging a person to commit self-harm. This also includes posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“doxxing”) online. 

Personal Attack

Conflicts will inevitably arise, but frustration should never turn into a personal attack. It is not okay to insult, demean or belittle others. Attacking someone for their opinions, beliefs and ideas is not acceptable. It is important to speak directly when we disagree and when we think we need to improve, but such discussions must be conducted respectfully and professionally, remaining focused on the issue at hand.

Derogatory Language

Hurtful or harmful language related to - background, family status, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, native language, age, ability, caste, race and/or ethnicity, national origin, socio-economic status, religion, geographic location or other attributes - is not acceptable. This includes deliberately referring to someone by a gender that they do not identify with, and/or questioning the legitimacy of an individual’s gender identity. 

However, be mindful of the fact that you will interact with people who do not come from your cultural/social/economic privileges, and are not plugged into certain conversations around gender identities. Please don’t be offended if the said person refers to you by an identity you do not identify with. Reach out to festival staff to mediate such conversations. 

If you’re unsure if a word is derogatory, don’t use it. This also includes repeated subtle and/or indirect discrimination; when asked to stop, stop the behaviour in question. 

You might hear a few words that you find offensive and derogatory which are commonly used by the community members of Govandi and are part of their vocabulary. If you are uncomfortable, please refrain from having direct confrontation but involve festival staff to facilitate the discussion so that everyone feels comfortable and safe. 

Unwelcome Sexual Attention or Physical Contact

Unwelcome sexual attention or unwelcome physical contact is not acceptable. This includes sexualized comments, jokes or imagery in interactions, communications or presentation materials, as well as inappropriate touching, groping, or sexual advances. This includes touching a person without permission, including sensitive areas such as their hair, pregnant stomach, mobility device (wheelchair, scooter, etc) or tattoos. This also includes physically blocking or intimidating another person. Physical contact or simulated physical contact (such as emojis like “kiss”) without affirmative consent is not acceptable. This includes sharing or distribution of sexualized images or text.

Disruptive Behaviour

Sustained disruption of events, forums, or meetings, including talks and presentations, will not be tolerated. This includes:

Alcohol and Drugs

We have a strict no alcohol and drugs policy. Showing up to the festival under the influence of these substances will not be tolerated. 

Influencing Unacceptable Behaviour

Influencing crowd actions that cause hostility in the session will also not be tolerated. We will treat influencing or leading such activities the same way we treat the activities themselves, and thus the same consequences apply.

Consequences of Unacceptable Behaviour

Bad behaviour from any participant, including those with decision-making authority, will not be tolerated. Reports of harassment/discrimination will be promptly and thoroughly investigated by the Govandi Arts Festival team. Appropriate measures will be taken to address the situation.

Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately. Violation of these guidelines can result in you being asked to leave the festival premises, either temporarily or for the duration of the event, or being banned from participation in spaces, or future events and activities in perpetuity.

In addition, any participants who abuse the reporting process will be considered to be in violation of these guidelines and subject to the same consequences. False reporting, especially to retaliate or exclude, will not be accepted or tolerated.

License and Attribution

This set of guidelines is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.

These guidelines have been adapted with modifications from UnBox Festival 2019 Code of Conduct, Mozilla’s original Community Participation Guidelines, the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, Mozilla’s View Source Conference Code of Conduct, and the Rust Language Code of Conduct, which are based on Stumptown Syndicate’s Citizen Code of Conduct.

Reporting

If you believe you’re experiencing unacceptable behaviour that will not be tolerated as outlined above, please contact festival@communitydesignagency.com and/or Parveen Shaikh: +91 8779385255

If you feel you have been unfairly accused of violating these guidelines, please follow the same reporting process.