Code of Conduct

The open exchange of ideas, the freedom of thought and expression, and respectful scientific debate are central to the goals of Women in Robotics . (“WiR”) activities; this requires a community and an environment that recognizes and respects the inherent worth of every person. The purpose of this Code of Conduct (CoC) is to outline expected standards of behaviour during WiR activities.

Scope

This CoC applies to all WiR activities, including but not limited to:

• Events organized, hosted, co-branded, or in cooperation with WiR.
• Communications sent through communication channels associated with WiR, including but not limited to social media and WiR Slack.
• Meetings and discussions associated with WiR activities.

Responsibility

All attendees, speakers, mentors, panelists, hosts, sponsors, contractors, organizers, volunteers, and members of the WiR Board of Directors (referred to as “Participants” collectively throughout this document) involved in WiR activities as described above are required to comply with this CoC.

Sponsors are equally subject to this CoC. In particular, sponsors should not use images, activities, or other materials that reinforce gender stereotypes or are of a sexual, racial, or otherwise offensive nature at WiR events. Sponsors hosting events, including but not limited to volunteers, should not create a sexualized or otherwise hostile environment.

Unacceptable Behavior

WiR is dedicated to providing an experience for all participants that is free from harassment, bullying, discrimination, and retaliation. This includes offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), politics, technology choices, or any other personal characteristics or considerations made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws, ordinances, or regulations.

Inappropriate or unprofessional behavior that interferes with another participant’s full participation will not be tolerated. This includes bullying, intimidation, personal attacks, harassment, sustained disruption of talks or other events, sexual harassment, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, public vulgar exchanges, derogatory name-calling, or diminutive characterizations, all of which are unwelcome in this community. Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour, is also considered harassment.

No use of images, activities, or other materials that are of a sexual, racial, or otherwise offensive nature that may create an inappropriate or toxic environment is permitted. Disorderly, boisterous, or disruptive conduct including but not limited to fighting, coercion, theft, damage to property, or any mistreatment or non-businesslike behavior towards other participants is not tolerated. Professional misconduct—including but not limited to fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism of intellectual work ( including physical and digital)—is prohibited.

Reporting

If you have concerns related to your participation or interaction at a WiR activity, observe someone else’s difficulties, or have any other concerns you wish to share, you can make a report:

• Anytime:
  • By email at conduct@womeninrobotics.org
• During an event:
  • In-person to organizers and volunteers.

Local organizers will immediately take appropriate action which will always be contacting the local authorities if there is a threat to health and safety. In situations where there is not a need to contact local authorities local organizers will be empowered to make the best decision based on the circumstances. The WiR Board does ask that if local authorities must be contacted or in the event of needing to ban or remove a person from all events that a Board member be contacted.

Enforcement

Any participant asked by any member of the community to stop an unacceptable behavior (see above) is expected to comply immediately. Behavior can be harassing without an intent to offend. If a participant engages in behaviour that violates this CoC, WiR retains the right to take any action deemed appropriate, including but not limited to:

• Formal or informal warnings
• Barring or limiting continued attendance and participation, including but not limited to expulsion from the event
• Barring from participating in or deriving benefits from future WiR activities, including but not limited to various events and online communication platforms.
• Exclusion from WiR opportunities, e.g. leadership, organizing, volunteering, speaking, reviewing, sponsoring, etc.
• Reporting the incident to the offender’s local employer, institution, or funding agencies
• Reporting the incident to local security personnel or law enforcement

The same actions may be taken toward any individual who engages in retaliation or who knowingly makes a false allegation of harassment.

If a WiR local organizer, or venue host, takes formal action against an unacceptable behavior, ie. an action which requires reporting to other personnel or organizations, then the WiR Board of Directors will be informed, the behavior and action will be documented.

Ongoing Review

The WiR Board of Directors welcomes feedback from the community on this CoC policy and procedures; please contact us by email at conduct@womeninrobotics.org.

Acknowledgements

This CoC policy was written by adapting the wording and structure from other CoC policies and procedures by WiML, Geek Feminism Wiki (created by the Ada Initiative), NeurIPS, ACM, Montreal AI Symposium, and Deep Learning Indaba.