Consent and Related Offenses Policy [BR414]

Approved April 14, 2022

Note This page is for the BR consent policy and is part of a series of policies on consent, harassment, and community protection. To report a consent violation, please contact consent@br.org or see the Reporting section below. You may also be interested in our other related policies:

If any individual has reported a consent violation and is unsure of the outcome or does not feel the report has been fully addressed, please contact that Black Rose Board at boardonly@br.org

  1. Overview

Due to the need to provide a safe space for its members and attendees, and to ensure that its members and staff model proper behavior in the community, it is the decision of the Board to enact a specific policy on consent-related offenses that may be committed by or against members.

  1. Principles of consent

Consent is a difficult topic to define. However, for the purposes of this policy, we propose the following principles be used as guidelines. In short, consent is the explicit expression made by participating parties defining actions they will have done to themselves or actions they will do to someone else.

  • Consent is conscious. Consent is the thorough negotiation of the acts taking place
  • Consent is explicit. Consent is an active acknowledgement of the acts taking place
  • Consent requires sobriety. Consent should be negotiated up front while all parties are in clear headspace, not under the influence of endorphins or any external substances.
  • All participants must consent to an interaction, regardless of the role they will take
  • Consent may be withdrawn at any point, regardless of prior negotiations between participating parties, even mid-act
  1. Definitions of a consent violation

Consent violations include physical assault and sexual harassment. Assault is touching a person. Sexual harassment, constituting a consent violation, is any harassment that is sexually explicit or graphic in nature and unreasonable for the event in question. This includes sexually suggestive comments, gestures, or electronic messages.

If consent has not been obtained for an act that occurs, or if it is withdrawn during an act and the act continues, a consent violation has occurred. It is a violation of consent to perform acts on  another person who has not given consent or has revoked consent. 

  • Consent is enthusiastic. Coercing or attempting to coerce someone to do something they don’t want to do is a violation.
  • Consent is ongoing. Ignoring the withdrawal of consent is a violation.
  • Consent violations may be emotional or physical in nature. 
  • Consent violations may take time to acknowledge for the person suffering harm, and can be reported at a later date
  1. Scope of policy

This policy is not limited to BR events. Consent violations can be considered that occur at any venue, including emails, online messaging platform contact, and/or in person interactions outside of BR events.

  1. Reporting consent violations

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Consent violations reduce the value of BR membership for everyone. We want you to be happy in our organization. People like you make BR a better place.

You can report a consent violation to any BR staff member, who will be responsible for forwarding your report to the BR Board. This will be done by sending you an email shortly after receiving the report as a confirmation of your report, copying the Board for further action. You can also report consent violations directly to consent@br.org, which goes to the currently sitting BR Board.

Larger BR events usually have a consent team on site; these teams also handle harassment issues. However, if you feel more comfortable reporting harassment to another volunteer or if an event does not have a consent team available, any BR volunteer staffing an event is able to take your harassment complaint.

A written report should contain the following information:

  • Do you want this reported to the Black Rose Board?
  • What name and pronouns do you want us to use?
  • What is your email address?
  • What happened?
  • Were there any witnesses?
  • Who did it happen with? The accused should be identified.
  • What would be required for the reporter to feel safe in the community?
  1. No Wrong Door

Black Rose staff should familiarize themselves with this policy so that they can assist any person who comes to them. It is critically important for anyone reporting a consent violation to be able to communicate with a person they trust, a relationship that the reporter may not have with any Board members. If someone reports a consent violation to a BR staff member, that member is responsible for forwarding the report to the Board.

  1. Consent violations by BR staff (inclusive of BR Board Members)

BR staff are expected to display the highest ideals of consent culture in their official and everyday interactions. In addition to any sanction that the Board can impose on members, BR staff may be reprimanded or removed from their position pursuant to Policy 205, Staff Code of Conduct. If you are reporting a consent violation by a BR Board Member please send your report to Consent@BR.org. The Board Member will automatically be recused from all discussions and decisions made involving the reported consent violation.