What counts as sexual harassment?

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The Alberta Human Rights Commission defines sexual harassment as including:

• Unwelcome staring, comments, or teasing.

• Questions or conversations about sexual activities.

• Offensive humour or language related to gender.

• Displaying or showing suggestive material.

• Unwanted sexual requests or demands.

• Unwanted physical contact or closeness such as patting, pinching, rubbing, leaning over or standing too close.

• Physical assault.

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What counts as personal harassment?

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The Canadian Human Rights Commission defines personal harassment as including:

• Verbal abuse or threats.

• Unwelcome remarks, jokes or innuendoes or taunting about a person’s body, attire, age, marital status, ethnic or national origin, religion, etc.

• Displaying pornographic, racist or other offensive or derogatory pictures.

• Practical jokes which cause awkwardness or embarrassment.

• Unwelcome invitations or requests, whether indirect or explicit, or intimidation leering or other gestures.

• Condescension or paternalism which undermines self-respect.

• Unnecessary physical contact such as touching, patting or pinching, or punching.

• Physical assault.

 

How does this relate to dancing?

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• Harassment is unwanted or unwelcome behaviour (sexual or otherwise) which makes a person feel offended, humiliated, or intimidated.

• This means it’s ILLEGAL to hold a dance partner very close if they don’t want to be held.

• If someone says they don’t want to dance, and you insist, touching them and pulling them, it is harassment.

• Avoid ‘boob swipes’, touching a partner’s bottom, groin, upper legs - you know the deal. If you accidentally do so, apologize immediately. If you do this repeatedly, you will be warned, if not ejected from the event.

• Sexual harassment is not interaction, flirtation, or friendship which is mutual or consensual.

• Happy, consensual dances (no matter how close the position) is A-Ok.

• Hooking up at a dance event with a consenting adult is also totally A-Ok. (Not on the premises, though!)

• In Alberta, it is your right to work and go to school in an environment free of sexual stress:

• This means it’s ILLEGAL to sexually harass your host, your dance teacher or student, your DJ or sound engineer, volunteer or musician, event manager, MC, or performer.

• We have a legal and moral obligation to actively prevent sexual harassment.

• We WILL act immediately on your reports or complaints, and we will warn offenders.

• We will also document and keep complaints on file to watch for patterns or repeat offenses. Reports are strictly confidential and available only to authorized staff or law enforcement (if required).

• Sexual harassment can be obvious or indirect, physical or verbal, repeated or one-off, and perpetrated by anyone against people of any sex.

• If you aren’t sure, if you think something’s creepy or makes you feel uncomfortable and you want a second opinion, if you see something and you’ve got a hunch: ASK for advice.

 

How do I avoid harassing someone?

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• Ask for verbal consent: “Would you like to dance?” “Would you like a drink?” “Would you like to take a walk?” “Would you like to come back to my place?”

• Even if you’ve been given consent before, ask every time, and use your words.

• Be ok with people saying no. Everyone has the right to say “No.” Saying nothing is the same as saying “No.”

• Aim for enthusiastic, unambiguous consent.

• Practice giving enthusiastic consent when you intend to give consent: “YES! I’d LOVE to dance with you!” “I’d love to go for a walk!” “Practice saying no, and practice saying “STOP!”. You don’t have to ‘just wait it out’ if you don’t want to do something, or something is making you uncomfortable. We’ve got your back.

• If someone says “stop!” - on or off the dance floor - you must stop immediately.

• Pay attention to your dance partners. Be careful not to touch their ‘private’ zones, and take all care to avoid hurting them.

• Don’t act or treat any person or group as better or worse than anyone else. Don’t make jokes about how one group is better or worse than another group. We’re all different, and we all deserve respect. We’re all here to have a great time; don’t rain on anyone’s parade.

• If you aren’t sure if your behavior is harassing someone or making them uncomfortable: stop, ask, and apologize if it is. Don’t do it again.

• Gendered Language Use Policy

• If any individual requests that a specific gender or non-gendered language be used when referring to them, it is mandatory that all Swing-Out Edmonton guests, patrons, staff, partners, volunteers, or representatives respect this request. If you make a mistake and use the incorrect pronoun or term, apologize, and try again.

• As a policy, all Swing-Out Edmonton’s executive and instructors are expected to avoid specifying gender when referring to any role in a general sense (e.g. “Leads”, “Follows”, “Flyers”, “Bases”; not “guys”, “girls”, “gents”, “ladies”, etc.). Use of gendered pronouns are allowed when referring to a specific individual, as long as the gender is consistent with how that individual identifies - and it is strongly encouraged to avoid this and simply use the individual's name.

• Enforcement and Reporting Policy.

• Anyone found to be in breach of Swing-Out Edmonton’s Code of Conduct or any other element of the Safe Space Policy is subject to immediate enforcement action. These actions are to be enforced by a Safe Space Officer, Safe Space Advocate, or barring their availability, any Swing-Out Edmonton Sr. Executive. All issues brought forward and any related enforcement action or resolution is to be documented by the Swing-Out Edmonton representative handling the issue and is to be reviewed by and filed by a Safe Space Officer. These reports will also be summarized and reported by a Safe Space Officer to Safe Space Advocates, event organizers, and any affiliated organizations that comply with this or an equivalent Safe Space Policy.

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​Roles and Responsibilities

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• Every guest, student, attendee, teacher, volunteer, representative, partner, owner, or executive of Swing-Out Edmonton is responsible for and must comply with the Code of Conduct. Any executive, or volunteer is empowered to enforce the Code of Conduct. Guests and attendees, if they feel safe to do so, are encouraged to speak out against harassment and unsafe behavior, and we ask that they report any incidents they witness to an organizer.

 

Safe Spaces Officer

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A Safe Space Officer (SSO) is responsible for ensuring that the Code of Conduct and Safe Space Policy is being enforced, for assigning Safe Space Advocates, for maintaining all Safe Space record keeping, and for reporting relevant Safe Space information to Safe Space Advocates, event organizers, and affiliate organizations in a timely manner. It is also the duty of an SSO to maintain an awareness of past incidents to identify areas where the organization can improve activities or policy related to Safe Spaces, and to identify repeat offenders and determine additional enforcement actions for those offenders. An SSO can and will additionally take on all the roles and responsibilities of a Safe Space Advocate. It is also the responsibility of an SSO for ensuring that at least two Safe Space Advocates are staffing all events, and personally filling this role as required.

 

Safe Spaces Advocate

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The role of a Safe Spaces Advocate (SSA) is to be fun, friendly, approachable, and professional, while also being responsible for the handling of any incidents at an event regarding the Safe Space Policy. A SSA is at a Swing-Out Edmonton event to make sure the event is fun, friendly, and safe. They are to always wear a button identifying themselves as an SSA, and it is their job to keep an eye out for any problems, as well as to be welcoming and encouraging to guests.

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When informed of or observing an incident, the SSA is to act immediately:

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• Take any immediate actions to ensure the safety of themselves and guests.

• Ensure that any victims are safe and separated from any perpetrators and with one SSA.

• If required or requested, seek medical attention, family, friends, or law enforcement for the victim.

• The other SSA is to separate and speak with any perpetrators, and then take enforcement actions by the SSA’s discretion.

• If available, the SSO can also be brought in to help with enforcement actions.

• The SSA must also consider their own safety and contact law enforcement if required.

• Take any additional required actions to ensure the safety of all guests.

• Document the incident per the Reporting Policy and provide the report to the SSO as soon as possible.

• At least two Safer Spaces Advocates are to be present, available, and visible at all Swing-Out Edmonton events. If an event requires additional SSAs due to the size of the event, this is to be arranged by the SSO.

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Incident reports will include:

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• The date, location, and if applicable event of the incident.

• The name of the official representative preparing the report.

• Any other Swing-Out Edmonton representatives involved in handling the incident.

• Description of the incident.

• Names of any individual or individuals involved in perpetuating the incident.

• Names of reporters and victims are to be kept strictly confidential.

• Enforcement actions taken.

• Any time periods applicable to the enforcement are to be clearly included so that these actions can continue to be enforced.

 

Enforcement actions can include:

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• Verbal warning

• Immediate removal from event

• Suspension from future events

• Contacting law enforcement

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We would like to sincerely thank Hit That Jive for providing much of the content for this policy.