We have a "safer spaces" google doc we're working on right now.  We're trying to keep it to 1 page, and it probably isn't finished yet, but here's what we have so far.  (If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em.)  Good luck getting that all sorted out!

Bike Forth is a “Safer Space”


What is a safer space?

A place where (we hope that) anyone can relax and be fully self-expressed, without fear of being made to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe on account of biological sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, cultural background, age, or physical or mental ability; a place where the rules guard each person's self-respect and dignity and strongly encourage everyone to respect others.  You can be present without fear of being made to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome or unsafe on account of not being bike experts or not knowing the “lingo” of bike repair.  — Modified from the definition by Advocates for Youth


We call it a “safer space” rather than a “safe space” because we’re doing our best.  Sometimes we might not get it quite right. So let us know if there’s something we can do to make it a safer space for you. Thanks and have fun!

RESPONSIBILITIES

Visitors
- To follow basic rules in terms of tool use, clean up and time spent on repair.
- To show respect toward your fellow bike-fixers by sharing tools, helping each other out, and generally just being friendly.

Volunteers
- To not “fix” problems but work with people so they can do it themselves -- and feel empowered in so doing!
- To treat all visitors with respect, and without favoritism or prejudice.

“Ministers”
- To lay out clear expectations for volunteers.
- To welcome visitors and help them feel safe and respected.
- To support visitors and volunteers in the edumacation process.

RIGHTS

Visitors
- To know who they can turn to for assistance--who the volunteers and ministers are.
- To know who the ministers on duty are that they can turn to if they feel they are not being treated with respect.
- To help other visitors appreciate the empowerment of do-it-yourself bike repair.

Volunteers
- To know who the ministers on duty are that they can turn to if they feel they are not being treated with respect or need advice.
- To have the support of ministers to improve their ability to serve visitors.

“Ministers”
- To be shown respect so that they can help to make this a safe and fun space for do-it-yourself bike repair for everyone!

On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 2:38 PM, Caroline Savery <carolinesavery@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi everyone!

I'm writing from Free Ride, Pittsburgh PA's own bike collective.  We have once monthly meetings, and consist of general users, a member support base, and collective council members who have to have substantial involvement in order to participate in decision-making.  Collective council members generally number 10-18 people. http://www.freeridepgh.org

Our group is currently dealing with situation that's new to us: a person who lives in Pittsburgh and who is the leader of a small bike mechanics educational initiative in India has been publicly accused of multiple sexual assaults.  This person receives minor in-kind support for his India project from Free Ride.  In December, he was asked privately by survivors of his alleged sexual assault to participate in a restorative justice process.  At first he agreed, but later backed out of what he was asked to do.  As a result, the survivor-initiated restorative justice process has gone public with their accusations in an effort to protect the community.  As I understand it, the accused person rarely, if ever, is actually *in* Free Ride using the shop.  He is only involved through having asked us for support for his India bike initiative (which is still a pretty rad project).

So, Free Ride is trying to decide how we should respond to this situation.  We want to support the India project, but we also strongly prioritize our community's health.  We are inclined to support any reasonably transparent and respectful community accountability process by the very nature of our own non-hierarchical, community-building organization. We are disturbed that this person whom we support is backing out of a community justice process that has been requested of him.  We are also concerned, of course, by the accusations themselves.  

We haven't made any decisions yet, besides asking this person to send us a written statement addressing our concerns about him backing out of the accountability process, if he wants to receive continued support from us (though we are not guaranteeing him continued support).  We are inclined to ask what the people in the restorative justice process wants us to do--maybe they don't want their process to affect this person's professional affairs, maybe they do...

Does anyone have any advice on how their organization has handled a situation like this? Where someone in their community was called out publicly for abusive behavior outside of the shop and/or outside of their direct involvement with your organization?  What did you take into consideration when drawing the line between supporting someone and protecting others?  How did you handle it?  What were the results?

Also, on a separate but related note, Free Ride is trying to develop its own strong Code of Conduct for our shop (long overdue!)  We want the language to be firm and to reflect our anti-oppression values.  Our goal in creating a Code of Conduct is create a safe space for all users to learn and share knowledge about bicycle mechanics.  If anyone has any suggestions for language to include in our Code of Conduct, please let us know.  

We could really use your advice... thanks so much!

Cheers,
Caroline

If you want, you can e-mail me privately at carolinesavery [at] gmail.com.

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