[NCUC-DISCUSS] CIS' Statement on Sexual Harassment at ICANN55

[Glenn McKnight]

Thanks to  Sunil's work on summarizing the gaping holes in the ICANN's
 processes and the real need for the organization to take proactive steps
to implement real strategies.   Since the Office of the Ombudsman is under
review perhaps the assessment could reveal how effective it has been and
what measures can be created to make the office viable for such a
situation.
Glenn

Glenn McKnight
mcknight.glenn at gmail.com
skype  gmcknight
twitter gmcknight
.

On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 7:00 AM, Sunil Abraham <sunil at cis-india.org> wrote:

> The Centre for Internet and Society
>
> Statement on Sexual Harassment at ICANN55
>
> The Centre for Internet and Society (“CIS”) strongly condemns the acts of
> sexual harassment that took place against one of our representatives, Ms.
> Padmini Baruah, during ICANN 55 in Marrakech. It is completely unacceptable
> that an event the scale of an ICANN meeting does not have in place a formal
> redressal system, a neutral point of contact or even a policy for
> complainants who have been put through the ordeal of sexual harassment.
> ICANN cannot claim to be inclusive or diverse if it does not formally
> recognise a specific procedure or recourse under such instances.
>
> Ms. Baruah is by no means the first young woman to be subject to such
> treatment at an ICANN event, but she is the first to raise a formal
> complaint. Following the incident, she was given no immediate remedy or
> formal recourse, and that has left her with no option but to make the
> incident publicly known in the interim. The ombudsman’s office has been in
> touch with her, but this administrative process is simply inadequate for
> rights-violations.
>
>
> Ms. Baruah has received support from various community, staff, and board
> members. While we are thankful for their support, we believe that this
> situation can be better dealt with through some positive measures. We ask
> that ICANN carry out the following steps in order to make its meetings a truly
> safe and inclusive space:
>
>
>    1.
>
>    Institute a formal redressal system and policy with regard to sexual
>    harassment within ICANN. The policy must be displayed on the ICANN website,
>    at the venue of meetings and made available in delegate kits.
>    2.
>
>    Institute an Anti Sexual Harassment Committee that is neutral and
>    approachable. Merely having an ombudsman who is a white male, however well
>    intentioned, is inadequate and completely unhelpful to the complainant. The
>    present situation is one where the ombudsman has no effective power and
>    only advises the board.
>    3.
>
>    Conduct periodic gender and sexual harassment training of the ICANN
>    board to help them better understand these issues.
>    4.
>
>    Conduct periodic gender and sexual harassment training for the
>    ombudsman even if he/she will not be the exclusive point of contact for
>    complainants as the ombudsman forms an important part of community and
>    participant engagement.
>    5.
>
>    Conduct periodic gender sensitisation for the ICANN community.
>
>
>
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