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

[Remmy Nweke]

Good one Similar +1
On Mar 21, 2016 12:01, "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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>
>
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