Hackspace Marburg in English

The users of the [hsmr] have set it as the goal for themselves to create a comfortable atmosphere for as many different people as possible. Doing that, they acknowledge the inherent structural discriminations of various types that are present in today's society, especially in hacking and tech culture. They acknowledge that it is of benefit for the space to be open to a wide variety of individuals.

To reach the stated goal the users of the [hsmr] declare the following:

• that they have made and will make a conscious effort to concern themselves with the topic of discrimination. It involves among others:
  • gender, as well as gender identity and its expression and the stereotypes resulting of socialization
  • physical appearance
    • body size
    • skin color
  • age
  • heritage and cultural background
  • sexual orientation
  • disabilities and mental illnesses
  • religion
  • formal education
  • lack of knowledge, both actual and alleged
• that they will avoid discriminatory actions
• and that they will highlight any occurrences of these as well as encourage others to refrain from them, all the while recognizing the possible difficulties sufferers of discrimination may face speaking out about problems.

As the [hsmr] is among others a space for meeting and exchange, its users should keep in mind that they

• do not reject other opinions on principle,
• adequately convey the degree of certainty behind their statement,
• forego dominant and elitist behavior,
• encourage others to ask questions,
• encourage others to ask if explanations were comprehensible,
• accept lack of knowledge and will not patronize individuals because of it.

Furthermore the users of the [hsmr] will consider the following regarding personal boundaries, criticism and feedback:

• Discomfort, needs, praise and solution proposals are allowed and should be communicated about.
  • Brought up Issues are not to simply be dropped.
  • An open, impartial discussion should occur.
  • Praise and criticism should be self-centered ("I think", "I fell like", "I observe") as well as constructive and appreciative. The users of the [hsmr] are working towards supporting each other. They have the goal to be aware of the fact that nobody actively wishes harm upon one another.

Beyond that, they do not accept boundary-breaking, harassing or encroaching behaviors. These manifest especially in passing over opinions, knowledge and disabilities. These and other forms include the following:

• Acts and statements reproducing or confirming structures of social dominance,
• deliberately insulting, intimidating or condescending acts,
• stalking,
• presentation of pornographic or sexual content without explicit consent of the present users,
• non-consenting production of records (audio and video),
• threats,
• coercion,
• interrupting one another,
• inappropriate contact,
• unwanted sexual advances of any kind
• deliberate usage of wrong pronouns ("misgendering")

Contact persons are available for affected individuals. These are to be chosen by the plenum. Additionally, a contact form is available which can be used with a pseudonym. It will be forwarded to the contact persons.

It will be pointed out to individuals should they not adhere to the stated agreements. If repeated violations should occur, the protection of the victim will be of priority. The users of the [hsmr] acknowledge that conflicts are influenced by different power structures and privileges and that rarely can be separated into a clear "good" and "bad" party.

The effectiveness of this Code of Conduct should be reviewed in periodically occurring future workshops.

Correct as of 2017-02-13