(Sorry for breaking thread; my Undigestify plugin tells me "no preamble
separator" which I shall have to investigate realsoonnow.)
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to address this important topic.
> It's also often the case that it
> takes just one or two toxic people to make groups toxic, and sometimes the
> only way to make a healthy group is to rout them out. Yes, you want to be
> inclusive, but that doesn't mean you should allow inappropriate behavior,
> because that ultimately kills a group. I've seen it happen too many times.
>
> My recommendation, based on my experience, is to confront the offenders and
> if necessary, give them the choice of behaving appropriately or leaving.
> Set and enforce boundaries; if they refuse, kick them out of the group.
> This is necessary if you want your meetings to be safe places for
> everyone, men and women.
>
> Christine
> User:Figureskatingfan
I concur. If you need a policy for a local chapter to grab and re-use,
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy may help. But
of course the actual event organizers have to *actually enforce that
policy*, which includes sometimes telling a longtime community member,
"that's not cool, and you're going to have to leave now." If you need
to practice that on someone, so that it feels more do-able at that ugly
moment when you have to do it for real, then maybe I can do a phone call
with you, or step aside for a rehearsal at Wikimania. :)
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Engineering Community Manager
Wikimedia Foundation