I think we may be talking about different things. A simple CoC is fine: "act civility and decently or there will be consequences" is what any decent CoC should boil down to. It's sad that any project feels that it needs such a thing, but if the project has an incident with a toxic member, it's understandable that they would feel the need for one.
A "diversity initiative" is something else altogether, attempting to do some kind of social politics rather than focus on the work. Pushing to recruit people of certain genders or ethnicities is an example here. IMO, there should be no such thing: members should be welcomed no matter their background or physical features, as long as they can follow the simple CoC (i.e., act civility and don't harass, abuse, etc.).
>Sure - but the point is that at the very least, we acknowledged this as an issue (and continue to do so every AGM) and kept an eye out for more accessible locations
I see no problem here. You have to be realistic though, but it doesn't hurt to keep your eyes open to other possibilities.
>That's a wonderful way to receive more harassment from a wider group, unfortunately. The only reason people get away with this crap is that when anybody tries to do something about it, they have enough political capital that they can have it waved away as someone wanting to hurt them.
Hmm.. definitely a tricky problem, and an indication of a toxic culture in some places. Maybe whatever organization that person is from should be disinvited from future conferences if they apparently condone such behavior? Otherwise, your organization could refuse to attend, citing such behavior. It does seem that some people (particularly those in leadership positions) need to take a stand here. Unfortunately, it does seem that usually, positive social change only comes about because of sacrifices made by some brave individuals.
A "diversity initiative" is something else altogether, attempting to do some kind of social politics rather than focus on the work. Pushing to recruit people of certain genders or ethnicities is an example here. IMO, there should be no such thing: members should be welcomed no matter their background or physical features, as long as they can follow the simple CoC (i.e., act civility and don't harass, abuse, etc.).
>Sure - but the point is that at the very least, we acknowledged this as an issue (and continue to do so every AGM) and kept an eye out for more accessible locations
I see no problem here. You have to be realistic though, but it doesn't hurt to keep your eyes open to other possibilities.
>That's a wonderful way to receive more harassment from a wider group, unfortunately. The only reason people get away with this crap is that when anybody tries to do something about it, they have enough political capital that they can have it waved away as someone wanting to hurt them.
Hmm.. definitely a tricky problem, and an indication of a toxic culture in some places. Maybe whatever organization that person is from should be disinvited from future conferences if they apparently condone such behavior? Otherwise, your organization could refuse to attend, citing such behavior. It does seem that some people (particularly those in leadership positions) need to take a stand here. Unfortunately, it does seem that usually, positive social change only comes about because of sacrifices made by some brave individuals.