CODE OF CONDUCT

KY is an amazing community full of people with a great variety of different backgrounds. Our biggest asset is these people, as KY’s operations are based on our members working seamlessly together. To succeed in the work we do, whether it is in the voluntary network or at an event in our premises, our members must understand the type of behaviour that is expected from them and the set of rules that must be obeyed in everyday KY life.

KY’s Code of Conduct helps us to display the set of standards that the KY community has agreed to adhere to live up to our values. Its purpose is to summarise the principles and policies we want to follow and to set out guidelines for the kind of behaviour that we expect of each other. This Code of Conduct applies to all KY members, KY employees, attendees at KY events, partners of KY and all people who hold a position of trust at KY or in an association operating under KY. These principles should be followed in all kinds of interactions between members of the community, whether they were carried out live or remotely, since above all we want you all to feel safe no matter what. Read more at ky.fi/code-of-conduct.

Here are some tips on how to conduct yourself at our events to ensure a good and safe experience for everyone:

• Make yourself visible when approaching someone new. You don’t need to take anyone by surprise.

• Ask for consent. May I join you? May I get you a drink? May I hug you?

• Avoid following or staring at someone forever as it may make them uncomfortable.

• Give people their own personal space.

• Avoid filming people without their permission.

• Don’t flirt with someone who needs care. Helping someone who is having a difficult time is not an open door to flirt with them and if someone is having a hard time communicating or can’t take care of themselves, they can’t consent to sexual interactions.

If you spot a situation that seems to go against our Code of Conduct or where intervention could be needed, here are some ways you as a bystander can help:

• Delegate the situation to a bouncer or the event organiser or have them assist you in breaking up the situation.

• Directly confront the situation if you feel safe to do so. Ask if everything is okay or if help is needed and help the person getting harrassed exit the situation.

• Create a distraction by, for example, pretending you’re a friend of the person getting harrassed and create an opportunity for them to leave the scene.

• Document the situation, since filming or writing down what’s happening can be useful later on.

• If none of these help, wait the situation out and check on the person when the situation itself has passed.