CAPA Code of Conduct:

CAPA Management and the CAPA Board of Directors is dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive conference experience for everyone regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, or religion (or lack thereof).

All participants (including organizers, attendees, presenters, sponsors, exhibitors and volunteers) at a CAPA Convention or Conference are required to agree to the following code of conduct. Reports of violation to this Code of Conduct should be addressed to CAPA’s Board President and/or Executive Director.

This code of conduct applies to all conference activities including talks, panels, workshops, and social events. It extends to conference-specific exchanges on social media, for instance, posts tagged with the identifier of the conference, replies to such posts, and replies to official social media accounts.

CAPA Management will enforce this code throughout and expect cooperation in ensuring a safe environment for all.

Expected Behavior:

All conference participants agree to:

• Be considerate in language and actions and respect the boundaries of fellow participants.
• Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and language. Please refer to unacceptable behavior for more details.
• Alert a member of the CAPA Staff if you notice someone in distress, or observe violations of this code of conduct, even if they seem inconsequential. Unacceptable Behavior

Behavior that is unacceptable (includes, but is not limited to):

• Stalking, e.g. persistent unwanted direct messages, sending unwanted pictures or malware links, logging online activity for harassment purposes.
• Deliberate intimidation.
• Sharing private conversations and discussions (e.g., screenshots of discussion channels, direct messages, etc), without consent.
• Sustained or willful disruption of talks or other conference activities, including online discussion.
• Use of sexual or discriminatory imagery, comments, or jokes.
• Offensive comments related to age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, race, religion, nationality, or native language.
• Inappropriate simulated physical contact, e.g. textual descriptions like “hug” or “backrub” or emoji representing such contact, used without consent.
• Unwelcome sexual attention, which can include inappropriate questions of a sexual nature, asking for sexual favors, or repeatedly asking for dates or contact information.
• The presence or usage of any type of illegal substances.

If you are asked to stop unacceptable behavior you should stop immediately, even if you believe your behavior was meant to be friendly or a joke.

Presentations should not contain offensive or sexualized material. If this material is impossible to avoid given the topic (for example text mining of material from hate sites), the existence of this material should be noted in the abstract and, in the case of oral contributions, at the start of the talk or session.

Sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, and social event contractors should not use sexualized images, activities, or other material. They should not use sexualized clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualized environment.

Responses to Code of Conduct Violations:

The CAPA Management and Board of Directors reserves the right to determine the appropriate response for all code of conduct violations. Potential responses include, but are not limited to:

• ban or mute from the conference or convention in order to stop the inappropriate behavior
• a formal warning to stop the harassing behavior
• expulsion from the conference or convention altogether
• removal of sponsor or exhibitors displays or conference presentations
• cancellation or early termination of talks or other contributions to the program
• cancellation of a speaker’s fee Refunds will not be given in case of expulsion.

Attendees who behave in an inappropriate manner are subject to actions listed, up to and including, removal from the conference or convention, ending CAPA membership or the cancellation of a speaker’s fee.

 

Contact us to report an incident

If, while at a CAPA event, you have been involved or have witnessed an incident that violates the Code of Conduct, please contact a person on the CAPA staff to let key CAPA management and the Board of Directors know immediately. Share as much information as you can to help us make a thorough investigation of the onsite incident.

CAPA's Commitment:

CAPA will investigate all incidents reported at an event with discretion and confidentiality. CAPA reserves the right to bar or remove any person who violates our Code of Conduct from attending a current or future CAPA Conference, Convention, or Meeting in its entirety or in part, and/or to cancel the membership or speaking fees of the person without refund.

Final Note

CAPA Management will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting targets of harassing behavior. We will not name victims without their affirmative consent. Correspondence is handled confidentially and deleted after the case is resolved. All data is stored securely, access will be limited to the CAPA Executive Director and those who have a need to know.

CAPA staff will also provide support to victims, including, but not limited to:

• Briefing key event staff to provide appropriate assistance
• Other assistance to ensure victims feel safe for the duration of the conference or convention

Assistance will only be provided with affirmative consent of the victim.