Consent Culture
One of the ethos of the Matrices and Vortices is that we take consent culture seriously and we commit to providing extensive education, tools and support.
► What is consent?
In the most simple and practical sense, consent means to consider that no matter how precious your offering is to you, and regardless of how nice your intentions are, to make sure that the recipient is willing and ready to receive your gift, even if it’s just a “flattering comment”. And the best way to ensure that is the case is to have a sober and clear “YES” indicated directly to you.
Sometimes we forget consent. It is important to acknowledge if we forgot and seek out consent after with whomever in an apologetic manner out of respect. For example: "Hey, I noticed you went a bit stiff when I hugged you back there. sorry, i should have asked if you wanted a hug first."
Consent is people deciding what is best for them, clearly and enthusiastically. Consent is a voluntary agreement to engage in an activity. It must be given by both people. Consent must be clearly expressed in words and behavior. No means No
► There is no consent if:
● A person is unconscious, asleep or impaired by drugs or alcohol;
● There is an abuse of power, trust, or authority, or if there are unequal power dynamics (your coach, employer, supervisor or teacher);
● A person being pressured, manipulated, threatened, intimidated or otherwise coerced into saying “yes”
●Consent is withdrawn or a person changes their mind at any time before or during a sexual activity. No means No!
► Why is important to report and how to encourage people to do it?
Like any other of the unacceptable and harmful behaviours that happen in our human societies, the best way to stop them is to denounce; to be vocal and promptly report this kind of abuse is the best way for the services in place to be effective and maintain the safety and security of D6 for everyone.
Education is one of the most effective prevention methods, it’s important to be equally vocal and constantly remind staff and attendants about our consent culture, reassuring confidentiality and respect, and openly informing who to report any consent violations.
► How and who to report?
Any and every D6 staff member must be open to receive reports, and be aware of how to proceed accordingly. We need to ensure confidentiality and respect in all cases.
All harm reduction, first aid and security staff can provide support and follow up to any report presented.
► How we’ll handle it?
I believe in addressing case by case, listening with care and respect reports presented and review with the person involved what will help them to feel more comfortable and safe for the rest of the festival. It will be important to keep record of all reports to protect ourselves as well. From there we can provide information, advocate for boundaries and help enforcing them; in more serious cases involve security to promptly remove offenders from the grounds, and/or fill an incident report if necessary.
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5 Steps of Building Consent Culture:
1 Practice the Art of Listening:
Be open to actively listen to others in a conversation. To listen, is to learn; capitalize on opportunities to educate yourself on issues that affect all types of people,
2 Educate Yourself:
Consent is an important and sometimes complicated topic, so read articles and gather resources.
3 Utilize Empathy:
Empathy is not trying to find the silver lining, it is certainly not saying “everything happens for a reason” and in these vulnerable situations it is not often comparing situations. 90% of empathy is listening and trying to put yourself in that situation - how would you feel?
4 Ask Questions:
If you are ever unsure of how you can positively contribute to building consent culture, or you are unsure of something regarding consent, ASK! While these conversations may seem awkward at first, they are necessary. The more we talk about consent, the easier it will be.
5 Use your Voice:
More conversations, questions, and desire to challenge patriarchal ideas will result in greater awareness and engagement levels. Use your voice to advocate and educate others, and if they hesitate to show their willingness to listen, carefully explain the severity of the issue and why they should care. Lastly, call out your friends. Not only are “rape jokes” not funny, but they are incredibly triggering.
If at any point harassment or assault occurs there is a team of onsite support:
There will be a team of Harm Reduction volunteers at the Sanctuary that understands the impacts of trauma
The team of Harm Reduction will work with security to respond to the needs of anyone that has been harassed/assaulted
Anything that is reported to us is at utmost held high in confidentiality and at safe from disclosure
Sourced and quoted from the educational links: