Workplace harassment and violence prevention policy

1. Because Work Safe Twerk Safe (hereinafter WSTS) is a group made up of and serving current and former strippers, and because WSTS focuses on strippers’ safety, dignity, and rights, on the basis that exotic dancing is real work, no discrimination or stigma against strippers will be tolerated. 
2. Furthermore, because WSTS works in solidarity and recognition that some dancers work or have worked in other sex industry jobs, and to that end, liaises with and supports the advocacy efforts of workers in other sectors of the sex industry, no discrimination or stigma against any kind of sex workers will be tolerated.
3. In this policy, which pertains to meeting participants, volunteers, and officers of the organization, as well as any future employees, discrimination and stigma against strippers and sex workers is defined as:
   1. Verbal or written comments or ‘jokes’ that belittle, degrade, stereotype, or invoke violence against (e.g., dead hooker jokes) strippers or sex workers;
   2. Comments, verbal or written, suggesting that sex work is not real or serious or difficult work;
   3. Comments, verbal or written, directly or indirectly suggesting that strippers or sex workers are immoral, dirty, or addicted;
   4. Comments, verbal or written, directly or indirectly suggesting that sex work is by default inherently dangerous, violent or harmful to sex workers, or that conflates consensual sex work with human trafficking.
4. Other forms of workplace violence and harassment that are not allowed and will not be tolerated:
   1. Other forms of discrimination including racism, sexism, ableism, etc.;
   2. Egregious rudeness;
   3. Hate speech;
   4. Sexual harassment, including uninvited and/or unwelcome come-ons or comments about people’s bodies;
   5. Comments, verbal or written, that may directly or indirectly contribute to the “outing” of WSTS programming/event participants or Organizing Team members. Sex workers have varying degrees of privacy/confidentiality concerns and WSTS respects these boundaries, no questions asked. For example, it is not appropriate to ask questions like: “what is your real name?”
   6. Physical violence.
5. Reporting: if you experience or observe any of this behaviour, please report it to an organizing team member as soon as possible, and the organizing team will follow up.
6. Remedy/response: In the case that someone is found to have contravened this policy, they will be notified by a member of the organizing team of their inappropriate behaviour, and may be subject to the following actions: 
   1. Ejection from an event (this will be immediate, and includes online and in-person events, inclusive of meetings); 
   2. Banishment from the organization (inclusive of future events and meetings, and the mailing list); 
   3. A mediation meeting involving the person who offended, at least one member of the organizing team (or another organizational representative selected by the organizing team), and (if relevant and necessary) the person who brought the complaint.

Volunteer governance policy

1. Volunteers are defined as: anyone who has entered into an agreement with the Organizing Team to be a volunteer for WSTS, on an occasional/as-needed, event-specific (e.g., giving a workshop about legal information), or indeterminate (i.e., unspecified duration) basis to do unpaid work for the organization;
   1. This unpaid work may include, but is not limited to: helping with an event, creating a resource, or doing a student placement with WSTS.
2. All volunteers are subject to the Workplace harassment and violence prevention policy.
3. All volunteers must be vetted by the Organizing Team, and those without stripping or other sex work experience may be subject to more extensive vetting.
4. All volunteers must agree to protect the confidentiality or WSTS members and event/programming participants, including by not publicly sharing, verbally (including talking to friends) or in writing (including on email or social media), the names (real or stage) or identities of WSTS members and participants.
5. To ensure confidentiality, volunteers are required to consult with an Organizing Team member before beginning any publicity or event reporting/recording efforts on behalf of the organization.
6. Even after consulting with an Organizing Team member, is not appropriate to take pictures or video recording without:
   1. Informing people of the purpose, including why are pictures taken and where will the pictures be posted? 
   2. Informing people they have the option to participate in the picture on the condition that their face is obscured for privacy. The volunteer is then required to document and follow any such request.
7. Volunteers working on any kind of research project for WSTS are to be knowledgeable about community organizing and/or research practices, and to follow ethical and confidentiality guidelines accordingly.
8. Volunteers – as relevant, but usually those contracted for a research project or as students in any capacity – working on any kind of research project for WSTS must surrender all of their data and work to an Organizing Team member at the end of their position or work term.

NGO Governance Policies

Available on email request. Please contact us at worksafetwerksafe@gmail.com