How to prevent and deal with offensive behaviour
What is offensive behaviour and who defines it?
Offensive behaviour is understood as bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, violence, threats of violence, discrimination or other forms of unwanted behaviour.
The behaviour may be rude, offensive, condescending and/or transgressive to the person(s) concerned, either in speech or action.
However, it may also be inappropriate comments, e.g. about skin colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender (including in relation to pregnancy or childbirth), sexual orientation, marital status, family status, age, mental or physical disability.
Displaying discriminatory or offensive images, posters, emails or screensavers is also not in accordance with IDA's guidelines for good conduct.
Principles for IDA activities (Approved by the executive committee on 3 December 2019 (in Danish)
Danish legislation states that it is the person who feels offended who has the right to define whether or not it is perceived as offensive.
It is irrelevant whether the actions are an expression of thoughtlessness or a deliberate desire to offend. It is the person's experience of the offensive actions that is central.
How you can take action:
How people feel about taking action varies from person to person, and there are also different steps you can take. Here are just a few suggestions for inspiration:
- The first step is to remind participants to maintain a respectful tone regardless of disagreements.
- The next step is to ask the person to stop the comments or remove, for example, a background image on the screen that is offensive.
- If asking the person to stop the behaviour or comments does not help, then as the person in charge, you have the right to ask the participant to leave the event.
If it is a live event, take a break and pull the person aside and tell them to stop their behaviour or they will have to leave.
If it continues, take another break and ask the person to leave the room/event.
If it is a virtual meeting, you can send a private message to the person asking them to stop the behaviour, and if they do not comply, the host/moderator or host can lock them out.
Your responsibility as host:
It can be difficult to determine when something is unacceptable, but imagine that it happens in your own living room in front of some friends you have invited over. If you do this exercise, it is usually not so difficult to determine the line between slightly awkward, inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour.
You are the host and you are responsible for ensuring that everyone feels comfortable and that no one is offended or feels violated by the content or behaviour of other participants.
Where to get help
If you think the behaviour is such that IDA should do more, you can contact the IDA person in charge of the event or go straight to IDA's whistleblower scheme or Sanctions Committee.
All parties will be heard about their version of the incident, and all inquiries will be taken seriously.
Discretion will be exercised both towards the person who feels offended and the person accused of offending.