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(Accent on René Walling's name)
(Link to the BC Holmes linkspam)
 
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In 2012, a con-goer, Genevieve Valentine, at Readercon 23 reported an incident of harassment by another attendee, René Walling, to the Readercon committee.
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In July 2012, Genevieve Valentine, an attendee at imaginative literature conference [http://readercon.org/previous/r23-prog.htm Readercon 23] (July 12–15), reported an incident of harassment by another attendee, René Walling, to the Readercon 23 committee and the Readercon board.  (The committee is composed of the conference organisers; the board is the body that controlled the conference over multiple years.)
   
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On 27th July 2012, the Readercon board told Valentine that Walling would be issued with a two-year ban, in contravention of their own policy:
Their harassment policy is zero-tolerance. Except they issued the offender a two-year ban, in the hopes that he improves.
 
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: Harassment of ''any'' kind — including physical assault, battery, deliberate intimidation, stalking, or unwelcome physical attentions — will not be tolerated at Readercon and will result in permanent suspension of membership.<ref name=rc23pdf>[http://readercon.org/docs/RC23ProgramGuide.pdf RC23 Program Guide (PDF)]</ref>
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They initially refused to issue a public statement, but issued one later on the 27th<ref name=statement>[http://readercon.livejournal.com/21805.html Statement from the Readercon Board of Directors]</ref>.
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There was a very large amount of criticism of the board for contravening their own policy, even by people who felt that a zero tolerance/automatic lifetime ban policy was not ideal.
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On 5 August 2012, the board revised their decision to a lifetime ban of Walling, and all five members of the Readercon board announced their resignation<ref name=banresign>[http://readercon.org/publicstatement.htm Public Statement By the Readercon Convention Committee]</ref>.
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BC Holmes has [http://blog.bcholmes.org/the-readercon-thing/ a more complete list of links and commentary].
   
This is different from 2008, when a harasser was permabanned according to policy.
 
 
== Coverage/responses/etc ==
 
== Coverage/responses/etc ==
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*[http://glvalentine.livejournal.com/340623.html Genevieve Valentine's post describing Walling's harassment of her]
 
*[http://glvalentine.livejournal.com/340623.html Genevieve Valentine's post describing Walling's harassment of her]
 
*[http://glvalentine.livejournal.com/341417.html Genevieve Valentine's post criticising the Readercon response to her report]
 
*[http://glvalentine.livejournal.com/341417.html Genevieve Valentine's post criticising the Readercon response to her report]
*[http://readercon.livejournal.com/21805.html Statement from the Readercon Board]
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*[http://readercon.livejournal.com/21805.html Statement from the Readercon Board] on 27 July.
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*[http://readercon.org/publicstatement.htm Apology and further statement from the Readercon Board] on 5 August, announcing revision of Walling's penalty and resignations
 
*[http://glvalentine.livejournal.com/341417.html?thread=4786089#t4786089 Kate Kligman's report of harassment by Walling]
 
*[http://glvalentine.livejournal.com/341417.html?thread=4786089#t4786089 Kate Kligman's report of harassment by Walling]
 
*[http://blog.bcholmes.org/the-readercon-thing/ The Readercon Thing], by BC Holmes.
 
*[http://blog.bcholmes.org/the-readercon-thing/ The Readercon Thing], by BC Holmes.
 
*[http://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/1150398.html Link roundup] by coffeeandink
 
*[http://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/1150398.html Link roundup] by coffeeandink
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*[http://simpsonsparadox.com/2012/07/readercon-feelings.html Just a Compliment, Geez], Meg Stivison at Simpson's Paradox
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*[http://www.teamvalkyrieftw.com/2012/07/readercon/ Zero Tolerance, Unless Sowwies!] Team Valkyrie
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== References ==
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<references />
 
[[Category:Incidents]]
 
[[Category:Incidents]]
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[[Category:2012]]
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[[Category:Readercon]]

Latest revision as of 02:42, 21 July 2014

In July 2012, Genevieve Valentine, an attendee at imaginative literature conference Readercon 23 (July 12–15), reported an incident of harassment by another attendee, René Walling, to the Readercon 23 committee and the Readercon board.  (The committee is composed of the conference organisers; the board is the body that controlled the conference over multiple years.)

On 27th July 2012, the Readercon board told Valentine that Walling would be issued with a two-year ban, in contravention of their own policy:

Harassment of any kind — including physical assault, battery, deliberate intimidation, stalking, or unwelcome physical attentions — will not be tolerated at Readercon and will result in permanent suspension of membership.[1]

They initially refused to issue a public statement, but issued one later on the 27th[2].

There was a very large amount of criticism of the board for contravening their own policy, even by people who felt that a zero tolerance/automatic lifetime ban policy was not ideal.

On 5 August 2012, the board revised their decision to a lifetime ban of Walling, and all five members of the Readercon board announced their resignation[3].

BC Holmes has a more complete list of links and commentary.

Coverage/responses/etc

References