Access and Safer Spaces
This page includes our accessibility and safer spaces statements. It also has some information about childcare over Camp Betty. Check out the menu to the right ------------------------------------------>
Accessibility Statement
Our aim is for Camp Betty to be as accessible as possible - financially, physically and socially.
At Camp Betty no one will be turned away for financial reasons. Camp Betty workshops are free and our other events have charges that are kept as low as possible. Where we advertise a charge, the money is being used to cover costs, including paying artists for their work. If you cannot afford the charge, please pay what you can. No questions asked.
Camp Betty spaces have varying physical access restrictions. While we have attempted to find fully accessible spaces, this has not always been possible. Physical descriptions of all spaces we are using will be posted on the Locations page in the coming weeks. If you're differently-abled and have any questions about spaces or require assistance to be able to participate in Camp Betty, please contact us. We will make every effort to accommodate your needs.
Toilets in all Camp Betty spaces will be gender neutral.
Social accessibility is also a goal of Camp Betty. We will not tolerate sexism, racism, homophobia or transphobia.
Our Safer Spaces policy (below) provides more detail on our aim of creating as safe a space as possible.
Safe(r) Spaces Policy
[The Safer Spaces Statement has been heavily adapted from the statements written by the Live & Let DIY Collective (http://www.liveandletdiyfest.org/) & the A Space Outside collective (http://www.aspaceoutside.org/). Thanks!]
The Camp Betty Safer Spaces Statement is about taking a positive, proactive, preventative step towards making spaces safer in our community. We use the word ‘safer’ to acknowledge that no space can be entirely safe for everyone, and not everyone experiences spaces in the same way as others.
We want the Camp Betty weekend to be a space which is welcoming, engaging and supportive, and where people take care of one another. We want people to feel that they can let their hair down and be themselves, knowing that they will be supported. We are asking people to be proactive in creating a safer space. We won’t be micro-monitoring people’s behaviour at Camp Betty, but we expect that everyone coming to the weekend events will respect our safer spaces statement and take responsibility for their behaviour at all times. We also just want everyone to help make the weekend a comfortable, safer space for everyone attending.
Camp Betty is a collective project and everyone participating in the weekend is responsible for making the spaces and the experiences what we want them to be. So creating a safer space is not just about following rules or guidelines imposed by the collective, but all working together.
Examining our own subtle and not-so-subtle prejudices
If we profess to be concerned about issues such as race, gender and sexuality, we need to live our lives in way that proactively seeks to subvert prejudice, to undermine the very
possibility that someone will feel discriminated against. This means treating people equally and expecting that everyone has something amazing to contribute. It means not being tokenistic.
It means not acting awkward around people because you don’t know what to say because they are queer or have dark skin. Camp Betty aims to explore and acknowledge the subtle (and not so subtle) forms of prejudice within our own spaces and to tackle them head on.
We may like to think of the Camp Betty space as an ‘alternative’ space where people reject the prejudices of ‘mainstream’ Australian values. However activist communities often carry the same prejudices as the so-called mainstream and we all need to address this. We are part of this broader society. Our goals should include engaging with others outside of a “radical clique” and relating to all sorts of people in honest, radical, and non-discriminatory ways.
People attending Camp Betty are asked to be aware of their language and behaviour, and to think about whether it might be offensive to others. This is no space for violence, for sexual assault, for touching people without their consent, for being intolerant of someone’s religious beliefs or lack thereof, for being creepy, sleazy, racist, ageist, sexist, heterosexist, transphobic, ablebodiest, classist, sizist, or any other behaviour or language that may perpetuate oppression. Please also consider whether drugs/alcohol/etc could blur your ability to gauge how your behaviour is affecting others.
What we need to do to create a safer space at Camp Betty:
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Respect people’s physical and emotional boundaries;
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Always get explicit verbal consent before touching someone or crossing personal boundaries;
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Respect peoples opinions, beliefs, differing states of being and differing points of view;
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Be responsible for your own action. Be aware that your actions do have an effect on others;
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Take responsibility for your own safety and get help if you need it;
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Look out for kids at all times and try not to leave anything around that would endanger kids;
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Everyone is responsible to take part in maintaining the space. Leave your workspace / social space cleaner than you found it;
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Certain spaces over the weekend may be drug, alcohol, and/or smoke free. Keep a look out for signs indicating as such;
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Dogs and other animals should be kept outdoors (not including animals assisting mobility and access to spaces).
Any individual or group engaging in non-consensual violence (including sexual violence and harassment) within the convergence community will be required to participate in a process of community response. If participation in this process is refused, the individual or group will be made to leave Camp Betty. Individuals and groups will be required to respect the decisions made through this community response and may be required to leave the weekend.
Police are not welcome at the Camp Betty weekend. Media are not welcome without the prior agreement of the organising collective.
Working preventatively
We want to work preventatively in terms of safer spaces. Camp Betty will have a chill-out space, we will offer safer accommodation arrangements to those who need it, and we will provide the space to open up discussion on safer spaces during the festival. So far, we plan to hold a workshop on community responses to sexual assault, and we hope that closer to Camp Betty there will be other workshops which address these issues. Our workshop timetable will have open spaces to give people the opportunity to run additional workshops on issues relating to safer spaces which may arise over the weekend.
Chill out space
Our chill-out space will be available at all times at the Irene Warehouse info-shop area at the Irene Community Arts Warehouse. We recognise that people can experience a whole range of feelings throughout an event like Camp Betty. We recognise that it can be overwhelming, upsetting and exhausting to visit a new city and be out of your comfort zone, or to not have a space to call your own. It can also be overwhelming to see many old and new friends and lovers in one place, or to be somewhere you hardly know anyone very well. When you're out of your "comfort zone" and/or not in your "hometown", it is important that you have a space to go when you freak out, feel anxious, feel vulnerable, feel sleep-deprived, feel the need to avoid conversation for awhile, or just need to collect your thoughts. For all these reasons and more, we will provide you with a chill-out space. It will be a quiet space, where you can hang out, drink tea, sleep, and read a book or zine.
Safer accommodation arrangements
We recognise that many unwanted and non-consensual sexual encounters occur when people don't have a place to stay and/or end up sharing sleeping space with someone out of necessity, desperation, or blurred judgement. We understand that when people are in a precarious or vulnerable situation where they don't have a place to stay, it is easy to take whatever accommodation/shared bed is offered. Therefore, we would like to offer safe(r) accommodation to anyone who needs it during Camp Betty. During the weekend, please speak to someone at the info-table (at the entrance to the venue) for assistance with this or call the Camp Betty mobile on 0434 867 228.
We want everyone who attends Camp Betty to be aware of the idea of safer spaces. This statement will be on the website, in the program, displayed around the venue, on flyers, and hopefully it will come up in discussions. We will also send this statement to everyone who has contacted us about putting on a workshop.
We hope that the very existence of this information will be:
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a visible/constant reminder of everyone's need to take responsibility for their own behaviour;
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that it will keep it fresh in everyone's heads;
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a reminder that words, body language, actions and behaviour affect other people and make them feel certain ways - a reminder to be aware of other people's personal boundaries;
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that it will work preventatively.
We hope that you keep the idea of "Safer Spaces" in mind while at all Camp Betty events. Please continue to keep the statement in mind while you are away from the Camp Betty venues (eg. at the house you are staying at, and at the other places where you are hanging out.)
Need some assistance?
If you experience or witness any behaviour that crosses your boundaries or makes you feel uncomfortable, please speak to someone at the info-table at the Irene Warehouse or call the Camp Betty mobile on 0434 867 228. If the matter requires a sensitive listener to help you deal with a situation that was somehow traumatic, people are around who can play the role of helping you to debrief.
Conflict Resolution
It is inevitable that there will be conflict in the time that we are occupying the site. This can be an incredibly valuable thing if it is managed in a constructive manner. We have designed a basic process for dealing with conflict, based around the principle that a resolution deemed positive to all parties involved should always be sought first. Any conflict arising in the space that at least one party feels cannot be resolved without some help, should seek the assistance of one of the members of the Grievance Sub-Collective. The collective is currently made up of Melbourne based people but we are planning on expanding the sub-collective to include people from interstate. So far, the Grievance Sub-Collective is Tanya, Ane and Dale. Ideally, with the help of this collective, the conflict will be resolved. However, if this fails, then as a last resort, the conflict will be taken to the entire collective to make a final decision on what action needs to be taken.
If you want to contact someone from the Grievance Sub-Collective, please call the Camp Betty mobile: 0434 867 228
More information
It is impossible to be exact and explicit about what is or is not acceptable behaviour, and thus safer spaces statements can often be quite vague in parts. If you require further information, please feel free to approach the info-shop or email us. Before Camp Betty, you can email us at campbetty@gmail.com. During the festival, you can approach the Irene Warehouse info-shop and ask to speak to one of the organising collective. Our mobile number is 0434 867 228.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Grievance Policy
Priority/Philosophy/Principle
The priority of this policy is to make Camp Betty as safe and beneficial experience for all participants as possible. In relation to grievance and conflict resolution specifically, our aim is to enact a process that is defined and controlled by the wishes and needs of the parties involved. Our aim will be to resolve the process in a way that allows for everyone to feel safe and able to participate in Camp Betty. Having said this in any situation of violence/threat/harassment/abuse, sexual, physical or otherwise, our primary responsibility is to the victim/survivor, and to their needs and desires.
We also recognise that conflicts, violence, and other incidents can have impacts beyond the parties immediately involved, and affect the space more generally. As such we think it is important to have an open and transparent process, and one that is broadly accountable to all participants at Camp Betty.
Standards of Behaviour
As participants in the temporary community of Camp Betty, we all have a right to expect a basic standard of behaviour from each other. This standard of behaviour is addressed in detail in the Safer Spaces policy. In particular, we all deserve to expect others to act towards us in a respectful, non-threatening way. Any harassment, non-consensual violence, abuse, disrespect is completely unacceptable, and it is our responsibility as a community to respond to and address this behaviour. If anyone feels they have been treated in a way that doesn’t meet this standard of expected behaviour they can expect the full support of the grievance collective, and the wider Camp Betty community in responding to the situation in whatever way they prefer.
The Collective
The first point of contact for any conflict or grievance issues is the grievance collective. The collective is made up of Ane (Camp Betty), Dale (Camp Betty), Tanya (Camp Betty), someone from world without, someone from thunda, and someone from Brisbane. Grievance collective members will be identifiable by coloured armbands. Grievance collective members should feel free to take these armbands off at any point that they wish to have ‘time out’ from dealing with grievance issues. This time out should be respected by camp betty participants. The collective will communicate with each other to ensure that there is always a reasonable number of people ‘on duty’ at any one time.
Processes
Every situation obviously needs to be dealt with individually and in a way that reflects the needs and wishes of the parties involved, and the wider Camp Betty community.
We also need to recognise that Camp Betty is a temporary space consisting of people from various locations, and as such, cannot offer ongoing support/mediation in response to any situation. The first priority will be to attempt to resolve the situation in a way that ensures safety and comfort for the duration of the weekend. For situations that are seen to require more ongoing support/mediation, the grievance collective will attempt to refer people to time/location appropriate collectives or groups.
Resolution – Processes
Having said that solutions need to be dealt with individually, we are also aware that people have a right to know what they can possibly expect if a matter is taken to the grievance collective. Therefore, we’re outlining a list of ‘standard’ responses that will at least be considered in most situations.
Obviously, none of these processes can be made mandatory, and rely upon the agreement of the parties involved to participate. However, we also believe that a decision to participate in Camp Betty entails a commitment to the safety and well-being of others. As such, anyone who is seen to have acted in a violent, disrespectful, threatening or otherwise harmful manner to others, and who refuses to participate in a mediation or other grievance procedure will be asked to leave Camp Betty.
At any point in a mediation/conflict resolution process, any party should feel free to have friends/support people with them during discussions, or to ask a friend/support person to speak/participate on their behalf.
The grievance collective will commit to informing anyone who is the subject of or party to a grievance as soon as is practically possible. All parties will be informed of the nature and content of the grievance, and any requested actions. All parties will be given time and space to formulate a response. If necessary, the grievance collective will ask the parties to abide by any interim measures deemed necessary.
Mediation - Individual
We encourage anyone with a grievance/conflict issue to, in the first instance, approach a member of the grievance collective. The grievance collective member will then contact another collective member and the two of them will speak with each of the parties involved and try to come up with a resolution that all parties are happy with.
We are aiming to have 2 collective members address each situation simply to be aware of the safety and well-being of the collective members themselves. This is to prevent them from feeling isolated or under undue amounts of stress.
We recognise that there are issues that will not be able to be, or should not be, resolved in this way, and may require a more formal process, or one that requires more people. Therefore, if any party or the grievance collective members involved, feel that this is the case, the grievance collective members will seek other ways of resolving the issue.
Collective Meeting
The next step would be for the entire collective to discuss the issue and attempt to work towards a resolution. As the collective feels appropriate they will arrange to discuss the issue amongst themselves and with the parties involved, to work towards some kind of resolution.
All parties and collective members involved in these meetings are expected to treat them as confidential. All attempts will be made to have the meetings be unobtrusive. In the interests of privacy, they won’t occur at a Camp Betty venue, but in another suitable location.
The entire space
As Camp Betty is an event based on radical politics, and diy and community philosiphies we recognise that we all have responsibilities to each other, and to the project that is Camp Betty. As such, there may be incidents that require the participation of a larger section of Camp Betty, or the space as a whole to deal with. Any serious grievance matters will take priority on the agenda of the weekend. As people’s safety is the highest priority, we understand that the running of the weekend may be interrupted to deal with a an issue of conflict, violence or safety. It will be up to the grievance collective, in discussion with the parties involved to decide if a situation, or the resolution/decisions of a situation need to be made public or discussed, enacted by the group as a whole.
Resolution – Outcomes
The following is a list of outcomes that may be suggested/enacted during a resolution process. They are not exhaustive, or meant to preclude other possibilities, but rather a list of possibilities/suggestions.
• Mediation/Apology: Many situations can be redressed through a simple verbal mediation, and an apology, or even a clarification, by one or other of the participants.
• Changing Behaviour: The collective may ask someone to be mindful of their behaviour, or change the ways in which they are interacting in a space, or within particular spaces such as workshops or small group discussions. For instance, someone may be asked to attempt to be less dominating, or to stop speaking over or silencing other people’s contributions.
• Avoidance: The parties involved in a specific incident, or someone who has been subjected to harassing/threatening or otherwise harmful behaviour may wish to simply agree to avoid each other for the remainder of the weekend. This may include asking one party to not attend small spaces/discussions (eg workshops) that the other party is participating in, as well as giving that person space at larger areas and events.
• Specific Exclusions: There may be specific concerns with an individual’s behaviour in a specific setting, environment or event. For example, if there is particular concerns related to someone’s behaviour in situations involving drugs and alcohol there is the option of asking them to not partake in these substances at Camp Betty, or in asking them to not attend a particular event such as the party.
• General Exclusion: We recognise that there are situations in which no other resolution is possible, other than asking someone to not attend or leave Camp Betty. The grievance collective, and other participants should recognise that this is a serious action and one that will only be taken if there is no other possible appropriate solution. Once this decision is made, it is asked that all participants respect it. In particular, this solution may be appropriate in instances involving violence, and threats to the safety of individuals, or groups. Or, alternatively, in situations where people have refused to attempt to resolve, or to address concerns about their behaviour.
Childcare
We're currently collecting names and details for those who want to come to Camp Betty and require childcare.
Please email us your details ASAP if you require or think you will require childcare. More details will come soon.