OMG!Con Policies

Quick Reference

Harassment Policy

Our goal at OMG!Con is to provide a safe, fun environment for all our attendees.  
To that end, there are some uncomfortable things that we need to discuss regarding harassment at OMG!Con.
The short version is that any kind of harassment, bullying, verbal or physical assault, stalking, etc. will not be tolerated.
For the more specific policies regarding harassment, please continue reading.

WHAT COUNTS AS HARASSMENT?
Harassment is generally defined as unwanted behavior that creates an intimidating, offensive, and/or hostile environment for the person being targeted. It can be physical or psychological. If someone tells you that your comments or behavior are unwelcome, you need to stop immediately. If that person tells you to leave them alone, you need to cease contact. It doesn't matter if you don't think your behavior was harassing; harassment is defined by the victim.
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Examples of harassment can include, but are not limited to:
- Making comments about a person's appearance, sexual and/or vulgar statements, offensive jokes, or anything disparaging a person's gender, race, religion, sexuality, identity, et cetera.
- Bullying and discrimination.
- Whistling, catcalling, and any kind of non-consensual flirting or sexual advances.
- Following someone or impeding their path.
- Attending a person's panels solely to heckle them.
- Photographing or recording someone without their permission (whether or not they are in cosplay).
- Exposing oneself or miming sexual acts.
- Bathroom policing (harassing someone because of the bathroom they feel most comfortable using).
- Touching someone without their permission.
- Repeated texting, phone calls, or emails, after being told to stop.
- Any persistent action that creates a hostile environment for the person or persons being targeted
- harassment is when a person is feeling harassed, period.

WHAT DO I DO IF I AM BEING HARASSED, OR IF I SEE SOMEONE BEING HARASSED?
OMG!Con has a dedicated public safety team, and we do our best to prevent these kinds of incidents, as well as address them swiftly if they do happen.

If you are being harassed by anyone (attendees, guests, vendors, volunteers, or even staff or convention center employees), or if you see someone being harassed, please find the nearest volunteer or staff member and report it as soon as possible.  They will get someone from our Public Safety team to assist.  We have male and female presenting members on our public safety team, so if you are not comfortable with talking to a specific public safety person we can provide someone else for you.

We take all reports of harassment seriously, regardless of who is involved, and no retaliation for filing a report will be tolerated. Our public safety team will quickly investigate the situation and then take action as appropriate.

CONSEQUENCES
Any violations of our harassment policy will result in immediate penalties depending on the severity of the action. Such penalties may include:

- Verbal warning. (For a minor offense. You will only be warned once.)
- Confiscation of your badge and ejection from the event, with no refund.
- Temporary or permanent banning from any and all future events put on by OMG!Con.
- Contacting law enforcement when appropriate.

IF YOU NEED HELP FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT
If you believe you are in immediate physical danger, call 911.  If you are calling from a cell phone, please tell the dispatcher you are in Owensboro Kentucky, so they can route the call quickly to the right emergency deparment.
If needed, the non-emergency number for the Owensboro Police Department is 270-687-8888.

THE FINE PRINT
Most of this policy is taken from the sample harassment policy at https://cosplayer-ssn.org/sample.php and are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.  Minor modifications have been made in order to fit with how OMG!Con is organized.