Our Policy in Brief
This policy applies to all attendees of Anarchist Federation hosted events, meetings, online spaces (forums, blogs and social networking pages of AF groups), publications or communications as well as at all times between members (both online and in person). All members of the federation will aspire to act in accordance with this policy in their relations with others (both members and non-members) and are expected to abide by and be held accountable to this as members of the federation.

If you feel unsafe in an AF space due to somebody else’s behaviour, then please contact any member of the AF, or our Membership Secretary on membership@afed.org.uk. They will then use this document to guide us on the appropriate actions to take. If you wish, your complaint will be kept confidential and your identity secret as much as we are able to do so.

If you have been subjected to violence, sexual assault or sexual harassment, the perpetrator will be asked not to use AF spaces while the process is ongoing. If they are a member of the AF, their membership will be suspended until the matter is resolved. The process will be survivor-led, you will be able to choose a mediator and you will not be expected to see or speak with your attacker if you do not wish to do so.

For complaints that do not involve violence, we encourage both/all parties to engage with our Conflict Resolution procedure, and will provide mediation if required. See our Conflict Resolution and Survivor-led procedures for details of how these processes work.

We define the following as abusive behaviours which are not tolerated:

Physical abuse
1. Violence and threat of violence (unless in self defence)
2. Use of force and threat of force (unless minimal to protect people or a space being used collectively)
3. Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment

Non-Physical abuse
1. Verbal abuse (insults or aggression towards an individual)
2. Oppressive language (insults or generalisations about a marginalised group of people)
3. Emotional and psychological abuse (bullying, isolating and ‘gaslighting’)
4. Harassment (behaviour made abusive by being repeated, persistent & unwelcome)
5. Written abuse (any of the above in written form)

Our Members Handbook (pdf) contains our policy in full. This includes an expended outline of our political reasoning behind this policy and a detailed look at how members will take action when concerns are raised.