Stitch Kitchen is committed to providing a safe and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, ability, physical appearance, size, ethnicity, or religion. This applies to all meetings, events, demonstrations and online platforms hosted by the coalition.

We will not tolerate harassment at any event or on any platform hosted by Stitch Kitchen. We will endeavour to have organisers and volunteers available at all times to ensure our events are as safe and accessible as possible.

Being non-racist, non-sexist, non-homophobic etc is not enough. We believe we must be actively anti all forms of oppression.

While we cannot guarantee such an environment, we hope that this policy will help people to feel comfortable to approach us with any concerns and to understand what their role is in creating a safer space.

Contribute to making all events hosted by Stitch Kitchen enjoyable and inclusive. Look out for each other. Respect the physical, emotional, and mental boundaries and the safety of our fellow participants.

As participants at our events, we ask that you take responsibility for your behaviour and understand the ways in which it can affect others. We value freedom of expression, but not at the cost of alienating or harming others.

People who are unwilling to discuss and correct their harmful behaviour will be immediately excluded from the event with no exceptions.

We prioritise the needs and feelings of people who may belong to marginalized groups or who may have been harmed in the past, this means at times people may be excluded from spaces for past actions or harmful rhetoric, until a resolution can be reached. An example of this is that someone who is known to have expressed racist views may be excluded until they take steps to correct the harm

• Making racist, sexist, classist, transphobic, homophobic, ableist, ageist or body-shaming comments of any kind catcalling or sexual harassment

• Failure to respect the physical and/or emotional safety of others

• Failure to read body language and consequently invading the personal space of others cultural appropriation

• Being too drunk / high to monitor your behaviour and its impact on others

• Generally disrespecting other attendees rights to participate and have a safe and enjoyable time at our events.

Whether or not it directly affects you, we encourage participants to engage with people behaving in an inappropriate way if this can be done safely. If you do feel comfortable speaking up when someone is inappropriate, we ask that you refrain from confrontational behaviour that may spark aggression. It is more effective to quietly talk to the person and point out that they are making someone uncomfortable, rather than publicly humiliating them or using physical force.

Sometimes it could be as simple as saying: ‘I think women are just as able to fix a bike as men are’ or ‘that sounded a bit racist, can you explain what you meant?’ If a person is invading others personal space and failing to read body language, you could say “I don’t think they’re cool with that, would you mind giving them some space?”

A team of volunteers will be visible and available throughout all Stitch Kitchen events to talk to participants about any problematic behaviour or situation and to offer support.

Phone numbers of the Core Team members are displayed next to the front desk of the studio should you need to contact them by phone.

Stitch Kitchen reserve the right to ask participants who have made others feel uncomfortable, threatened, or unsafe to change or address their behaviour or language. If the person is unwilling or unable to do so they will be asked to leave any event or platform we are hosting.

Drugs and alcohol: Individuals will not consume alcohol, recreational or illegal drugs on our premises or at events.

Physical presentation: We ask that people present themselves in a way that is not deliberately intimidating.

Violence: No form of physical and verbal violence to persons / animals / the environment will be tolerated.

Weapons: No weapon or object that is intended to be used as a weapon may be brought to our studio or events. (with the exception of items which have cultural, religious or symbolic significance eg. Taiaha)

Please be aware of power at all times.

Abusive situations are often created when people are unaware of the power they have in a relationship or situation.

Gender, sexuality, size, physical impairment, ethnicity, age, class, education, mental health, who you know and how well you know them can all affect how much power a person has in any situation.

Don’t assume everyone feels as comfortable as you do, or is completely able to inform you if you are saying and doing hurtful things.