An important announcement about policy change within the group
Marylandstuck has grown a very large amount in the past year, and that allows us to have a plethora of events all over the state for Old Line Homestucks! Unfortunately that makes organizing a lot more complicated, and can lead to people experiencing harassment or uncomfortable and upsetting situations from relative strangers.
In the past, we have had no official policy on how to report complaints. In the wake of an incident experienced by a sister group that we may share some members with, we have decided a more transparent policy and clear form is necessary, both to protect you and ourselves. Due to the large number of minors who are a part of Marylandstuck, we must be very careful and seriously deal with any members who harass, threaten, or could pose a threat to underaged members. We do not want to be in the unpleasant situation of a member being harmed physically, emotionally, or sexually, and we cannot allow ourselves to be made liable for harm done to a member at MDstuck events. We want to stop and investigate possible threats before they cause harm or serious problems, possibly affecting multiple events, members, and affiliated groups.
The general form used to report an incident, complaint, or concern follows this guideline:
We request that you first list your name if contacting us on the tumblr, as contacting on Facebook will give us your name automatically. If you have a reason for the anonymity and feel safe sharing this reason, please do, but you are not obligated. The admins of Marylandstuck reserve the right to request further communication with you under an an identifiable name pending further investigation.
Next, list the date, location, and rough time of incident. One can also simply report it happened at an event, but we may follow up on you to get a more specific location, time, or date if it is an event spanning multiple days.
List who was involved. The perpetrator of harassment, threat, or assault must be named. The victims names may be omitted, particularly those underaged, but the admins of Marylandstuck reserve the right to request identifiable names pending further investigation. Rest assured that this information will not be shared with people who are not Marylandstuck admins. If you do not know the name(s) of of those involved, provide a physical description and we will investigate.
Lastly, a description of the incident. Please do not omit anything that could be important to the investigation. Explain what happened and why this concerned you.
We have several ways for you to report a complaint about an attendee of a Marylandstuck event. The most direct way is to message a Marylandstuck admin on Facebook. Your admins are Catherine W (robbiebaldwin), Kyle J. (Agentsama), Alister M. (twistedCaliber), Stephen S. (Zepson), and Michael F. (Beatdown-Strider). Please do not be afraid to message any of these five people with your concerns, complaints, or incidents.
Additionally, we have options for more anonymous reporting using the tumblr.
You can send us an anonymous ask requesting investigation, however we will likely request identifiable communication both to avoid false reporting and due to the character limit. You can also make a tumblr account, concealing your identity, and send us a submission or fanmail that outlines the incident in more detail than an ask. To send us a fanmail you must be following the Marylandstuck tumblr, which is also very helpful for keeping up with events.
We are very proud of wonderful interaction, events, and community we have in Marylandstuck. Do not assume that Marylandstuck is growing unsafe as it expands and has more members attending more events. This is a precautionary measure intended to make the group a safer place in the event of incident that negatively impacts a member of Marylandstuck. We would not exist without the number of people in this group, and we want to maintain the healthy environment we host as we expand into a larger group.
Any questions about this policy can be directed at the admins for clarification.
