COMMUNITY SAFETY POLICY

Edge of Forever, LLC aspires to cultivate safer spaces within the live action roleplaying community. We want to do more than offer immersive experiences; we want to provide environments in which our customers can explore other settings, societies, and flavors of strife without excessive consideration given to their out-of-game personal safety, especially with regard to other players and game staff. This goal is the cornerstone of our company, and we approach everything we do with the intent that every player should feel comfortable regardless of ethnicity, gender identity and presentation, sexual orientation, sex, religion, nation of origin, or any other significant factors by which they may identify.

In short, if any aspect of your identity should or could be in an EOE clause, we want you to feel free and comfortable to be that thing and express that thing at any of our games or events with no fear of consequence.

We also ask for your support in fostering this environment. Community Safety is also a community effort; we cannot do this without you.

Because we value the necessity of safer spaces within the gaming and LARP communities, it is pivotal to Edge of Forever and its constituent game runners that we implement, maintain, and enforce a policy for any and all physical, emotional, verbal, or social media harassment and/or abuse. Let it be clear that we will never tolerate this behavior in our spaces, and we take any report of such behavior very seriously.

Our Abuse/Harassment Report Process:

After research and discussion of matters relating to safety in social spaces, we have determined that transparency regarding our process is important; therefore we will provide some insight into what we will do in the event something within these parameters comes to our attention. Please be aware that by these means we are not attempting to determine guilt or innocence in these matters; that is not our place or something we are qualified to do. Our primary interest is in keeping and maintaining spaces that our customers feel comfortable existing in.

1. We will speak with the person making the report. If they are a victim of the alleged abuser, we will ask them to recount their experiences with that person to their comfort. By “to their comfort”, we stress that it is not our desire to place a victim of alleged abuse in a situation that is re-traumatizing or triggering for them, and that there is no obligation to recount more than what is necessary for us to initiate an investigation. As a part of this conversation, we will ask them what an ideal resolution looks like, but we will also make it clear that the discussion is not a binding agreement to perform that particular punitive action (or lack thereof).
   If the reporter is not a victim of the alleged abuser, or was not present for the reported event, it is harder to initiate an investigation, as the report is, more or less, hearsay. We will encourage the reporter to speak with the alleged victim and suggest they speak to us personally. If the alleged abuser behaves in a manner at our events we find concerning, we may reach out to the alleged victim directly and ask them how that person’s presence at game makes them feel, as a means of establishing a rapport regarding the subject, but we will not press them to discuss anything they may not be otherwise comfortable with discussing. It may be necessary to apprise the alleged victim of the reporter as a means of keeping information accounted for, and we reserve the right to do so.
2. We will perform a due diligence investigation as best as we are able. If the potential of a bad actor exists within our community, it is our moral responsibility to ascertain whether this person remains an active threat to our players. As we are not a legal body, our abilities as a privately owned business are somewhat limited. Most often, this means we will speak with individual members of our community and attempt a broader portrait of the alleged abuser: do they make people feel uncomfortable or unsafe?; do they put other players in dangerous situations?; has their behavior or presence at game been an alienating one for others?; etc. These are only examples of questions we may ask, as they are intended to initiate a dialogue with the people we speak to. We will do our best at all times to maintain a level of confidentiality necessary to the victim’s safety, while still being mindful of the safety of the community at large.
3. If the victim of the alleged abuser is comfortable with our doing so, we will confront the subject directly to discuss the allegation. If a victim fears that doing so will be a direct risk to their safety, we will avoid doing so. The intent of speaking to the alleged abuser is to gauge whether there is demonstrable remorse or an attempt to correct past behaviors. It is important that there remain space in our communities for people to grow and change; depending on the severity of the alleged actions (yelling versus sexual assault, as an example devoid entirely of further nuance), we may take this potential into consideration. This is, admittedly, a difficult balance to maintain, but we will do our absolute best barring our abilities as laypeople rather than law enforcement.
4. If we feel further due diligence is required, we may reach out to game runners and staff of other communities who have also served the alleged abuser as a customer and ask them about their experiences. At this juncture, we will not disclose the exact allegations made against the person in question; only that we are performing an investigation based on complaints regarding their behavior. Generally speaking, we will not disclose the exact reason we have taken any sort of action against a given player in this capacity unless we are required to as a result of a legal investigation at the victim’s request; only that we received credible complaints regarding their behavior and that action was, in fact, taken. We reserve the right to disclose the nature of punitive measures taken.
5. After performing some combination of the above – some steps may be prolonged or eliminated depending on the situation – we will re-initiate conversation with the alleged victim to review our findings and suggestions for resolution. These can include, but are not limited to: a rule of mutual avoidance, suspension for a set number of events, removal from staff/marshal positions, and/or banning. Our determination on these matters will only be conveyed to the parties directly involved and our Staff; whether the accuser or accused chooses to address allegations or bans publicly is at their discretion, and if they do so they are solely responsible for both their actions and the consequences thereof.

Regarding reports and allegations made via social media disclosure: we will follow the provided blueprint above if the report is brought to our attention and involves an active member of our community or if the allegations are against a current player in a position of staff or marshal power. In the case of the latter, we will suspend that player’s position and privileges pending our due diligence.

Regarding whether we will contact law enforcement: if there is a perceived imminent threat to a player or players, we will do so. Otherwise, we recognize there are a confluence of issues pertaining to the handling of cases of domestic abuse and sexual assault by law enforcement and our judicial system. Barring imminent threat, we believe the alleged victim is the sole person in a situation who can decide whether that is the correct course of action for them.

Every situation entails significant nuance, and no two situations will accordingly be addressed exactly the same. However, these guidelines are intended to serve as a transparent demonstration of what we feel are our best practices and our commitment to abiding them as best as we are able.

We feel it is our obligation and responsibility to take the actions necessary to preserve the safety of our community, whatever that action befitting a given situation may be. As a privately-owned business we reserve the right to refuse service to customers as we feel is necessary based on our findings. It is our commitment that we will only refuse service based on these findings as they pertain to our customers and, if applicable, the wider LARP community as a whole. Refusal of service will never be enacted based on any personally identifying factors, such as race, ethnicity, country of origin, religion, gender assigned at birth, sexual orientation or preference, gender presentation, economic status, or ability as it pertains to accessibility.

Edge of Forever, LLC and its subsidiaries accept and assume all responsibility for their decisions where these matters are concerned. We stand by our policy and will continue to advocate for the removal of predators and abusers within the community.

To report concerns, harassment or abuse, please email Jenn, Kris or Jeramy. You may also speak to us at an event with any immediate concerns, however we request you send a followup email post-event as well. Any information you provide will remain confidential within Staff unless you request otherwise.

Resources and Reference:

The missing stair. Cliff Pervocracy, 2012
Abuse, Your Local LARP, Missing Stairs, and Broken Ones. thegeekinitiative, 2016