Desert Dominion Consent and Incident Reporting Process

Incident reporting form: https://forms.gle/Ls6MMjb4ZvppMkc59
Private Message: https://fetlife.com/users/5638193
Council Email: dd-council-az@googlegroups.com

The following policy was enacted on 1/31/2019 by the General Membership and 2019 Governing Council.

Desert Dominion Consent and Incident Reporting Policy

Desert Dominion leadership believes and requires that all interactions are between consenting adults. The organization rules are the foundation of this policy. This policy does not supersede the established rules; rather it provides further definition to the rules in regards to consent and incident reporting. 

  1. Definition of Consent. For the purposes of interactions at Desert Dominion events, the definition of consent is explicit agreement verbally and/or in writing, that a person is willing to have something done to them by another person or persons or to perform acts for another person or persons, at their request. 

  2. Consent, per established rules, cannot be given if the persons involved are incapable of making informed decisions.

  3. Consent can be withdrawn at any time. It is the responsibility of all persons interacting to stop once consent is withdrawn. 

  4. Definition of interaction. Interactions involve BDSM play (scening), touching individuals and/or their belongings as well as general social interactions that take place at events. 

Incident Reporting

Desert Dominion strives to provide a safe and respectful space for people to consensually interact with each other. The Governing Board and Council take all reports of consent violations and rule violations seriously. Neither entity is law enforcement and should an incident fall into a serious situation requiring law enforcement intervention, they will be contacted. 

Consent Violations are handled directly by the elected Council and escalated to the Governing Board per organization By Laws, should there not be a quorum of Council. 

  1. Incidents during play. The Dungeon Monitor (DM) will act according to their training and responsibilities to end a scene and immediately notify the Council Member on duty of the alleged incident. The Council Member on duty will handle the logistics of the incident reporting and facilitate the investigation. 

  2. All other incidents occurring at Desert Dominion events, non-play areas on the premises and/or at other venues in the community. Any member of Desert Dominion can report a consent violation to the organization, regardless of venue in the community. For example, if your consent was violated at another organization’s event, Desert Dominion will treat it no differently than if it occurred on the premises of Desert Dominion.

  3. How to report incidents. 

3.1 Verbally. A council member is generally on the premises when the club is open to membership. Approach the Council Member to report an incident. If a Council member is not on the premises, and you prefer not to utilize the other forms of reporting, ask the key holder who opened the facility to contact a Council Member and they can come to the facility and/or schedule a meeting with you. You can contact any of the elected Council Members to report. 

3.2 Email, Private Message. The Council can be contacted via email or the Desert Dominion profile on Fet Life. 

email: dd-council-az@googlegroups.com 

Private Message:

https://fetlife.com/users/5638193

3.3 Contact Form. 

There will be paper incident reports available at the front desk and also in the front foray. A box for incident reports will be stationed at the desk area. A web form will also be available on the Desert Dominion website. 

3.3.1 WebForm: https://forms.gle/Ls6MMjb4ZvppMkc59

3.4 Content of report. In order to equitably investigate reported incidents, Desert Dominion will need information that is necessary for them to investigate and determine what course of action to take. The information is only seen by the elected Council and Governing Board. 

  1. Date/Time of Incident 

  2. Location of Incident 

  3. Names of persons involved (Fet name, Scene name, legal name, or name we can use to identify them) and any witnesses. 

  4. Contact information for yourself.

  5. Your account of the incident, with as much detail and context that you can provide to assist. 

  6. Any additional information you feel the Council will need. 

3.4.1 Anonymous and 3rd party reporting for anonymous individuals. 

Desert Dominion respects the confidentiality of all individuals inside the club and our membership. We strive to maintain a climate of confidentiality and personal information privacy. 

3.4.1.1 Anonymous self-reporting. Individuals who wish to not disclose their name and/or provide contact information will have their incident reports treated with the same seriousness as other reports. However, due to the fact that the individual is not able to be identified or contacted by Council during the investigation, the individual understands their report may not be actionable. 

3.4.1.2 Third party anonymous reporting. If a person wishes to remain anonymous and seeks to have a third party provide an incident report for them, they understand that their report may not be actionable for the same reason as an anonymous report. Third parties reporting an incident are not considered party to the incident, for investigative purposes, and will not be contacted by the Council during the course of an investigation, should one be required. 

3.4.1.3 Bystander incident reporting. If a person or persons witnesses an alleged violation first hand, they can report the incident and will be considered a witness to the incident during the course of an investigation, should one be required.

Incident Report Processing 

Once Desert Dominion receives an incident report, they will begin the investigative process. This process can vary, depending on the severity of the alleged violation. 

Desert Dominion will contact the reporter as soon as possible after receipt of an incident report. 

The Council will  review the report and determine details such as what occurred, what type of incident, who the bad actor(s) are, whether it was a repetitive pattern of behavior, safety/health dangers and other pertinent things that will provide a complete picture of the situation surrounding the incident. 

The Council will also contact involved persons and witnesses, if necessary, to provide statements. 

Once the Council has a complete account of the incident, they will deliberate to take action to resolve the incident report. 

Resolution Actions may include, but are not limited to: 

  1. Nothing (if no violation occurred)

  2. A private reprimand by the council 

  3. Re-education by a Council Member or designated peer (orientation, conflict communication, skills retraining, etc…)

  4. A temporary revocation of participation as a member not to exceed 3 months.

  5. Long term revocation of membership between 4 and 12 months. 

  6. Denial of membership and/or renewal. 

  7. Ban of the member. 

Once a course of action is decided upon, the Council will provide the notification of action to the bad actor, and then contact the victim to notify them of the outcome. 

If any incident impacts the entire membership and/or community, the Council may determine that a public statement is necessary and will provide such, without breaking the confidentiality of the persons involved. 

Desert Dominion will retain incident reports for one year to the date of the report. After one year, the reports can be disposed of in a way as to render them unreadable and obsolete (shred, delete digital file). Retention methods will be dependent on resources available, to include, but not limited to paper file and/or digital storage. The files will not be accessible to anyone beyond the elected Council. 

At a minimum, the elected council will provide a high level incident analysis to the General Membership bi-annually. The analysis report should only provide type and count of substantiated consent violations and resolution actions. The report will not include specific details that would identify parties involved.