SURJ Anti-Violence & Harassment Policy ​

 Introduction and Values ​
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) believes in the possibility of a world where all people live in freedom, peace, and abundance. We often refer to this as “collective liberation”-- a world in which all people are able to live free from institutionalized harm and achieve their full potential. That world does not yet exist, and SURJ’s work, as part of a broader multiracial movement, is to undermine white support for white supremacy, helping to build a racially-just society. 

One of the ways that white supremacy and other systems of domination continue is through intimate and sexual harm. By intimate and sexual harm, we mean domestic violence or intimate-partner violence that takes place within a past or present intimate relationship such as marriage, domestic partnership, dating; and sexual violence that includes unwanted sexual touch, sexual assault, rape, sexual harassment, molestation, or child sexual abuse. When intimate and sexual harm occur in our movements, survivors are often sidelined by the humiliation and trauma of abuse, while people who have done harm gain power. We cannot allow this to occur. 

The mass movement for a racially-just society demands strong, resilient relationships and a culture of accountability. When intimate and sexual harm occur, we have a collective responsibility to address it -- because survivors deserve support, because people who do harm can change, and because our vision of collective liberation requires us to develop practices to address harm that do not rely on or reflect a criminal justice system that brutalizes, cages, and kills people, particularly Black, Indigenous, People of Color and other oppressed people. 

Our responsibility to address sexual and intimate harm extends beyond what happens within the SURJ network. To account for sexual violence within SURJ demands that we acknowledge sexual violence as a tool of white supremacy. Sexual violence is a core part of colonization, genocide, slavery, imperialism, war, imprisonment, policing and the other realities of racial oppression. Sexual violence is used within systems of incarceration, deportation, and militarization to repress and control communities of color. Preventing, interrupting and addressing sexual violence is not an addition to our work, it is a part of the work of dismantling white supremacy and achieving collective liberation. This policy is meant to address harm within the network by building transformative justice that centers BIPOC feminist leadership in our accountability; political education that refuses to erase racialized sexual violence;  and supports police and prison abolition organizing. 

SURJ is committed to community organizing work in which equitable, loving, and accountable relationships can thrive, and to upholding our value of “accountability through collective action.” Therefore, we have developed this policy to guide us when sexual and intimate harm occurs within the SURJ network. 

This policy has been developed to address sexual and intimate harm done by staff, leadership team, chapter leaders, chapter members, and others in national and regional leadership roles. We also encourage chapters to use it when harm occurs between members within a chapter setting.

This document is based on the work of generations of transformative justice advocates and racial justice organizers who believe another world is possible and are creating practical frameworks to create that new world. We are particularly grateful to BYP100 not only for  making public their process for addressing violence within their community, but in imagining a new way forward to address harm within movement spaces. Communities of color have long shown us the way forward in imagining ways to support those who experience harm, hold responsible those who do harm, and uplift the humanity of all those impacted by harm. We are deeply grateful for the work of BYP100 and many others in imagining new possibilities that lift up the ingenuity of our communities rather than relying on judicial and policing systems designed to dehumanize all those touched by violence. 
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WORKING ASSUMPTIONS
Transformation is possible. In order to end domestic and sexual violence it is essential to change the conditions that lead to these forms of violence. Here are some basic working assumptions:

  1. Everyone deserves support
  2. There are gaps between our desire to support people who are experiencing harm and our current ability to do so
  3. For many people from marginalized communities (LGBTQ folks, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, etc.), current systems (criminal and legal) are not  viable interventions 

  4. When we support people who commit harm in their own accountability, we are honoring their humanity 

  5. When we support people who have been harmed by believing them and honoring their wisdom and experience, we are honoring their humanity
  6. Centering survivor self-determination is essential in making it possible to support loving, fair relationships 
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Assessment
Understanding patterns of power and control is essential when addressing gender-based violence. Domestic violence is a pattern of power and control where, over time, one person creates a dynamic where they have more power in the relationship. Then, the other person has less self-determination over their own life. 

There are many forms of sexual violence. Sexual violence is common when there is a pattern of unbalanced power and control in a romantic/sexual relationship. Sexual violence can also happen outside of a committed relationship. It can happen from a stranger, friend, family member, co-worker, community member or any other person. Understanding all of the dynamics of domestic and sexual violence is beyond the scope of this policy so we highly recommend going to the resources section to learn more.
 
When there is domestic violence in a heterosexual context, it is overwhelmingly cisgender (non-trans) men who are battering cisgender women. In a queer and/or LGBTQ context, gender doesn’t determine who is surviving and who is setting up a pattern of power and control. No one behavior alone determines a pattern of power and control. By definition, a pattern involves more than one thing. Because of this, it’s essential to understand more about assessing these patterns. To learn more about this, please visit nwnetwork.org and see the resource section below.

In general, when trying to determine a) if a relationship is abusive and b) who is setting up the abusive dynamics, it is helpful to look at whose world is getting smaller. Who has less power over their own life? If there is physical violence, what does that look like? Is the abusive relationship over? If so, who left? Did one person get pushed out of their community or just disappear?
​SURJ’s Role and Responsibility
It is beyond the scope of SURJ to attend to all of the dynamics around domestic and sexual violence when instances arise. But both SURJ National and the SURJ chapters need to develop their organizational capacity to address domestic or sexual violence when it happens. 

SURJ Leadership Team members, staff, and chapter leaders are the individuals within the SURJ network who are charged with helping to create safe(r) community organizing spaces. They have a responsibility to interact with folks in the network in ways that are affirming, loving, and respectful.
 
If a SURJ Leadership Team member, staff member, or chapter leader engages with members of the SURJ network in a way that reduces the safety of the community or that prevents another someone from fully engaging in anti-racist work because of an experience of domestic and/or sexual violence, we commit as an organization to support the person who experienced harm and to encourage the person who caused harm to take responsibility for that harm. Additionally, if desired by the person who experienced harm, we commit as an organization to support those individuals and their respective communities to enter into a transformative/restorative justice process.
Taking Action - Contact us - get support
The SURJ network is a highly autonomous, distributed national network. We encourage individuals who have experienced violence to first bring their experience to their local chapter. However, we recognize that power dynamics in that experience of violence might make that impossible or dangerous. In that case, SURJ National has established a small team of individuals who are available to move through the following process with an individual who has experienced harm via a relationship with a SURJ Leadership Team member, staff member, chapter leader, or chapter member:

  1. Person or group concerned about sexual or intimate harm within the SURJ network contacts Misha at ipv@showup4rj.org. This may be a person who directly experienced harm, or a SURJ chapter member, chapter leader, staff member, or Leadership Team member who has knowledge about harm done. 
  2. Misha asks person or group who sent the email, “what do you want or need?”. In initial conversation, Misha can gather logistical information and explain what the team can offer. 
  3. If the person or group wants to continue with process, Misha refers them to Shannon who does an assessment. The assessment may include 1 to 4 conversations with each person or group, including the person who experienced harm and the person who caused harm.
  4. After the assessments, Shannon refers the person or group to Misha. Misha or another team member will connect the people involved to a SURJ leader skilled in transformative justice processes, referred to as a process leader. This process leader will work with the people directly involved as well as their  chapter or group. 
  5. Shannon is available to support process leaders, including building skills.
  6. Misha or another team member will reach out to the process leader every 3 months if there isn’t an update in the meantime. The process leader will reach out to Misha or another team member either when the process is finished or when the group wants to report any developments. 

Note: Each process will look different based on the needs of the person who experienced harm and the circumstances of the group.

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​Safety Planning
“At times, the anti-violence movement has prioritized ‘safety’ over ‘self-determination,’ building many services based on the idea that, ‘If we make a survivor safe, then she can start to increase her self-determination.’ In our experience, the opposite is true. Instead of a product of safety, self-determination is a necessary precondition to creating sustainable, authentic safety in one’s life.”[ii]
 
When addressing issues of violence, some of the most immediate questions relate to safety.  When discussing safety, there are several issues to consider: safety for survivors, safety for community and bystanders, and safety for the person doing harm.

Safety-planning is ongoing, not a one-time event. As the conditions of people’s lives change, their safety plan needs to change. Supportive people who are not directly impacted by the situation can be an important part of a safety plan. What safety means for each person is  personal. Each person’s individual skills and intuition are their best tools when making a safety plan.

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​Gratitude and acknowledgement
We are grateful for the contributions of Elisabeth Long, Shannon Perez-Darby, Z! Haukeness, Clarissa Rogers, Misha Heij Mariano, members of the SURJ Interpersonal Violence working group, and many others who helped create this policy and process.
​Resources
Assessment

Consent & Accountability 

Safety Planning & Survivor Support 

Principles and Practice of Transformative Justice

Community Accountability for Sexual & Intimate Harm in Social Justice Movements

Resource Lists on Transformative Justice and Community Accountability

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