linksunten Archiv

WHY DO ASSAULTS AND SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE OCCUR

SO OFTEN IN ALTERNATIVE, SELFORGANIZED EVENT SPACES AND WHAT CAN WE DO
TO CHANGE THAT?

CONTEXT FOR THE EVENT

MINUTES

1. STATEMENT BY THE AWARENESS TEAM FROM THE PARTY ON 10.12.2016

2. STATEMENT FROM NEW YORCK

3. STATEMENT BY WLTI* GROUP (ACTIVE IN ANTIRACIST ORGANIZING)

4. SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSION IN SMALL GROUPS

 

CONTEXT FOR THE EVENT

The occasion for this event was a rape at a soli­party in December 2016. As a result, _New Yorck im Bethanien _cancelled all planned soli­parties in their space until further notice, and decided that it will only be possible to have soli­parties again when better structures for the prevention and han­dling of sexualized violence are created, so that as far as possible everyone can feel safe here and have parties without fear. Since New Yorck is not the only space with this problem, and in many or even most event spaces assaults occur regularly, this event was not intended to deal solely with New Yorck im Bethanien, but rather to discuss the problem on a broader scale. The invitation to the event can be found here (http://newyorck.net/). About 150 people came to the event on 6.2.17. To us, this shows not only how urgently relevant the problem is, but also how many people are ready to take action in order to have parties without fear. However, we were disappointed to notice (and do not believe it is a coincidence, but rather a struc­tural problem) that of all people cis­men* were in a clear minority at the event. _(* Cis­men refers to men who identify with the gender which was assigned to them at birth. Cis is the opposite of trans)_.

The idea of the event was, after a few short statements, to discuss the topic in small groups and then to gather the ideas in the larger group. Due in part (but not only) to the large number of attendees, many discussions could only just be started and we weren't able to address many topics that could have been important. More detailed minutes were taken at the event and follow below, but first a few points:

We don't want this to be the last event to deal with this topic. But we, the preparation group, don't have the capacity to organize further events alone.

 

We hope that projects, groups and/or individuals will come together who want to organize follow­up events. If you're interested, please get in touch with us at (partywithoutfear@riseup.net).

We welcome any feedback about the event on 6.2.17, also at (_partywithoutfear@riseup.net_).

We would like to create a Berlin­wide mailing list of alternative event spaces, self­organized party groups and awareness projects, in order to keep each other posted about events, ideas and also cur­rent warnings (bans, etc.). If your project or group would like to join it, just send us a short email.

If you want to participate in making soli­parties possible again at New Yorck im Bethanien ­ with much better awareness structures than before ­ you can contact New Yorck directly at _(newyorck­@so36.net_)

­ We support the idea of a blog about awareness in Berlin, on which flyers in several languages, background texts, addresses and links, etc. can be collected and easily found.

MINUTES

STATEMENT BY THE AWARENESS TEAM FROM THE PARTY ON 10.12.16

STATEMENT BY NEW YORCK

STATEMENT BY WLTI* GROUP (ACTIVE IN ANTIRACIST ORGANIZING)

DISCUSSION IN SMALL GROUPS

PRESENTATION OF THE SMALL­GROUP DISCUSSION AND DISCUSSION IN THE LARGER
GROUP

 

1. STATEMENT BY THE AWARENESS TEAM FROM THE PARTY ON 10.12.16

It is not our intention here to give an exact account of what happened, and so we will not describe any details of the incident. We are only here to share our analysis of how we dealt with the rape and with the offender and to put some rumors to rest about how the situation was handled.

­* The awareness team (about 8 people) was informed about the rape and immediately stopped the party. ­ The offender was thrown out escorted by 20 people. He claimed not to know what had happened and considered his removal from the party a racist act against him as a black man.

­* We observed various racist dynamics at work in the situation: first in the way in which the offender was handled and then when a black person from the awareness team was associated with the of­fender, instead of being identified as part of the awareness team (part of the problem was that we were not clearly marked and recognizable as the awareness team)

­* Although, in agreement with the affected person, we did not want to call the cops, other people who had heard about the situation called the cops in an uncoordinated way. They then arrested the offender.

­* The police wanted to enter_ New Yorck_ but were not let in

2. STATEMENT BY NEW YORCK

­ * We, New Yorck in Bethanien, are responsible for this space, which is a part of our project and is used by various groups for a range of events, including soli­parties

­* We need to be self­critical: we knew that assaults had occurred repeatedly and we never really suc­ceeded at reacting to this problem

­* We did not participate in the collective process of some other house projects to prevent sexualized violence and did not sign an open letter from November 2014 with a call on this subject ("_Wir haben keinen Bock mehr! Offener Brief linker Veranstaltungsorte_"

(https://linksunten.indymedia.org/de/node/126868)

­*An earlier demand from within New Yorck to temporarily stop holding parties was rejected by the general assembly of the project (the self­organizing body of New Yorck)

­* There is often a lack of communication about what happens during parties and other events (for ex­ample, someone who is thrown out of one party can attend another the next week with no problem)

­* Parties are always organized by different groups, so important information is often not shared

3. STATEMENT BY WLTI* GROUP (ACTIVE IN ANTIRACIST ORGANIZING)

( *WLTI* is an abbreviation for Women_Lesbians_Trans_Inter people)

­
* We are a group that is active in different struggles against oppression, particularly in the struggles of refugee WLTI*

­* We are often frustrated by the way in which discussions about discrimination and oppressive be­havior are held, and so we would like to share a few thoughts and demands. Work them into your discussions!

­* Why does sexualized violence occur again and again? Our opinion:
safe space doesn't exist, awareness doesn't work, mechanisms of oppression are too big to be stopped by an awareness team, soli­parties are always sexist (already in the way they are organized: who does which job, who cleans up…?)

OUR DEMANDS FOR THE DISCUSSION TODAY:

1. Oppression in our social circles can continue because of patriarchal alliances ­ break patriarchal solidarity

2. In discussions in which sexism and racism are entangled, white cis­men often don't have take a position/are not confronted. We want white cis­men to take clear positions, since they are an essen­tial part of these patriarchal alliances and profit the most from social forms of oppressions! (see _Nadiye Ünsals_ text:
http://movements-journal.org/issues/02.kaempfe/09.%C3%BCnsal--refugees-supporters-oplatz-intersectionality.html

3. At demos everyone shouts the same slogans about practical solidarity. But it rarely reaches WLTI*Refugees. We challenge white cis­men to reflect on how they can show practical solidarity with WLTI*Refugees. We have some suggestions. If you want to know more, just send an email to patriarsch@riseup.net.

4. We want to put a stop to all soli­ parties. We think soli ­parties are intrinsically sexist, we think that the roles and distribution of tasks for soli­ parties fall along the lines of classic gender rolls WLTI* people always end up doing the reproduction work (cleaning, cooking, etc.) and while the boys have a good time.

5. We some use for political exchanges instead and/or just give them to the WLTI*!

4. SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSION IN SMALL GROUPS:

(_the following points represent an anonymized summary of the comments that were made in the various small groups and in the larger group discussion that followed. Some were made by several people, other only by individuals. They in no way represent a consensus!_)

A) THOUGHTS ABOUT DEALING WITH OFFENDERS:

­*Criticism of the awareness-shift concept: the collective responsibility for the comfort of everyone in a space is delegated to a few (sober) people. In fact, everyone should feel like they are a part of creating the atmosphere of the space. Everyone should watch out for each other.

*Again and again, white people seemed to be overwhelmed by having to confront black offenders. People affected don't say anything in part out of fear of being accused of racism. Why is that?

*If non ­refugees don't confront refugee offenders about their behavior, then the problem is a false definition of racism based on feelings of white, German guilt: if we don't treat all offenders equally, and make distinctions between refugees and non­refugees, that is racism! Because behind that is the perception of refugees as a uniform group of people defined primarily by their experience of flight, who need to be treated somehow 'differently'.

* People are afraid of excluding men of color but forget about the exclusion of WLTI ­ people which is already taking place: people who are afraid to go to soli­parties and leftist events, or due to expe­riences of abusive behavior already have stopped going.

* People have very different biographies: not everyone had heard of or thought about sexism or con­ sent, others have very often. Should we consider people's degree of experience when dealing with offenders? Should the social positioning of a person play a role in our treatment of offenders or not?

­ * When does it make sense to explain the reasons why offenders are being thrown out of a party? There is also the danger of excusing offensive behavior because, for example, the person has never heard of consent - that cannot be allowed.

­ * Safe spaces don't exist!

­ * How does the way in which offenders are treated who come to leftist spaces out of political affin­ ity and whose who 'only' come to these spaces for parties?

­ * Body language can be interpreted very differently, sexual behavior doesn't start at the same point for everyone - how can we find a language to talk about individual boundaries and learned models of behavior and interpretation?

* Sexualized violence is not only a party problem, it's a general problem in the leftist scene

B) SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTION

­* Cis­men should start cis­men groups in order to confront these issues

* Men have to act, confront offenders and make the consequences for their actions clear to them - solidarity with the offenders must be publicly broken

* Men need to talk about sexualised violence in their own groups and take clear anti­sexist positions

* More preventative tools (for example, a blog on awareness at parties, an awareness phone, stricter door policies - how can racist exclusions be prevented?)

* Break the silence: if we see that someone is in trouble, ask directly if they need support

* More workshops about sexism should be organized

* A list of offenders who hang out in leftist spaces could be created and they should be excluded from these spaces

* More WLTI ­ Parties!


There are already groups that have been working on the issue of
sexualized violence for years, who you can turn to for help, such as:

_ask_gerda http://askgerda.blogsport.de/
_LesMigras http://www.lesmigras.de/
_Transformative Justice Kollektiv http://www.transformativejustice.eu/de/
_Wildwasser http://www.wildwasser-berlin.de/
_Tauwetter http://www.tauwetter.de/de/
_Lara http://www.lara-berlin.de/
_Hydra http://www.hydra-berlin.de/startseite/

C) SUGGESTIONS ABOUT AWARENESS STRUCTURES AT SOLI­PARTIES:

­
* Before every party there could be an awareness workshop

* There could be a Berlin awareness group, like the _Lauti_ (sound system) group, that coaches people

* Parties should only take place if there is a well­ prepared awareness group

* Ejection policies for the evening with the message to offenders: you can come to the plenum after­wards, if you want to talk about it, but tonight you have to go

­ * Awareness fliers should be handed out personally, not just put on a table

* More awareness posters with clear rules about what sort of behavior is not ok ­ it should be in­cluded that such behavior will not be tolerated, independent of gender and race

* Play the awareness jingle at parties in several languages

* Awareness structures should be ready to continue to deal with the offenders afterwards

­ * Don't sell hard alcohol

* Very drunken people shouldn't be given more alcohol ­ the bar has to pay attention!

PUBLISHED IN APRIL 2017 -

 
http://newyorck.net/