(Compiled from the wiki available at geekfeminista.com and revised by Anandra George of heartofsound.in.)
The International Yoga Festival is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion or lack thereof.
We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants or presenters in any form. Presenters include anyone with a microphone or on a stage. Participants include anyone in an audience, attending a class, or present on the festival grounds. Conference participants or presenters violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference [without a refund] at the discretion of the conference organizers.
Furthermore, we take the honor of celebrating the great tradition of yoga with the international community very seriously. We acknowledge that in light of the recent #metoo movement, many yoga and spiritual leaders who have enjoyed the honor of representing the tradition are having previous and current students come forward to report:
- Sexual harassment, ranging from unwanted verbal advances to rape.
- Duplicity, e.g. claims of celibacy and “divine” status while secretly sleeping with students
- Psychological manipulation, e.g. spiritual philosophy weaponized to control and coerce students
- And other abuses of power
Therefore, the International Yoga Festival is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of integrity with our presenters, and request that reports of power abuses and/or harassment of any kind during, before, or after the festival are made without hesitation. We request the festival community (and the international yoga community as a whole) join us and refrain from turning a blind eye to, accepting, endorsing, enabling, and normalizing abuses of power. Let’s move forward together in alignment with heart, thought, word, and deed to uphold that most fundamental principle of yoga: ahimsā, non-violence!
To report harassment or other violations during IYF, please do any of the following:
- Contact an IYF staff member, identified by IYF-labelled staff badges or shirts.
- Email iyf@internationalyogafestival.com
- Fill the form below
Click here to read our full IYF Code of Conduct Policy
Reporting Harassment & Other Violations
If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Conference staff can be identified by IYF-labeled shirts and badges. Bystanders are also welcome to report. Harassment and other code of conduct violations reduce the value of our event for everyone. We want you to be happy at our event. People like you make our event a better place.
To report, please fill the form below. If you would like to remain anonymous, you do not have to enter your name or email address. We can’t follow up an anonymous report with you directly, but we will fully investigate it and take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence.
