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As it becomes clear that the Pagan community is not at all immune to harassing, abusive, and bigoted behavior, we need to respond by crafting safety (or anti-harassment) policies for our groups and our events. And, learn how to properly enforce these. This post is not meant to be all-inclusive, but rather, a start to the conversation. I hear from folks all the time that are overwhelmed at the prospect of adopting a safety policy.

TL;DR-- At the end, I'm going to post links to a few examples of safety/anti-harassment policies. I'm also going to dig around for some inclusivity policies. Sometimes those are separate, sometimes they are together. These are useful to pull from as a template so that you aren't starting with a blank page.

 Warning: Contains Vulgarities

Abuser-in-Chief

Blowhard-in-Chief

Chump-in-Chief

Dotard-in-Chief

Embarrassment-in-Chief

Flip-flopper-in-Chief

Grabber-in-Chief

Hater-in-Chief

Yesterday I heard the news about Susun Weed: that she was arrested for choking one of her students, that her abusive behavior is apparently nothing new. I've never really followed her work, so I didn't know about her reputation for hostility; when I followed the news and read all the accounts, old and new, of her mistreatment of students--when I saw that behavior justified and rationalized on her very own website--I immediately thought of other abusers in witchcraft, pagan, and earth-based communities. (Ahem.)

Some abusers are very good at crafting public personalities that mask their behavior in private. "What?" people claim when the allegations come out. "So-and-so would NEVER do that! They're so warm and kind and gentle!" Other abusers, though, lack that skill. They can't help but engage in very public, very visible abusive behavior: lashing out when they're challenged, screaming at people in rituals and classes, belittling their followers, enforcing corrosive hierarchies. Yet what should be obvious red flags are explained away. "Well, she's very passionate about her work." "He's calling someone out because he cares about justice." "They've got a warrior's spirit!" "Oh, she's a crone, don't take it personally." And here's the thing: even if, for some reason, you're okay with violent behavior in public, public abuse is usually only a taste of the abuse that's occurring in private, where power dynamics can be twisted in the abuser's favor. Think of 45: was anyone really shocked to learn that he's a violent rapist when we all heard him bragging openly about grabbing pussies?

"The abuser won. Everything is back to the way it was before."

 Caveat discipulus.

(“Let the student beware.”)

There may be some things that unquestioning obedience can teach you.

The Craft isn't one of them.

The Wise take initiative. The Wise know how to say No.

Alas, it needs to be repeated in every generation.

If your teacher wants you to do something that you don't feel right doing, Grab your broomstick and get out of there.

I have heard from many people who felt pressured to undergo a sexual initiation with a teacher, coven leader, or other person in a leadership position. If someone's been pressured into sex, that's manipulation and abuse. And in circumstances where there wasn’t actually consent, by definition, it’s rape.