Harassment of any kind will not be tolerated at HizashiCon. This policy applies to all attendees, guests, volunteers, security, and staff.
Harassment
Harassment is broadly defined as unwelcome conduct that fosters an environment of intimidation, offense, or hostility for the individual experiencing it. This behavior may be physical or psychological in nature. If someone informs you that your words or actions are unwelcome, it is your responsibility to stop, immediately. Similarly, if you are asked to leave an individual alone, you must respect that request immediately and without argument. It is important to recognize that harassment is determined by the individual affected, regardless of your intentions or personal perspective.
Examples of harassment include, but are not limited to:
- Making comments about a person’s appearance, sexual and/or vulgar statements, offensive jokes, or anything disparaging a person’s gender, race, religion, sexuality, identity, etc.
- Bullying.
- Willful discrimination (preventing someone from joining an activity open to the public, like a panel).
- Whistling, catcalling, and any kind of non-consensual flirting or sexual advances.
- Following someone or impeding their path.
- Attending a person’s panels solely to heckle them.
- Photographing or recording someone without their permission.
- Exposing oneself or miming sexual acts.
- Bathroom policing (harassing someone because of the bathroom they feel most comfortable using).
- Touching someone without their permission.
- Repeated texting, phone calls, or emails, after being told to stop.
- Any persistent action that creates a hostile environment for the person or persons being targeted.
If a person is in cosplay, that does not give you consent to photograph or touch them without their permission. Remember that underneath the costume and make-up is a real person; they are not the character they are portraying and you do not have the right to treat them as you would the fictional character.
Explicit Content
Costumes must cover the swimsuit area, as HizashiCon is a family-friendly event. Further, clothing with sexually explicit imagery or text is not allowed. You may be denied entry and asked to change/modify your outfit in order to comply with these guidelines. Flashing/mooning other people is considered harassment and will not be tolerated, please ensure that your outfits are secured for your safety and the safety of others. Please be aware that businesses and other venues in the area may have stricter dress codes (e.g. shirts required before entry).
Any clothing, signs, props, or other materials containing explicit content must NOT be visible inside our convention space. Anyone in Artist Alley selling work with explicit content must have it out of view and must view a photo ID before showing it to interested customers. Customers must then keep the purchase in a pocket, bag, or case that does not allow it to be seen by other attendees. Please review our Artist and Vendor page for this policy as well.
Reporting
Please report any incidents of harassment as soon as possible. We take all reports very seriously, regardless of who is involved. You can report harassment even if you are not the directly involved, and no retaliation for filing a report will be tolerated.
Harassment by any individual (attendees, guests, volunteers, security, or staff) should be reported to designated staff (wearing bright orange HizashiCon shirts). If you are not comfortable reporting to our staff, you can report to our designated Harassment Liaison (Name TBA) at (Phone and Email TBA). **Please check back closer to the event, as our staff rotates yearly.
Consequences
Any violations of our harassment policy will result in immediate penalties dependent upon the severity of the action. Such penalties include:
- Verbal warnings. (You will only be warned once.)
- Confiscation of your badge and ejection from the event, with no refunds.
- Banning from any and all future events put on by the Japan-America Society of Northwest Florida.
- Contacting law enforcement when appropriate.
HizashiCon would like to acknowledge the Cosplayer Survivor Support Network for their assistance in developing this policy.
