Code of Conduct

Expected Behaviour

• Treat everyone with respect and consideration, including use of preferred pronouns
• Here, the definition of ‘everyone’ explicitly includes, but is not restricted to, people of all genders and gender identifications, reproductive status, parents accompanied by small children, breastfeeding mothers, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, nationality or national origin and educational background.
• Communicate openly and thoughtfully with others and be considerate of the multitude of views and opinions that are different than your own.
• Be respectful in your critique of ideas.
• Maintain a professional and cordial dialogue with all participants.
• Maintain a safe and appropriate physical and emotional distance in all interactions.
• Be mindful of your fellow participants and their cultural norms and habits.
• Have integrity in accessing conference materials. The content and links of the conference should not be shared with non-participants outside of the conference. Refrain from recording the presentations of participants who have indicated that they don’t want their material recorded.
• Behave responsibly by adhering to all COVID-19 related restrictions and procedures, including wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing and sanitizing as stipulated by the conference management, venue management and LOC.
• Respect the rules and policies of all venues associated with the conference.

Unacceptable Behaviour

• Harassment, intimidation or discrimination in any form.
• Physical or verbal abuse of any attendee, speaker, exhibitor, organizer, service provider or other meeting guest (hereafter referred to as ‘person associated with the conference’), either in person or electronically (e.g. virtually or on social media)
• Initiating or continuing physical or verbal behaviour that any person associated with the conference has indicated is unwelcome, intimidating, inappropriate or otherwise falls into the given categories of unacceptable behaviour in the Code of Conduct.
• Examples of unacceptable behaviour include, but are not limited to: sexual harassment, inappropriate comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, nationality or national origin, threatening or stalking of any person associated with the conference, and sharing of conference related material and access links.
• Bad faith reporting under the Code of Conduct will be considered itself a violation of the Code of Conduct, where bad faith reporting is defined as false and malicious reporting of Code of Conduct violations against another person associated with the conference.

Consequences

• Anyone requested to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately.
• LOC members or venue staff may take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including conducting an investigation and the potential removal from the meeting without warning or refund.
• The LOC reserves the right to report inappropriate behaviour to future organisers of ISEC, the individual’s employer, or research funders.
• Harassment is unlawful under the South African Protection from Harassment Act 17, and as such, people suspected of such misconduct may be reported to authorities.

This Code of Conduct applies to all venues and activities associated with the conference, including but not limited to all the conference sessions in person or virtual, the conference dinner and cocktail events, and the conference outings.