PSA Reporting Procedures and Process  

 

The Pacific Spanking Association (PSA) focuses on fostering a community where spanking enthusiasts can feel safe to explore their kink. We want PSA members (someone who has attended at least one PSA event and is in good standing) to feel comfortable being vulnerable, sharing meetup and party spaces, and building their connections with one another. To achieve that level of comfort, we believe in the necessity of good vetting procedures, clear consent policies, and easy reporting guidelines.

 

As a result, we have released this set of updated guidelines on consent and reporting. Please note that the guidelines are subject to evolution and change as we continue to educate ourselves, but we will alert members of updates as they arise. 

 

Read on for our updated reporting policy. You can also find this information, our party behavior guidelines, and our incident reporting forms via the links below. 

 

PERMANENT LINKS

• Guidelines for Party Behavior

• Reporting Procedures and Guidelines

• Report a Consent Violation

• Report Problematic Behavior 

 

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I. REPORTING POLICIES

 

The PSA takes consent seriously. We want all of our attendees to have a safe, fun experience regardless of age, race, national origin, ability, gender, sexual orientation, or play dynamic. As a result, we recognize the importance of transparent, thorough guidelines for accepting and processing reports of harm. The following guidelines outline how and when to make such a report to PSA organizers.

 

Making a Report:

PSA members: if you have experienced or witnessed behavior you feel is worthy of a report, you may report a consent violation or other problematic behavior.  

Alternatively, you may make a report to us by phone or in person. You may reach out to us by email (psaspankos@gmail.com) or in person to set this up. Then we will pose a set list of questions to obtain information about the incident. When this information gathering process is concluded, we will confirm that the information we have taken down is accurate as written, to your knowledge.

 

Accepted Report Topics:

• Sexual Assault

• Safewords not being followed

• Ignoring explicitly stated limits

• Verbal abuse, emotional abuse, or dishonesty that harms, threatens, or creates risk for other members of the community

• Discrimination

 

Unaccepted Report Topics:

• Interpersonal disputes, unless they pose an active threat to the safety of a PSA member (including your own) or otherwise fall into one of the above categories 

• Reports from non-PSA members, unless they describe an active threat to the safety of a PSA member or members.

 

If you aren’t sure which category the report would fall under, please err on the side of submitting! If it is something beyond our purview, we will let you know in our response.
 

Additionally, please note: we do not believe there is a statute of limitations on bad behavior. If you know of consent violations or behavior against PSA rules that occurred before PSA’s inception and could impact PSA members, we are still open to hearing them. 

 

Types of Reports 

First-Hand Report: This is a report of something that has happened directly to you. We cannot take action on a report without following up with you. We will strive to make follow-up discreet and respectful.
 

Witnessed Report: This is a report of something you have seen or otherwise witnessed that you believe needs to be brought to our attention. In this case, we may follow up with the individuals directly impacted by the behavior and take action where we feel it is necessary.

 

Depending on the report, we will proceed with one of two courses of action: 

1. If we receive notification of a ban or a complaint about a person who has not expressed interest in attending our events we will place them on our PSA Watchlist. People on our Watchlist will be reviewed if they ask to join our group or attend events. 

 

2. If the report is focused on the behavior of an existing PSA member or aspiring member, PSA organizers will initiate an information gathering process. In this process:

1. Organizers will collect all related reports from PSA members, making sure all pre-determined questions are answered, as described above.

2. Organizers will alert the accused member of the allegations, and similarly obtain their account of the situation, along with relevant evidence and witness statements. As part of this alert, we will ask the accused individual to take a step back from PSA activities while their actions are under review. 

 

Following information gathering, PSA organizers will reconvene to vote on a plan of action. This may result in a warning, provision of educational opportunities, or initiation of the ban process.

 

Bans

If in the course of our information gathering process, PSA organizers identify what we see as a potential, active threat to membership we will initiate our ban process.

 

Next, we will convene our anonymous Review Board, which will be composed of 2 PSA organizers and 3 PSA members. Organizer representatives will share information with the rest of the review board, and the five participants will deliberate and decide on whether to issue a ban, an educational opportunity, or a warning.  

 

Please note that members can also be banned outside of this process for:

• Repeated resistance to boundaries

• Unresponsiveness to warnings or educational opportunities

• Being convicted of a crime related to sex or non-consensual violence 

 

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II. The PSA Review Board

The PSA Review Board will preside over potential member bans. The decisions made by the Review Board will consider information such as: information provided by reporter and accused members; past warnings (should they exist); and any additional reports regarding the same person. If decisions result in a ban, they will be shared with the PSA community. 

 

Review Board Membership Policies 

• A Review Board for a given ban process will always comprise two PSA organizers and three PSA member volunteers. 

• Selection of volunteers shall be randomized from a pool of pre-determined members. However we may adjust this random selection to help ensure as many of the following items are true as is possible (listed in priority order):

  • that there are no conflicts of interest (this one will always require an adjustment).

  • that no more than three of the five members are bottoms or tops. 

  • that no more than three of the five members identify as a single gender.

  • that the review board member selected is not someone who participated in the most recent case. 

• The list of Review Board volunteers will always be available to PSA members, but specific members for a given ban process will be kept confidential.

• Review Board members will be selected by PSA Organizers. If they accept the role, they will be entered into the pool of Review Board Volunteers and will be eligible to be randomly selected for a given case.

  • Please note that you are eligible for application or election as a Review Board volunteer if you have been an active member for at least one year and have a clean record.
     

Current Review Board Members

Andrea     Dirk        Maddie

Becks       Griff        Scott
Cherry      Kevin      Sugar

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Confidentiality

• Review Board proceedings will be kept confidential to the Review Board members present and PSA organizers, unless a person is involved in a subsequent Review Board proceeding. In that case, the new Review Board will be permitted to access the past records.