Ableism

The term ableism is derived from the English word for "ability" and originates from the disability rights movement in the United States. It refers to the judgment of people with disabilities based on their (attributed) physical and mental abilities. Connected to this is a reduction of the person to their impairment alone. This judgment can be negative, through devaluation, or seemingly positive, through overvaluation. Underlying this judgment is the assumption that there is such a thing as a normal physical and mental state, against which disability can be measured as a deviation.

When people with disabilities are treated unequally or disadvantaged because of this judgment, that is discrimination.

 

BIPoC

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color — abbreviated BIPoC — is a self-designation used by and for people with experiences of racism. The term marks a political and social position and is understood as emancipatory and in solidarity. It positions itself against attempts at division through racism and culturalization, as well as against discriminatory labels imposed by the white majority society. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color each have different experiences of discrimination and are therefore also referred to separately. When people speak only about a specific group within this category, only that group should be named. The term "PoC" includes all people who are marked — and thus subjected to racist and/or intersectional discrimination — based on skin color, language, name, origin, and/or religion.

Source: https://awareness-akademie.de/glossar/

 

FLINTA*

FLINTA* is an abbreviation meant to express who is welcome in certain spaces or at certain events. It stands for women, lesbians, intersex people, non-binary people, trans people, and agender people (in German: Frauen, Lesben, Inter, Nichtbinäre Menschen, Trans Menschen, Agender Menschen). The abbreviation exists in various forms. The asterisk serves as a symbol of openness for all further gender identities not explicitly named in the acronym.

This abbreviation becomes problematic when it is used as equivalent to "women" or "all people I perceive as women," as this can wrongly include or exclude certain people.

Source: https://queerlexikon.net/2020/05/30/flint/

 

Queer

Queer is an umbrella term for people who exist outside of gender and sexual norms, and it also describes a political stance that questions the prevailing norms within lesbian, gay, and bisexual communities as well. Queer is based on the fundamental assumptions that identities are not fixed but changeable, and that sexuality and gender are not binary.

Queer is also a school of thought and an academic field in which rigid categorization is broken down, different forms of oppression are linked to one another, and sexuality in particular is examined as a site of oppression.

Queer describes not only people, relationships, and communities, but also actions: people "queer" something when they resist normativity and normative ideas about identity, behavior, appearance, and relationships.

Queer politics criticizes the fact that equality policy leaves many people behind — for example, the gay and lesbian movement's focus on marriage, consumer culture, and military service. Instead, queer politics focuses on the issues of queer groups who are most marginalized and most affected in everyday life by violence, suicide, poverty, and homelessness.

Source: https://awareness-akademie.de/glossar/

 

Racism

Racism means the discrimination, devaluation, and exclusion of structurally disadvantaged groups or individuals based on actual or attributed physical or cultural characteristics (e.g., skin color, origin, language, religion). Racism prevents equal participation of those affected in society. The racist degradation of BIPoC can lead to physical and psychological violence against them, or even be used as a purported justification for killings and genocide ("ethnic cleansing").

Alongside these overtly brutal forms of racism, subtle everyday racism (especially in the form of microaggressions) constitutes the daily reproduction of a racist system. This consists of a constant reminder to the affected person that they are different and do not "belong." This does not need to happen with intent on the part of the discriminating person, but it is nonetheless exclusionary, hurtful, frustrating, and provides fertile ground for more extreme forms of racism. There are many forms of racism — for example, a distinction is made between anti-Black, anti-Muslim, and anti-Asian racism, antisemitism, and racist discrimination against Roma and Sinti people. Racism is a social practice of exclusion that appears differently in different historical contexts. It hierarchizes, differentiates, and devalues people by attributing constructed, usually negative, group-specific traits and characteristics to them.

Source: https://awareness-akademie.de/glossar/

 

Sexism

Sexism is a social mechanism based on the assumption of exactly two genders and the traits attributed to them. The prejudices that result from this disadvantage people who are read as female, as well as people who do not conform to common gender roles. Sexism manifests itself in many forms — ranging from catcalling (verbal harassment in public spaces) to sexual harassment to serious physical violations of boundaries (e.g., groping, rape).

Contrary to a societal image of the perpetrator — often racially charged — as a threatening stranger, most cases of sexualized violence occur between people who know each other, at least casually.

Sexism also plays a role in the music industry — for example, in the composition of many festival lineups, which are still predominantly shaped by male acts, in who holds decision-making power at music industry companies, and in workplace sexism.

 

Sexualized Violence in Party/Nightlife Contexts and the Role of Intoxicants

Intoxication from alcohol and other substances affects different people differently. In any case, it alters perception and behavior. This can mean that a person's own boundaries, or the boundaries of others, are no longer correctly assessed. This can lead to psychological and physical harm — which sometimes cannot be clearly remembered afterward, but which affected people sometimes only fully become aware of once the intoxication has worn off. Intoxicated people who are read as female are often perceived as sexually available. Perpetrators, in turn, often use their own intoxication as an excuse ("You know how he is when he's drunk.")

The overwhelming majority of perpetrators in non-everyday situations are opportunists — that is, people who generally follow social rules but break them when they believe they will not be punished for it. In addition, their behavior often orients itself around what is "just barely" considered acceptable in a given place. This is why it is so important that we create an environment in which no form of boundary violation is tolerated, in which we look out for one another and are there for each other.

Further reading: 
https://www.initiative-awareness.de/informieren/ressourcen 
https://awareness-akademie.de/awa-ressourcen/

Consent

Consent means agreement, and it requires explicitly asking for it. This isn't always easy, but it can be practiced. And it feels really good when the other person voices their agreement!

Only "yes" means "yes"! This also means: "Maybe" does not mean "yes." Staying silent does not mean "yes."

If a person is no longer able to actively give consent due to substance use, consensual sexual contact cannot take place.

 

Survivor-Centeredness

Awareness work puts the needs and demands of affected people at the center. The goal of awareness work is for affected people to feel safe again and not have to leave the venue. To make this possible, resources are provided: people who have time to care for them, retreat spaces, food and drink, and more. An affected person may wish for a person who committed violence to leave the venue so that they can feel safe again. However, the focus should be solely on fulfilling the wishes of the affected person — not on identifying a guilty party or establishing some presumed "truth."

 

Power of Definition

Every person decides for themselves about their own body and their own story. Every person also decides their own gender identity and pronouns. Should this power of self-determination ever be taken away — through a boundary violation, misgendering, discriminatory language, or other incidents — the goal of awareness work is for that person to regain it. Power of definition also means that we do not question the stories of affected people and that we accept their terms and demands.

 

Partisanship

Partisanship explicitly does not mean trying to take a neutral position between the affected person and the person who caused harm, mediating between the two. In cases of boundary violations and assaults, it is often one person's word against another's — usually to the disadvantage of the affected person. If we want to bring about social change, we must learn to be partisan on the side of affected people: to listen to them, believe them, and support them in asserting their demands — even when this is to the disadvantage of a friend. After all, disregarding the demands of an affected person can, in the worst case, mean lifelong trauma and permanently leaving a place that can no longer be experienced as safe. For a person wrongly accused, the worst that typically happens is having to (temporarily) leave a place.

 

Confidentiality

Unfortunately, people affected by boundary violations are often stigmatized by society and, in addition to what they experienced, face further exclusion, rejection, or discrimination afterward. That is why we always treat sensitive incidents confidentially and only discuss them with third parties after consulting with the affected person.

 

Collective Accountability — Where Does Awareness Come From?

The core principles of awareness are derived from the idea of community accountability. This concept was developed by Black communities in the US as a counter-model to state security institutions such as the police. Community accountability calls for all members of a community to take collective responsibility for any boundary violations that occur within it — because the community is responsible for the social climate it creates. As a result, members of a community also take on responsibility for ensuring that people who have experienced boundary violations can feel safe again.