awareness policy

Awareness Policy
connecting cottbus
We want everyone at coco to feel safe, respected, and welcome — regardless of gender, sexual orientation, skin colour, background, age, disability, or appearance. We are aware that events are not automatically free from discrimination. That’s why we take active responsibility for preventing boundary violations and supporting anyone affected by them.
We aim to create structures that make it easy to reach someone for help and encourage respectful interaction. Our goal is to foster a space where personal boundaries are respected and diversity is valued. Only together can we create a space where everyone feels comfortable and safe!

Core Principles
Putting the needs of affected people first
The experiences and feelings of those affected come first. Their perception of what happened is taken seriously — without questioning, minimising, or doubting it.

Voluntary participation
Any support offered by the event team is completely voluntary. The person affected decides if, when, and how they want to receive help.

Standing with those affected
Team members clearly stand with the person affected. They don’t question whether an incident “really” happened, but believe and support the person’s account.

Respecting personal boundaries
Every person has individual boundaries, whether or not they’ve been explicitly communicated. It’s everyone’s responsibility to respect those boundaries — not the burden of those affected to defend them.

Awareness of power dynamics
Awareness work recognises social power structures and systemic discrimination. We acknowledge that some groups are at higher risk of boundary violations, and we act with this understanding in mind.

Prevention and accountability
Awareness means not only responding to harm but also preventing it. Organisers take responsibility for creating safe spaces — physically, socially, and organisationally.

What counts as an Awareness Case?
An awareness case occurs when someone feels uncomfortable, threatened, discriminated against, harassed, or when their personal boundaries have been crossed — intentionally or unintentionally. This can include intrusive behaviour, inappropriate comments, physical or verbal boundary-crossing, or structural exclusion. What matters is not the intention of the person acting, but the impact on the person affected. The goal of awareness is to ensure safety and respect for everyone.

If an Awareness Case occurs
If you are affected:
• You don’t have to justify your feelings — they are valid.
• Contact the coco team — they will listen and support you.
• You decide what you need and what happens next.
If you witness something:
• If you feel safe, check in with the person affected: “Are you okay?”
• Get help from the coco team or event staff.
• Leave further assessment and action to the team.
• Write us an email event@connecting-cottbus.de