The British Druid Order

Groves Safe Space Policy

 

The British Druid Order (BDO) does not take any responsibility for activities undertaken by groves listed on its website. We recognise that each grove is completely autonomous from the BDO and may have its own constitution and methods.

 

In order to be listed in the BDO groves directory on its website we do however require grove leaders to agree to this safe spaces policy and to ensure their membership is protected from any form of racism, homophobia, biphobia, sexism, transphobia, disablism, or prejudice based on age, ethnicity, nationality, class or gender.  Please refer to our Equality and Diversity Policy on the website for further detail.

 

Failure to abide by this policy will result in your grove listing being removed from our website.

 

Guidelines that we would ask groves to follow are listed below:

 

• We ask that membership of your grove is accessible to any person with a genuine interest in druidry regardless of gender, race, disability or sexual orientation.

• We ask that all groves accepting BDO members aim to create an open and welcoming environment throughout their working space, whether that be online or face to face at moots, meetings gatherings and ritual.

• We ask that the physical and emotional boundaries of each individual are respected and that explicit consent is gained before any form or touching or physical contact is made, whether this be as part of a ritual or as part of casual interaction with each other.

• We ask those responsible for groves to be prepared to challenge hateful, discriminatory, or oppressive language.

• We ask that all members should be empowered to participate as fully as reasonably possible in the grove activities.

• We ask all those responsible for groves to be aware of the language used by its membership. Many common expressions use discriminatory language so we would ask that this is called out and corrected to avoid causing offence.

• We ask that no assumptions are made about anyone’s gender, pronouns, sexual preference, abilities, ethnic identity, survivor status, or life experience. Derogatory comments of any sort should not be tolerated.

• We ask that all work and activities of the grove should be kept confidential to that grove and its membership and not be discussed in the wider public unless by mutual agreement of its members.

• We ask that groves members are always encouraged to behave with kindness and consideration to each other.  That members are encouraged to listen to views which are different from their own, and to express any opposing views in a nonconfrontational way.

• We ask that bullying, harassment, or aggression in any shape or form is not tolerated and that grove leaders are prepared to address any situation where this occurs with compassion and fairness.

• We ask that each grove is clear what its policy is regarding minors or vulnerable adults attending any grove activity. We ask that, where appropriate, a responsible adult accompanies any minor or vulnerable adult whilst undertaking any grove activity. Please refer to the our Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults and Children Policy on the BDO website for further information.

• We recommend each grove creates its own safe spaces policy and be prepared to enforce it where necessary