If you believe someone is violating the Code of Conduct, we ask that you report it to the Django Software Foundation by emailing conduct@djangoproject.com. All reports will be kept confidential. In some cases the DSF Board may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that's the case, the identities of all affected parties and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.
If you believe anyone is in physical danger, please notify appropriate law enforcement first. If you are unsure what law enforcement agency is appropriate, please include this in your report and we will attempt to notify them.
Not every conflict or disagreement represents a Code of Conduct violation. Tensions can occur between community members even when they are trying their best to collaborate in good faith. Differences of opinion, technical disagreements, and communication challenges are normal parts of working together. However, violations often occur in how we respond to these disagreements. It's acceptable to question the merit of a technical decision, but it's not acceptable to question the merit or value of the people who made that decision.
If you are unsure whether an incident is a violation, or whether the space where it happened is covered by this Code of Conduct, we encourage you to still report it. We would much rather have a few extra reports where we decide to take no action, rather than miss a report of an actual violation. We do not look negatively on you if we find the incident is not a violation. And knowing about incidents that are not violations, or happen outside our spaces, can also help us to improve the Code of Conduct or the processes surrounding it.
You do not need to be directly affected by an incident to report it. If you witness or become aware of behavior that violates the Code of Conduct, we encourage you to report it, even if you were not the target of the behavior.
While reports can be submitted in any language, please note that the working group primarily operates in English. If you use translation tools to prepare your report, please let us know so we can keep that in mind during our evaluation. We will make every effort to work with reports submitted in any language.
In your report please include:
- Your contact information (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up)
- Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.
- When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
- Your account of what occurred. If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a forum post) please include a link.
- Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
- If you believe this incident is ongoing.
- Any other information you believe we should have.
The working group is committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of all individuals involved in Code of Conduct matters.
Reports and the identity of reporters will be kept confidential to the extent possible. The working group will not share reporter identities with the reported party. However, in some situations, context may allow individuals to infer who made a report.
Personal information is:
- Stored securely with access limited to working group members handling the specific report
- Used only for the purpose of investigating and resolving reports
- Retained in accordance with the Django Software Foundation's data retention policies and applicable privacy laws
- Protected in accordance with applicable data protection regulations
For details on how records are maintained, see the Record Keeping section below.
Retaliation against anyone who reports a concern in good faith is itself a violation of this Code of Conduct and will be treated seriously. If you experience retaliation after making a report, please report that as well.
You will receive an email from the DSF Code of Conduct Working Group acknowledging receipt. The working group strives to respond promptly, recognizing that as volunteers, coordination may take time. The working group will keep you informed of progress and any delays.
The working group will immediately meet to review the incident and determine:
- What happened.
- Whether this event constitutes a Code of Conduct violation.
- Who was responsible for the behavior.
- Whether this is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone's physical safety.
If this is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the working group's immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an "official" response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.
Examples of ongoing incidents include: someone continuing to engage in harassment on a forum, persistent unwelcome contact, or any situation where harmful behavior is actively continuing.
For ongoing situations or threats to safety, working group members may act immediately (before reaching consensus) to protect community members. This can include temporarily restricting someone's access to certain spaces or requiring they avoid contact with specific individuals. See our Working Group Manual for more details on how we handle urgent situations.
The working group aims to have an initial response to you within one week of receiving your report, though we recognize that complex cases may take longer. We will keep you informed throughout the investigation process.
The working group must agree on a resolution by consensus. If the working group cannot reach consensus within a reasonable timeframe, the working group will turn the matter over to the board for resolution.
Once the working group has a complete account of the events, they will make a decision as to how to respond using our Enforcement Ladder. The enforcement ladder includes responses ranging from warnings to permanent bans, with the goal of repairing harm while considering the incident's impact on individuals and the community. Depending on the severity of a violation, lower levels may be skipped.
Once a resolution is agreed upon, but before it is enacted, the working group will contact you and any other affected parties to explain the proposed resolution. The working group will ask if this resolution is acceptable, and will note your feedback for the record.
However, the working group is not required to act on this feedback. The final decision rests with the working group, using their best judgment to balance the needs of the affected parties with the safety and health of the broader community.
Once we've determined our final action, we'll contact you to let you know what action (if any) we'll be taking.
Finally, the Working Group will make a report on the situation to the DSF board. The board may choose to issue a public report of the incident.
Any member of the working group must immediately notify the other members in writing (by disclosure on the report email thread) and recuse themselves from handling a report if they:
- Are involved in the incident itself
- Have a personal relationship with any involved party
- Work for the same employer as an involved party
- Have access to private information that could bias their judgment
- Have any other conflict of interest that could affect their impartiality
If your report concerns a current member of the Code of Conduct working group, you may not feel comfortable sending your report to the working group, as all members will see the report.
In that case, you can make a report directly to any or all of the current chairs of the Code of Conduct working group. Their email addresses are listed on the Code of Conduct working group page. The chairs will follow the usual enforcement process with the other members, but will exclude the member(s) that the report concerns from any discussion or decision making.
If your report concerns all current chairs of the working group, please send your report directly to the DSF board at foundation@djangoproject.com instead.
Any of the parties directly involved or affected can request reconsideration of the working group's decision. To make such a request, contact the DSF Board at foundation@djangoproject.com with your request and motivation and the DSF board will review the case.
The working group will never publicly discuss specific incidents. All public statements about individual Code of Conduct matters will be made by the DSF board, if deemed necessary.
However, to demonstrate that the Code of Conduct is being actively and fairly enforced, the working group will publish annual transparency reports including anonymized statistics such as:
- Number of reports received
- Types of violations reported
- General outcomes (warnings, suspensions, bans)
- Any trends or patterns observed
These reports will be prepared in a way that protects the confidentiality of all involved parties while providing community accountability.
The working group maintains records of all information and communications related to incident reports, including:
- Initial reports and all communications with reporters
- Investigation materials and evidence
- Email discussions and documented deliberations
- Notes and key takeaways from meetings
- Decisions made in DSF Slack (recorded into meeting notes)
- Communications with all involved parties
- Final resolutions and any follow-up actions
Records are retained in accordance with the Django Software Foundation's data retention policies and applicable privacy laws.
All members of the working group involved in handling a specific incident report have access to all records related to that report. This ensures informed decision-making. The board may request access to records for oversight purposes.
Our documents and policies are adapted from and inspired by a number of sources.