On harassment at IETF

["Dr. Pala" <[e-mail]>]

Dear IETF-ers,

tonight I had a very interesting conversation with some lovely people 
that shocked me. What I have been told, is that it is well known that 
there are some participants at the IETF that do behave less than 
professionally when it comes to harassment - especially toward women.

I am sorry to use strong language, but this is an issue that I have been 
exposed to in the past and that I find COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. I do not 
know what the policy is at the IETF, but I think there should be ZERO 
tolerance for such behavior. And if you are one the people that think 
this community will tolerate your behavior maybe because you are a 
well-known figure in the Industry, be sure of one thing: I will fight to 
make sure that (a) your behavior is publicly exposed, and (b) you get 
shamed and BANNED from IETF. The behavior, I think, should also be 
reported to the HR department of the organization that sent that 
individual for further actions.

I was appalled when I learned that such behavior has happened in this 
community.

As a man and a believer in the community, I am ashamed that such 
individuals are still allowed to attend IETFs.

I would urge women AND MEN that have been targeted or that know of such 
behavior to come forward - so that the community will know. I wonder why 
there is the tendency to hide these type of things - transparency and 
support is paramount to eradicate this awful behavior. Sometimes I hear 
"Oh, I can handle those individuals." - please think about who can not 
and might be the next target: how would you feel if something happens 
because you did not think about this ? I know it is not easy, but 
reporting the issue is really important.

I hope that this e-mail will have some effect - in my heart I could not 
stay silent and not bring the issue at the attention of the whole 
community... I feel, like many here, that the IETF is and should be a 
leading community: this means not only technically, but morally.

I did not know that this problem even existed at the IETF, and I urge 
the leadership to be more vocal about it - we need to make sure that 
people are vigilant and, if something like this happens, strong and 
resolute actions are taken: I would NOT expect anything less. Let me 
rephrase: NOBODY should expect anything less.

And now I have so many questions in my head:

      * But how can this happen ? Nobody knows about it or am I very naive ?
      * Are there any statistics about how much this phenomenon has been
        going on ?
      * If this is a well-known problem, why nobody talks about it ?

I know I am a man, but not all men (despite what it seems) are bad - 
unfortunately, some of the good ones are also blind to the problem as 
this is something that they would not think it is possible. If you are 
one of those, like I was, wake up! If you know anything or have seen 
anything, please speak out. Be bold, and make sure this does not happen.

This is my personal position and views.

Please reply privately.

-- 
Best Regards,
Massimiliano Pala, Ph.D.
OpenCA Labs Director
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