HARASSMENT in PM's or Otherwise

Recently, we were made aware of some serious sexual harassment going on from one member to another here at BP.net. It started out in Private Messages and then moved on to e-mail and other sites like MySpace. We don't know if the harassing member also bothered others here. We hope not. That person has been banned and will not bother anyone else again...at least not through BP.net...which is the best we can do.

The security of our members is of grave concern to us. We will NOT tolerate abuse of members through public threads, chat boxes, reputation comments, profile visitor messages, OR PRIVATE MESSAGES. The problem with the Private Messages, though...is that they are private. And unless someone comes to us and asks for help with it, we have no way of knowing it is going on.

IF you have received abusive messages (sexual or otherwise) please, please contact a staff member. The moderators are always highlighted in green, and the admins are red. Any of us can and will work with you on this. It is best if you can SAVE such messages and FWD them to us, but even if you have deleted messages already, we still want to try to work with you.

Such harassment can also be pursued through legal channels if it is severe enough. And/or can be reported to the person's ISP which may result in the termination of their service. Physical evidence is needed for these sorts of actions, but if you have it and would like to pursue it, we will help as much as we can.

Our member's security and comfort are top priorities for the staff. Please remember that!

Sincerely,
-- Judy, and the entire Ball-Pythons.net Staff

There was this guy, or maybe it was a girl, but anyway, he, or she, hurt my feelings. Really bad, too. Can you make him, or her, stop?

Or is that exactly NOT what you'd like to hear?

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Originally Posted by wilomn

There was this guy, or maybe it was a girl, but anyway, he, or she, hurt my feelings. Really bad, too. Can you make him, or her, stop?

Or is that exactly NOT what you'd like to hear?

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Action will be taken when it is clear what is going on is not merely petty bickering or someone being overly sensitive and delicate. That doesn't mean we don't care about people's feelings though, and if the staff can help mediate a problem, we would be glad to.

What I'm talking about above is pure, genuine harassment...and if a member is unsure of the degree they may be experiencing, they should still contact us and find out what we think about it and if anything can be done.

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Originally Posted by JLC

Action will be taken when it is clear what is going on is not merely petty bickering or someone being overly sensitive and delicate. That doesn't mean we don't care about people's feelings though, and if the staff can help mediate a problem, we would be glad to.

What I'm talking about above is pure, genuine harassment...and if a member is unsure of the degree they may be experiencing, they should still contact us and find out what we think about it and if anything can be done.

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this must be something new

To be clear we are not talking about petty squabbling that takes place. When someone enters the realm of sending unsolicited pornographic or obscene Pm's or emails to another member it will not be tolerated and this is not new. Anyone receiving this type of unwanted communications should feel free to contact any staff member to have the offender dealt with. It would be a good idea to save any evidence to forward to the staff for immediate action. If this happens to you please don't hesitate contact any staff member.

so attacking someone across 2 different forums is considered "petty squabbling"

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Originally Posted by nixer

so attacking someone across 2 different forums is considered "petty squabbling"

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I think the staff have been quite specific regarding the situation at hand.

If you feel you have a concern take it to mod or admim, provide what proof you can and it will be dealt with.

We did not have a situation in which someone was being overly sensitive or was getting trolled. We are discussing a situation that was overtly abusive.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

I think the staff have been quite specific regarding the situation at hand.

If you feel you have a concern take it to mod or admim, provide what proof you can and it will be dealt with.

We did not have a situation in which someone was being overly sensitive or was getting trolled. We are discussing a situation that was overtly abusive.

Bruce

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it was sent to the mods some time ago!
i understand the seriousness of this situation but at the same time ANYTHING unwanted, sexual in nature or not is technically harassment under federal law

This is a privately owned forum and the people who have their names displayed in red are the people that get to make the rules here. Their word is final on such matters. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but the the Administrators have the authority. That's the real bottom line.

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Originally Posted by nixer

it was sent to the mods some time ago!
i understand the seriousness of this situation but at the same time ANYTHING unwanted, sexual in nature or not is technically harassment under federal law

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If you are so offended, butt-hurt as it were, look just to your left. That is the egress. Through that is the real world.

See ya.