Procedures: Responding to Reports
(revised June 2025)
These procedures will be revised in response to our workshop and follow-up work with Into Account. We want this document to be a living one, undergoing revision as our experience grows and our understanding deepens.
Brief outlines of these procedures are available:
for the person reporting harm
for the person reported to have caused harm
A form for reporting sexual misconduct is available here.
Guiding Values
- We are a religious society. In the work of the Sexual Misconduct Response Team (hereafter called Response Team), we aim to maintain worshipful attitudes and to hold all parties in the light of Love and Truth.
- Our aim is not to lay blame, but to ascertain facts, address harm, establish safety, and restore healthy and respectful relationships whenever possible.
- Sympathetic support: At every meeting with the Response Team, both the Friend reporting the incident and the reported Friend are invited to be accompanied by a trusted F/friend who will serve as a sympathetic listener and support. Often, a spouse or other intimate partner will be emotionally charged, and another person will fill this role with greater ease and effectiveness.
- The Response Team will keep the matter confidential during this process, and we ask the involved parties to do so, too. Both parties may choose someone from outside their family with whom to talk and share feelings. Outside of that, we do not want either party spreading gossip, rumors, or accusations. Participants may be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. (Please also see Stage 2: A. g. and Stage 4 below. Decisions will be made transparently with both parties if notification of monthly meetings or other persons/groups needs to be made.)
Stage 1: A report is made.
OVYM receives a report of sexual misconduct occurring at an OVYM event. The target of sexual misconduct (hereafter called the Reporter or Person Reporting) is encouraged to file a confidential, written report of the incident. (See Reporting Sexual Misconduct form below.)
NOTE: Detailed notes will be taken at every meeting and reviewed and approved by the persons involved, just as minutes are approved in the face of the meeting for worship with attention to business.
Stage 2: Initial response to report.
A member of the Response Team speaks as soon as possible with the person reporting harm and offers options. It is essential that the person reporting harm be supported emotionally, spiritually, and socially by the Yearly Meeting.
- If the incident has caused discomfort, the reporting person may choose to speak to the offending person (hereafter called the Reported) one on one. The Response Team member can coach the reporting person if need be.
- If the reporting person is not satisfied with the reported person’s response, or if the reporting person is not comfortable approaching the other person alone, the member of Response Team can accompany the reporting person to speak with the reported person.
- If a. or b. is carried out to a satisfactory conclusion, the matter can be considered closed and a confidential report can be written by the member of the Response Team and placed on file with the Administrative Assistant. If the conclusion is not satisfactory to the reporting person, further steps may be discerned and taken, including any of those listed below.
- If the incident has caused trauma, Religious Nurture and Education (RN&E) will offer the reporting person a small support group. That group will seek outside help as appropriate. OVYM’s response is no substitute for professional counseling when needed.
- An outline of the procedures to be followed will be provided to both the reporter and the reported so that everyone is clear on what will happen and who will do what.
- In consultation with the response team and members of RN&E as the committee that oversees this work and provides accountability to the response team, when appropriate OVYM will support the traumatized person to report the allegation to legal authorities. The response team may make use of outside professionals trained in trauma work and survivor support to initiate the process of safeguarding the individual who has made the report and then safeguarding the community in which the incident occurred.
- The person who made the initial report of misconduct should be advised what steps are being taken with the person reported. If the reporter prefers, communication can occur through their support group. NOTE On Confidentiality and Transparency: As they receive support, both the person reporting harm and the person reported need to be part of decisions on confidentiality and transparency. Gossip, character attacks, and uninformed speculation can be detrimental to care and healing and the respectful treatment of both parties. Since the details of each incident will differ, the members of the Response Team will make the determination regarding when confidentiality is to be a focus and when transparency is appropriate.
- The Response Team will notify the Yearly Meeting Clerk and Assistant Clerk that an incident has been reported. Further details are reported to the clerks only in case of emergency.
Monitor and Review: The Response Team and those providing support to the reporting person should establish with that individual their preferred methods and frequency of contact in the ongoing process of healing. The desired methods and frequency may change as the process proceeds.
Fact-finding. While it is not appropriate for OVYM to conduct a legal investigation, some basic fact-gathering will focus on a) determining what happened and if it was sexual misconduct, and b) the well-being and safety of the person/people directly impacted, as well as that of the community.
Stage 3: Working Concurrently with the Person Reported
Confronting the reported person. The reported person needs to be treated with respect and love. At the same time, we can be firm in expecting the reported person to face the reality of what has happened. In addition to finding out the reported person’s version of events, it may be important to ask the person to hold their behavior in the Light of Truth.
An outline of the procedures to be followed will be provided to both the reporter and the reported so that everyone is clear on what will happen and who will do what.
If ongoing risk to the reporter and/or the community is discerned, it may be necessary to develop a behavioral agreement and have the reported person sign it, as well as to report the incident to the reported person’s monthly meeting.
If the support group for the reporting person and the response team feel that the presence of the reported person threatens the safety of the community, the reported person will be required not to attend yearly meeting activities. It may be necessary to require individuals to refrain from attending events until fact-finding is complete.
When appropriate, a separate support group for the Friend reported might be considered for spiritual accompaniment through this process. That support group may offer to hold worship with the person reported in a separate setting outside of yearly meeting activities. NOTE: We must do our best to prevent retaliation against an individual for reporting an incident. The group wrapped around the reported person will offer support that does not compromise the process when information is received. In addition, it may be helpful (in consultation with the reported person) to ask the monthly meeting to support the reported person after the Yearly Meeting event concludes.
Stage 4: Community Safety
Ongoing risk. When the Response Team, perhaps in consultation with RN&E, determines that other groups (such as monthly and quarterly meetings) may be at risk from the reported person’s behavior, they will notify the clerks of those bodies. It is important that confidentiality does not lead to continuing harm.
Stage 5: Promoting Healing of Those Involved in the Incident, and the Community
Promoting the healing of the individual making the report and the community in which the incident occurred will require inspired, Spirit-led guidance. We want to emphasize that coercing “forgiveness” from the person who made the initial report is inappropriate and no substitute for true healing.
Behavioral agreement. The reported person may be required to sign a behavioral agreement in order to attend current and future OVYM events.
Outside Professionals. We anticipate the need on a case-by-case basis to enlist the assistance of trained outside professionals to assist in this healing journey. As mentioned above, professional support may be of significant help to the person reporting.
Stage 6: Documenting, Reporting, and Learning from Experience
Record Keeping: Written records of the initial complaint, the process, and any decisions and steps taken should be kept from the very beginning and all the way through the process. When the Yearly Meeting event is concluded, all records will be kept in a locked file cabinet with the Yearly Meeting’s Administrative Assistant.
Accountability: The Response Team reports to RN&E. If the Response Team needs consultation, they can consult with members of RN&E at the Yearly Meeting event. Anyone with issues (e.g., criticisms, suggestions, thanks) regarding the Sexual Misconduct Response Team can voice their concerns to RN&E.
