SBA Points of Unity

Students for Barrier-free Access strives for a welcoming and safe space for all of its members, volunteers, and staff. SBA actively works to create an anti-racist, anti-imperial, anti-classist, anti-homophobic, anti-transphobic, anti-sexist, anti-misogynist, anti-ableist, anti-sanist, anti-ageist space that challenges settler colonialism, state violence and state terrorism, and other forms of systemic and institutionalized oppression. SBA also supports its members in challenging racism, xenophobia, classism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, misogyny, mysoginoir, transmysoginy, ableism and sanism, discrimination on the basis of religion/spirituality, and institutionalized oppression within the university setting and in the wider community.

The following Statement of Principles has been created in order to guide the organization and its members in following SBA’s mission. SBA recognizes that its members may not be fully knowledgeable about forms of harassment and discrimination including ableism, sanism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, racism, anti-black racism and white supremacy, systemic and institutionalized oppression, and settler and other forms of colonialism. However, we strongly and actively encourage our members, volunteers, and staff to educate themselves on these issues.

Students for Barrier-Free Access believes that it is our collective responsibility to create a space that is safe and inclusive. As such, we expect all members to adhere to the following principles:

1. Sexual harassment, name-calling, cyberstalking, and cyberbullying, racism, racialized violence, homophobia, transphobia, and fatphobia, as well as harassment as a result of disability, age, class, religion or spirituality and size will not be tolerated.
2. All members of SBA are expected to act with fairness, integrity, and to treat other members and staff with respect and dignity. SBA members that represent the organization occupy a position of trust and should therefore act in a manner that preserves that trust.
3. Members should strive to maintain the confidentiality of any personal information gained as a member of SBA in order to maintain safer space at SBA for all members. We expect our members to be comfortable sharing information with each other without the fear of having the information relayed without permission and used in an abusive manner against the person. We expect our members to not engage in gossiping or other forms of malicious and harmful actions.
4. We expect our members to not engage in harassing behaviours including, but not limited to, remarks, jokes, innuendos, gestures, or other comments about someone’s body, appearance, physical or sexual characteristics or clothing, displaying sexually offensive or derogatory pictures or materials, engaging in persistent and unwelcome invitations or requests, or in behaviours or comments that are intended to intimidate or that have the effect of creating a hostile environment or that cause distress. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where members feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
5. We expect our members to refrain from engaging in acts of racism, racialized violence, and not support white supremacy including but not limited to, name-calling, remarks, jokes, gestures, or other comments about someone’s body, appearance, skin tone, or racialized identity, blackface, brownface, yellowface and redface, displaying racist or derogatory pictures, videos, or materials, engaging in persistent and unwelcome behaviours or comments that have the effect of creating an unsafe and/or hostile environment or that cause distress. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where black, indigenous, and people of colour feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
6. We expect our members to refrain from engaging in homophobic acts and homophobic violence, including but not limited to, remarks, jokes, insults, gestures, or other comments about someone’s identity and sexual preferences, their body, appearance, physical or sexual characteristics or clothing, displaying homophobic or derogatory pictures, videos, or materials, engaging in persistent and unwelcome behaviours or comments that are intended to intimidate or that have the effect of creating a hostile and/or unsafe environment or that cause distress. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where people of all sexualities feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
7. We expect our members to refrain from engaging in transphobic acts and transphobic violence, including but not limited to, deliberate misgendering, remarks, jokes, insults, gestures, or other comments about someone’s gender identity, body, appearance, physical or sexual characteristics or clothing, displaying transphobic or derogatory pictures, videos, or materials, and engaging in persistent and unwelcome behaviours or comments that are intended to intimidate or that have the effect of creating a hostile and/or unsafe environment or that cause distress. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where trans, two-spirit, non-binary, intersex and genderqueer people feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
8. We expect our members to refrain from engaging in ableist and sanist acts, including but not limited to remarks, jokes, insults, gestures, or other comments about someone’s gender identity, body, appearance, physical characteristics, displaying ableist and sanist pictures, videos, or materials, and engaging in persistent and unwelcome behaviours or comments that are intended to intimidate or that have the effect of creating a hostile and/or unsafe environment or that cause distress. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where disabled people, including people who experience madness or mental health issues, learning disabilities, chronic illness and invisible disabilities feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
9. We expect our members to refrain from fatphobic acts including but not limited to remarks, jokes, insults, gestures, or other comments about someone’s size, body, appearance, physical characteristics, displaying sizeist pictures, videos, or materials, and engaging in persistent and unwelcome behaviours or comments that are intended to intimidate or that have the effect of creating a hostile and/or unsafe environment or that cause distress. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where people of all sizes feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
10. We expect our members to uphold anti-colonialism as part of our disability justice work at SBA and honour and respect cultural differences (INCITE! http://incite-national.org/page/principles-unity). We expect our members to refrain from colonial acts including but not limited to remarks, jokes, insults, gestures, or other comments about someone’s status, migration history, history of displacement, experience as a colonized person, religious identification or spirituality, or any related comments about someone’s body, appearance, and/or physical characteristics. Displaying pictures, videos, or materials that make light of these issues, or that promote colonization, and engaging in persistent and unwelcome behaviours or comments that are intended to intimidate or that have the effect of creating a hostile and/or unsafe environment or that cause distress will not be tolerated. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where colonized people feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
11. We expect our members to refrain from engaging in acts that discriminate, oppress, or culturally appropriate from First Nations and Indigenous spirituality, and from any other religions and spiritualities. We expect our members to refrain from acts including but not limited to remarks, jokes, insults, gestures, or other comments about someone’s religion, religious identification, or spirituality, or any related comments. Displaying pictures, videos, or materials that make light of religious and spiritual beliefs, or religious or spiritual affiliation, engaging in persistent and unwelcome behaviours or comments that are intended to intimidate or that have the effect of creating a hostile and/or unsafe environment or that cause distress will not be tolerated. SBA strives to create and continuously work towards providing a space where people of all spiritualities or spiritual and religious affiliations feel valued, respected, and as safe as possible.
12. We expect our members to not misuse their power for personal benefit. Abuse of power can occur based on a relationship where one reports to another, and in cases where a member depends upon a service being provided by another.