permaculture

[Ben Martin Horst <ben.martinhorst@gmail.com>]

Hi Wes and others,
I think this deserves its own separate thread. You write:

"One of the big things i have been struggling with has do do with the
ethics of PC teachers that hit on the female students at their sites and
courses and how are we going to address this -can we  set a committee that
will take complaints  we have nowhere to direct people that have
complaints-this i feel will undue our movement faster than all the stuff i
have read on this list serve."

The unfortunate likelihood is that whatever you're seeing as a man is
probably just the tip of a much larger iceberg. I think we should be clear
in calling it what it is: a teacher hitting on a student is sexual
harassment, as it necessarily involves a power differential. Sexual
harassment is illegal in the United States and many other countries, and
hugely detrimental to students and, as you note, to the permaculture
"movement."

The following paragraph is clipped from "A 'Pattern Language' for Women in
Permaculture, originally published in the August 2013 Permaculture Activist
(now available at
http://seedsustainabilityconsulting.com/women-in-permaculture-article-in-permaculture-activist/
):

"Men can be allies to women in many ways, and are especially invited to
take an active role in anti-harassment policies, because men do most sexual
harassment of women. 'Sexual harassment is handled badly in two ways: when
we ignore it, and when we communicate policies in a way that is too heavy
handed,' according to Starhawk. EAT has a policy against teachers getting
romantically involved with students during courses. They also set a tone
early in the course by discussing healthy boundaries with students, like
'no means no, and yes means yes.'"

It seems to me that there is a role for a larger body in monitoring the
ethics of PDC instructors, taking complaints, and withdrawing credentials,
as necessary. Wes, you would certainly know better than I, but it seems to
me that PINA is the only reputable body that is large enough and has any
sort of structure in place to accomplish this.

-Ben