the Atlanta-Area Spanking Society

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Please make sure to review our Code of Conduct and Safety Policy before reading this page.

We take allegations of abuse and harassment seriously. We will look into complaints of conduct at our event for our registered attendees and may consider other outside conduct that has the potential to impact our events. This complaint process is not intended to resolve interpersonal conflicts that do not implicate the safety of our attendees. We will not consider complaints that are based on hearsay or rumor. Every matter is handled on a case-by-case basis.

We will review reports about violations of our Code of Conduct regardless of how much time has elapsed since the violation occurred. Such violations include, but are not limited to:

• Playing in a non-designated play area at the hotel.
• Violating the photo policy.
• Behaving inappropriately toward hotel staff.
• Abrogating consent in any way.
• Ignoring safewords.
• Engaging in a sexual act without prior express consent.
• Coercion.
• Repeatedly asking someone to play when they have said “no”, to the point that you make them uncomfortable.
• Discriminating against someone for any reason, including (but not limited to) their sex, race, gender, preferences, religion, or appearance.

If you witness, or are subject of, a Code of Conduct or Safety Policy violation, please contact us as soon as possible. We highly recommend you put it in writing and send it via email to spankinginatlanta@gmail.com with the subject line Incident Report and your Fetlife name (example: Incident Report — DomlyMcDomerson69420). Only people who have direct knowledge of one of these violations should make a report — if you “heard about” it happening, encourage the person involved to make a report, but if all you’re reporting is hearsay, we can’t really do anything about it.

For “minor” incidents (including, but not limited to: unwanted comments, following someone around, engaging in non-consensual touching such as unwanted hugs, using implements not previously negotiated, or pulling down underwear without prior discussion), GASP and AASS may attempt to resolve a complaint informally. However, if a verbal warning is not heeded, the violator will be asked to leave the event and may not be permitted to attend future events.

In general (but not always), our corrective action path is:

1. Verbal and/or written (ie: Fetlife message) warning to the violator.
2. Removal from the event and placing the violator on probation for one year. (Probation does not mean you cannot attend future events, but it does mean you will be watched much more carefully.)
3. Barring the violator from attending events for a period of two years.
4. Barring the violator from attending events indefinitely, or until AASS believes the suspension can be lifted safely.

Once corrective action is taken, only the parties involved in the incident report will be notified that said action has been taken.

If you are a violator who is subject to the corrective action policy above, you may appeal to AASS after the current event has ended. However, it is up to AASS whether or not your appeal is considered and whether or not items 3 or 4 (above) are rescinded.

All information is kept confidential by AASS leadership and is only discussed internally. We’re not going to tell everyone that DomlyMcDomerson69420 was accused of baring someone’s bottom without their consent, but we will take action against DomlyMcDomerson69420 to protect our attendees. We also aren’t going to publish a list of people who violate our Code of Conduct or Safety Policy; however, if we are asked directly by the organizer of another event, we reserve the right to share this information for the safety of all in the community.

Finally, AASS reserves the right to suspend or indefinitely exclude — without warning — repeat offenders of our Code of Conduct or Safety Policy, as well as anyone who has been convicted of a serious crime or anyone whose presence is likely to cause a disruption at the event.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us directly.