You know how when something really bad happens, especially in the public eye,
people talk about it. They get outraged about it. They want to lift awareness for it.
And then maybe a few days... a week... a month later...
No matter how much we said we should all keep talking about this, we stop talking
about this.
Well, I don't want to. Some short years ago it was disclosed that many youtubers
were taking advantage of their position. They were being abusive,
they were harassing, they were assaulting. In a couple cases, they were committing rape.
And these disclosures brought about the formation of an organization that is now
called Uplift. Uplift! Uplift formed to combat sexual violence online. As a
part of that, they put together a safer community pledge and requested that
everybody take it. I have taken it the first year, the second year, and now i'm
going to take it for my third year. This pledge does a good job, I think, of giving
us some guidelines. And I'm happy to take it again!
I pledge that I will always prioritize consent. I understand that consent is the
presence of an enthusiastic yes rather than the absence of a no and that
consent cannot be given when someone is asleep or physically or mentally incapacitated.
I pledge that I will respect my partner's wishes and that I
will not pressure or coerce them into doing anything that makes them uncomfortable.
I pledge to stand with survivors of sexual abuse or harassment
by showing them compassion and respect
I pledge to never blame the victim for any
abuse they've experienced. Sexual violence is never the victim's fault!
I pledge to admit when I make mistakes and to apologize for my actions. When someone
tells me that I've done something sexist, victim-blaming, or otherwise offensive, I
pledge to be open to their words.
I pledge to support conversations
surrounding sexual abuse and harassment in a way that is respectful of my needs
and the needs of those i'm speaking with.
And I pledge to create safer communities both online and off.
I've also been proud to help out uplift
at the booths they've had at VidCon these past couple of years. This year they made
and i helped to give out these Con Safety cards. I don't need to wait for another
disclosure of an incidence of sexual violence on youtube to still be opposed
to it happening and to still want to raise awareness for everyone that this
is a dangerous thing that happens! Not infrequently! Too much! Just this month i
read a Mashable article about how one of the victims of Tobuscus came forward and
had to deal with the repercussions of that. Just this week I retweeted the
statement that you're more likely to have your career hurt by reporting
sexual harassment then by committing it.
This is the world in which we live and it sucks, but it's not going to get any
better if we don't talk about it, or if we don't admit that it's happening. I am
aware and I admit that this platform that I'm a part of, this YouTube
community, is a place where (though I'm happy to be here)
it does have people committing heinous acts. And I want everyone to be aware of
it, not so that they are afraid, but so that they know what to watch out for and
so we can help each other to prevent these things from happening more, and
from spreading, and from continuing where it's happening now. If you don't already,
please follow uplift on Twitter or Facebook or tumblr or youtube. I'll
include links in my description. They do good work. And if you also have a public
platform where you can do this same thing, I encourage you to also take the
Safer Community Pledge if you haven't yet, or if you want to take it again.
That's my VEDA for today. Tell me what you think about uplift's work and the
Safer Community Pledge in the comments below or tell me anything that matters
to you because I want to know what matters to you.
And I really appreciate
you watching all the way to the end of this video. The end of my videos is where
I always say:
Tomorrow
will be even better!