Bite Back Complaints Policy
Bite Back! Events Ltd are committed to ensuring accountability and justice for victims of abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind. Besides which, we would be a terrible event promoter if we never took on board complaints about how we run our shows, who we platform, and where we go.
To that end, we have written this joint Safeguarding and Accountability policy to outline how we will deal with your complaints - whether they be about allegations of misconduct, a report of abuse, or a complaint about us as an organisation and/or our partners.
It is organised into four sections which tell you what we can do for you if:
Allegations or reports of incidents involving a member or affiliate of Bite Back! which occur during one of our events
Allegations or reports of incidents which occur at an event, but do not involve a member of affiliate of our team
Allegations or reports of incidents or of misconduct about a team member which have occurred outside of an event
Complaints of a procedural nature about how we operate and run our events; refunds; ticket returns; feedback of a general nature about an event you came to see
As always, serious allegations or reports of crime; threats to safety; concerns about well-being; and emergencies such as a fire, injury, or immediate danger of loss of life; should be made through the appropriate services.
Just in case you’re not sure who to talk to, these are some handy links to important services that you can contact depending on what the nature of your complaint is:
Always call 999 if there is an immediate threat to your safety, health, or well-being.
West Yorkshire Police can investigate crime, anti-social behaviour, and provide advice on how best to keep yourself safe. Simply dial 101 into your phone at any time, or you can use the Live Chat service here to talk to a real human being and seek help : https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/LiveChat
NHS 111 can give you health advice and help you access urgent care if you suddenly feel unwell or a pre-existing condition gets worse. They can also provide guidance on what to do if you receive a minor injury. Ring 111 on your phone, talk to a medical professional, or access https://111.nhs.uk/ online
Leeds City Council can deal with urgent enquiries about someone sleeping rough; a concern you have about the well-being of an adult or child; or an incident in a Council-owned or operated venue.
The Council has an extensive out-of-hours directory depending on the specific issue which you can find here: https://www.leeds.gov.uk/emergency-out-of-hours-contact-numbers
This link : https://www.leeds.gov.uk/housing/contact-us-about-housing has detailed contact information for local housing support teams depending on where the subject of the enquiry is currently based.
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As a promoter, we work closely with a small number of local venues to produce shows which are safe, welcoming, enriching spaces for the Trans community in Leeds.
We therefore will always defer to venue policies when it comes to misconduct, harassment, and abuse.
In particular, many of our shows and events take place in Wharf Chambers, a private members’ club near to the central Bus station in Leeds. You can find all of their policies and detailed explanations of how they deal with misconduct, safeguarding disclosures, and their stance on issues such as racial harassment, transphobia, and assault here: https://wharfchambers.org/category/policies/
As Wharf Chambers is a members’ club, any misconduct or allegations of misconduct result in tangible consequences, ranging from temporary bans to involvement of the local authorities.
However, our operational requirement to hold events in spaces tailored to individual shows means that sometimes an incident will occur in a public venue which does not have a comprehensive set of policies covering serious incidents.
For this reason, we are setting out -
What you can expect from Bite Back!
The steps you should take to report an incident or complain about something
Who to contact if Bite Back! can not or will not resolve an issue, complaint, or allegation.
This policy does not imply that Bite Back! will inevitably and consistently investigate any and all disclosures made to us through the procedure below. It does not affect your statutory rights to redress through legal proceedings; and in all cases, if you witness a crime, or see behaviour which is unsafe and/or illegal, then you should report it to the relevant authorities as set out above.
Nevertheless, as we have set out in our Safer Spaces Policy, if we can help you, and we are able to, we will always endeavour to make sure that someone who has made you or others feel unsafe is not welcome at our events.
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What to do if you witness an incident at a Bite Back event
If you witness abuse, harassment, exclusionary behaviour, or discrimination at a Bite Back event, there are several things you can do right away:
Tell them to back off and go away, you are within your rights to assert your boundaries.
Inform the Bite Back! team member minding the door. We will always make sure there is someone sat behind a table at the door into our venues, who is aware of hwo to handle a disclosure of harassment or of a safeguarding concern. These individuals will be marked with lanyards and will be made clear to you at the beginning of events.
Inform venue staff. Sometimes, venues will contract door supervisors (security), who are trained to deal with people behaving abusively at live events. In any case, we will speak to venue management at the first available opportunity if it is appropriate, so that they are aware of the incident.
As mentioned above, contact the emergency services, or Leeds City Council out-of-hours if you have witnessed a crime or you are concerned for someone’s well-being
If you are a witness to an incident, or you didn’t feel up to telling us about it right away, we can still help you.
You can email robyn@bitebackevents.co.uk, who is the designated team member responsible for Safeguarding and Complaints.
Here’s what we will try and do right away
Tell someone making you or others feel unsafe to move away from the area and your space.
If they have left, taking down details such as a description of the person, what they were doing, and passing this on to venue staff to prevent them being admitted
In the longer term, we can:
Help you make a crime report or a referral to the Local Authority
Pass on any information you have to a specific venue, which may help either prevent future incidents, or in targeting specific individuals who continually threaten other people’s safety
Publicly call out individuals or groups if it is appropriate to do so
Discreetly pass on information to other promoters, venues, and individuals about someone’s behaviour
Finally, if we have an accurate name and/or description we can sanction an individual or a group with bans, black-listing, etc..
What to do if you have witnessed misconduct from a member of the Bite Back team:
If one of our performers, or an associate of a performer, is responsible for an incident of misconduct, you should let a Bite Back director know. Our Directors are Jinx and Robyn.
What they can do:
Take a statement from you, either in person or in writing via email. You should only email robyn@bitebackevents.co.uk not any other email address (connected to Bite Back). This is so that your message does not become lost and so that we can keep a good record of all information.
You can cc in others if it will help you to feel more comfortable, but please tell us if you do so we’re aware.
Investigate if this is required. For example, where there is no footage of the alleged incident, we may feel obliged to take a statement from the other party in order to ensure fairness.
This is because our performers are paid a fee, and sign a contract. Just like any other kind of employmer, we are therefore required to follow what is called “due process”, whereby an incident of misconduct is properly investigated. If we didn’t do this (where appropriate), we could be taken to court and found liable for treating the subject of the complaint unfairly.
However, this does not affect any of your rights both under the law and as a member of the community to seek redress outside of Bite Back! events. For example, if we can’t verify an allegation you make about a performer, there is nothing stopping you from going directly to the venue; sharing your story with others; or making a report to the police if this is warranted.
Things we can do as a company:
Refuse to work with individuals or groups who discriminate against members of our community, make them feel unsafe, and harm the sanctity of safe spaces.
Share privately with partner organisations, such as other promoters, venues, and associated artists, concerns
Support you if you have been a victim of exclusionary, abusive, or discriminatory behaviour
Publicly denounce individuals or groups if this is appropriate and if we can safely do so without threatening the safety of victims of their behaviour and actions.
Even so, there may be instances where you have a serious allegation about a Director or senior member of Bite Back Limited.
In this case, you may wish to escalate your concerns above the management of our company.
The following organisations are independent of us and can provide you with guidance, open a case, and even take action against Bite Back! to hold us accountable if we do not live up to the standards we set ourselves:
Equity - the Trade Union for performers, musicians and anyone working in the Theatre, Television, Film and Video Games Industry.
If you have a complaint about your working conditions as a paid artist, we strongly recommend membership of a well-organised and effective Trade Union. Equity can provide you with basic advice; help you find others who may have similar experiences to you; and support you to take collective direct action against unfair or illegal practices by organising strikes, protesting outside offices, and taking legal action against an employer or contractor.
You can get in touch with them directly with any queries including about a specific case here: https://www.equity.org.uk/contact-us
Equity also have their own Drag Network who you can contact via their email, drag@equity.co.uk
Sisterhood in Solidarity - working to support Sex Workers in Leeds and West Yorkshire through workshops, salons, and campaigns. Follow them on Instagram @sisterhood_in_solidarity
Companies House, the Insolvency Service, and the Information Commissioner are the government agencies that you can write to if you have a concern about how Bite Back! is operating as a business.
If you believe a Director of the Company is unfit to run the company, you can apply to the Insolvency Service, to Companies House, or to the Competition and Markets Authority. More information on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/company-director-disqualification
If you believe we have improperly processed personal information, or have a complaint about how we have handled your personal data (for example, if you have had your information shared without consent), you can complain in writing to the Information Commissioner’s Office, https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/