CONSENT & POWER Part 2: Networks of Complicity

CONSENT & POWER Part 2: Networks of Complicity, Thursday 29 October 7-9PM GMT on Zoom.

Workshop facilitators: Rupert James Alison and Wilrieke Sophia. 

In our previous workshop, (‘Consent and Power: Healthy and Unhealthy Power Dynamics between Facilitators and Participants’), we introduced a system of flags to help us assess healthy and unhealthy workshop power dynamics, both as a guide to help empower participants, and also as a self-check for facilitators. 

In this follow up workshop, we now direct our attention to those in abusive or unhealthy group dynamics, but who are not themselves the perpetrators or victims. These are the “networks of complicity” which so often surround abusive teachers, and which includes: active enablers, passive bystanders, and those who benefit socially or financially from being associated with the teacher who is abusing. We will also consider the challenges and consequences of being an ally or whistle-blower in these situations.

This workshop is in part inspired by the words of Karen Rain: 

“I’ve told my story to mainstream journalists several times about how Pattabbi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga yoga, sexually assaulted me and many other students regularly while “teaching” yoga. But all the articles left out the most important message I hoped to convey: **The essential role of bystanders, enablers and beneficiaries in all sexual violence**” 

In the first half of the workshop we will share with you some observations about how these different roles arise, how to spot them in others, and how we might proceed if we realise that we ourselves have stepped into them, either now or in the past. We will refer to work by Matthew Remksi, who is doing excellent work into these dynamics in the yoga world. We will also discuss a recent real-life example of these dynamics in the sex-positive/tantra world, with space for questions. 

In the second half of the workshop we will use a breakout room to offer you a choice of: 

(1) diving deeper into the theory of these dynamics with Rupert, or 

(2) further sharing and discussion space with Wilrieke. 

This is a psycho-educational and sharing space, not a therapeutic one. We will encourage and support you to practice self-care both during and after the workshop as we delve into this challenging material. We also recommend asking for personal support or aftercare if you might need it after the workshop. We will provide links to further resources, and we may follow this workshop with further workshops, sharing circles, and/or a survivor support group. We are open to requests and feedback on all aspects of our workshops. Note - this is a 'clothes on' workshop - thank you. 

Rupert James Alison was recruited by an abusive Buddhist yoga group in his twenties. Since then he has worked with a wide variety of teachers of different embodiment practices: some were brilliant and highly ethical, others were brilliant and unethical; some had integrity in some areas but not in others, and almost none of them had any kind of stated ethical position to which they could be held accountable. Going forward, we want and need to do much better. Rupert is an accredited facilitator of Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent, and has a vision of consent which is embodied, trauma aware, takes full account of toxic power dynamics, and is framed within social justice. www.artofconsent.co.uk 

Wilrieke Sophia grew up in a mix of toxic relationships between adults and being bullied. The researcher that she is, she collected the data and combined that with data of her own adult relationships, as well as some unhealthy power dynamics she observed in the world of tantra and intimacy around her. Besides creating her own workshops on personal growth through intimacy (Cuddle Workshops, tantra, kink, ritual, eros, and sacred European plant medicine), she has spent years developing structures for consent and ethics for intimacy based workshops. www.exploringdeeper.com

Tickets: 5/10/15 with 5 free.

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