We’ve pledged to support Respect in Security and here’s why you should too

The #MeToo movement struck a chord with millions of people throughout the world because it gave them the opportunity to speak up about experiences of harassment that they had witnessed or fallen victim to. While most of the early attention was in the entertainment industry, it became evident that harassment is common everywhere – including cybersecurity. So today, RankedRight has pledged its support to Respect in Security, a movement taking a stand against all forms of harassment within the industry, both online and in the workplace.

According to research, a third of cybersecurity professionals have experienced harassment online (32%) and in-person (35%).

Enough is enough.

We fully support the new initiative set up to give victims and potential victims of harassment the knowledge that the industry they have chosen does not support these behaviours. You can sign up too and together we can arm people entering cybersecurity with the knowledge that their peers and employers are there to support them should they ever be targeted.

Here is our pledge:

RankedRight, as a member of the cybersecurity community committed to the prevention of all forms of harassment within our industry, hereby pledges its support for a workplace and community free from harassment and fear.

Harassment is any unwanted physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct that has the purpose or effect of either violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. Harassment may be persistent or an isolated incident and may manifest obviously or be hidden or insidious. It may take place in person, by telephone or in writing, including emails, texts, or online communications such as social media. The definition of harassment applies equally to situations of direct communication as it does to situations of active exclusion of individuals, or solicitation of such communication or exclusion.

This pledge applies in the workplace as well as in work-related settings outside the workplace or outside the regular business day. We pledge that:

• We will work to eliminate harassment, to include all employees, partners, customers, and interactions. Any form of harassment, even when not unlawful or directed at a protected category, will not be tolerated.

• We will not tolerate, condone, or ignore any form of harassment no matter where it occurs, or the personnel involved.

• We will ensure that staff members are not asked to operate in unsafe organizational or social environments.

• We will empower employees, contractors and third parties to come forward with reports without fear of retaliation, and to immediately and respectfully respond without prejudice. We recognise that those reporting harassment are not in any way disloyal to the company or the community, and that everyone deserves to work in a positive environment.

• We will protect the anonymity of those reporting suspected violations to the greatest extent reasonably possible.

• We will regularly educate employees and contractors what constitutes harassment and why it’s never acceptable, while continually maintaining and actively reviewing our policy and reporting mechanisms.

We will regularly discuss reporting protocol with our employees and ensure that we make a public version of this protocol publicly available for external reference and use.

If you don’t support harassment in the workplace, make your position clear by pledging to Respect in Security. Our industry is making the world safer in many ways – let’s add one more.