ReSpec: Accountability Support
Join our drop-in monthly meeting space for people who have caused harm and are engaged in taking ownership of our choices and behaviors and the impact they have. We want to stop the cycle of harm in our lives, and here we offer mutual support on our respective and ongoing paths of accountability.
These meetings are intended to offer mutual support, where folks are invited to listen to and share with each other around their lived experiences and what they’re striving towards.
Yes! We are still meeting every month! ReSpec started as a project of the Games Hotline, but is continuing to run even after the close of the Hotline. The group is now open to anyone who has caused harm, regardless of professional background.
Humanity, Dignity, & Change
We’re here with the hope of restoring humanity and dignity to the experience of causing harm and living with it, while also centering the reality that we hurt people. We want to make things as right as we can and prevent further harm from happening again in the future.
Harm includes any action or behavior that has an adverse or damaging effect on others. Some examples that we’ve focused on in this space include
- misuse of power, force, or intimidation
- manipulation, gaslighting, or coercion
- sexual assault and harassment (including unwanted advances, touching, and forced or coerced sexual acts)
- perpetuating sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and other forms of oppression.
Interested in dropping in? Fill out this form for an invite.
“Respec” is a term used in role playing games when you are given the chance to rebuild or re-determine your character’s skills and abilities, to rebalance the stats (or “specs”) that define them. When the priorities and play style you’d previously used are no longer working for you, taking the time to respec can offer the necessary changes to be able to re-engage with the game in a way better informed by your learned experiences.