Code of Conduct · v1.3
This code is how everyone at a Bachata Social World Cup event treats each other. It applies to every person who takes part, whatever their role, title or result. That includes our own team.
Competitors, judges, MCs and hosts, competition coordinators, marshals and scorers, staff and volunteers, partner organizers and their teams, the Bachata Social World Cup team and directors, coaches, supporters, spectators, photographers and videographers.
It applies at every Bachata Social World Cup competition (qualifiers, cups and the World Cup Finals), at the parties and activities around them, and online whenever the behavior is connected to the competition or to the people in it.
Partner festivals that host a qualifier have their own rules too. Where both apply, the stricter one wins.
Competitors accept this code when they register, as part of our Terms. Judges, MCs, staff and partner organizers accept it when they take on their role.
No role, reputation, ranking or level of visibility places anyone above this code.
For everyone
01
Discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying and humiliation are not accepted. This includes "jokes", imitations and gestures that mock someone for their nationality, ethnicity, skin color, facial features, accent, language, religion, body, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability.
02
Consent is free, mutual and can be withdrawn at any time. Agreeing to dance is not agreeing to close embrace or extra contact. A no, or a stop, is respected immediately and needs no explanation. Touching someone's buttocks, breasts, crotch or inner thighs, kissing them, or any contact of a sexual nature is never part of the dance, in a competition or at a social, whatever the music, the crowd or the moment seems to invite.
03
Unwanted sexual attention, sexualized comments about someone's body or dancing, unwanted contact, repeated advances after a refusal, threats, stalking and retaliation against someone who refused, disagreed or reported are never accepted.
04
Mind the space and the people around you. No dips, lifts, floor work or tricks without room, skill and the consent of your partner. Doing it for the show is no excuse. Respect injuries and physical limits.
05
Judges, artists, MCs, organizers and staff never use their position to pressure, humiliate or obtain anything from anyone, and never punish someone for a refusal or a report. Artists and judges who compete are competitors on the floor, bound by the same rules as everyone else.
06
Insults, mockery, pile-ons and harassment on social media or messaging apps are treated as if they happened at the event when they target competitors, judges, staff or anyone involved. This also applies when an incident becomes public: criticize the behavior, never threaten the person.
07
Do not film or photograph people covertly, keep filming after someone objects, or share images to mock or harass anyone.
08
One account per person and true information when you register. No attempt to influence a result by anything other than dancing.
09
Follow the instructions of the competition team, marshals, security and venue staff. Respect the venue and other people's property. Intoxication is never an excuse, and illegal drugs are not tolerated.
When something discriminatory or abusive happens in front of you, staying silent lets it pass as normal. You do not need to confront anyone: tell a member of the competition team, or write to us afterwards. People with a microphone, a judge's seat or an organizer's badge are expected to act on the spot. What that looks like during a competition is written below.
During a competition
When someone is harassed, touched without consent, mocked or humiliated during a competition, this is what happens, at every qualifier, cup and Final.
Competition coordinators and MCs go through this protocol with us before their first event and are briefed again before each one. Partner organizers walk their MC, judges and staff through it before the competition starts.
Safeguarding
Dancers can compete from the age of 16. Every adult at our events shares the responsibility for keeping younger dancers safe.
By role
On top of the rules for everyone, each role has its own.
You represent yourself, your community and your country. Your flag goes onto the floor with you.
Your scores decide who travels to Geneva and who becomes champion. Integrity is the whole job.
A microphone multiplies every word. What an MC says, or lets pass, becomes what the event stands for.
The competition runs on your fairness. Every dancer must be treated the same way.
A qualifier carries the Bachata Social World Cup name, and this code with it.
This code binds us first.
Cheer as loud as you like, for your dancers and for everyone else.
Speak up
You do not need to be sure it breaks the code before you reach out. You do not need to confront anyone, and you can bring someone you trust.
No account needed. Name and email are optional: leave them empty to stay anonymous. What you write reaches the people who handle conduct reports, and nobody else.
What happens next
Consequences
There is no fixed scale. Every case is different, so every case is reviewed by the World Cup Committee, and the sanction is decided for that case.
What the Committee weighs
Depending on the case, a sanction can go from a reminder of this code to a permanent ban from all Bachata Social World Cup competitions. Serious cases do not need a prior warning.
Anyone sanctioned beyond the event itself can appeal in writing to info@bachatasocialworldcup.com within 14 days of being told the decision. The appeal is reviewed by members of the World Cup Committee who did not take the first decision, and their decision is final. A sanction stays in force while the appeal is reviewed.
Version 1.3, last updated 11 November 2026.
