Sexual Assault and Criminal Conduct Procedure

Last Updated: December 5, 2017

Acts of sexual harassment, assault or other crimes by any yoga teacher are unethical and illegal and are not tolerated by Yoga Alliance. We condemn the physical, mental, emotional, financial, or spiritual abuse of any yoga student.

Periodically, Yoga Alliance® receive reports from trainees at Registered Yoga Schools that a teacher has engaged in sexual misconduct or other serious, criminal conduct. In such situations, the trainee usually requests that Yoga Alliance take action against the offending Registered Yoga Teacher. We take such allegations seriously.

Sexual misconduct and other crimes against a student violates the Yoga Alliance Code of Conduct and can result in revocation of the offender’s RYT® and RYS® credentials. Because we must afford due process to all our registrants involved in a grievance allegation, Yoga Alliance will not automatically revoke any registrant’s credential upon receipt of an allegation of sexual misconduct and harassment without first offering the alleged offender notice of the complaint and an opportunity to respond. Yoga Alliance will also consider whether other evidence is available to support the allegation.

When Yoga Alliance receives an allegation of sexual misconduct or harassment, we first urge victims not to maintain silence or to keep allegations of harassment or assault within the “family,” lineage, tradition, organization, studio or school. As Yoga Alliance does not have the same authority or resources to investigate or stop criminal activity that law enforcement does, we encourage individuals to use the criminal, legal, judicial and social support systems available in your jurisdiction.

In addition to law enforcement, we urge victims to consider the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected to a trained staff member from a local sexual assault service provider in your area. We also encourage victims to visit online.rainn.org to chat anonymously.