Bylaws

Item 1 The World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) is incorporated in the U.S.A. and subject to the civil laws and regulations of that country.

Item 2 WAS has two offices: one located at the current President's address and the other located at the current Secretary General / Treasurer's address. The President's office is WAS' representative office and the Secretary General/ Treasurer's office is the WAS operational office.

Item 3 Any national or international sexological society, association or institute may request admission to the World Association for Sexual Health. A sexological society, association or institute is a properly constituted organization concerned with sexuality, whether it is research, education, diagnosis and/or therapy, sexual health or sexual rights promotion.

Item 4 Requests for WAS membership must be sent to the Secretary General / Treasurer's office. The application should be completed and submitted through the WAS Website and must include: the name of the Society, Association, or Institute: the date of its formation; its purpose and objectives; its statutes and bylaws; the names of its members and officers, including postal and e-mail addresses; two letters of recommendation issued by WAS members; and the proper dues. After hearing the advice of the Executive and the Advisory Committees, the General Assembly, at the beginning of its ordinary meeting, will decide on admission of the applicant societies, associations, institutes or groups to WAS. Those applicants who are admitted are invited to attend the General Assembly. Between General Assemblies, the Executive Committee is permitted to grant provisional member status to an applicant member as long as all proper documentation has been received and reviewed.  Final acceptance or rejection of membership is made by the next General Assembly.

Item 5 An individual may apply for individual supporting membership of WAS. The application should be completed and submitted through the WAS Website and must include: professional curriculum vitae; two letters of recommendation form recognized professionals in the field of sexual health; and the corresponding payment of dues.  The application will be forwarded to the Executive and Advisory Committees, which recommends admission to the General Assembly.  Between General Assemblies, the Executive Committee is permitted to grant provisional member status to an applicant as long as all proper documentation has been received and reviewed.  Final acceptance or rejection of membership is made by the next General Assembly.  Individual supporting members do not have a vote in the General Assembly.

Item 6 The Advisory Committee may recommend that Honorary Individual Membership be conferred to a person who has carried out important work in the field of sexual health.  Final acceptance or rejection of honorary membership will be made by the next General Assembly.

Item 7 An impeachment process against anyone holding an office within WAS may be initiated by the Executive Committee, by a member of the Advisory Committee or by three (3) member organizations. This action should be approved by the General Assembly if it is in session or by a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the Advisory Committee when the General Assembly is not in session.

Item 8 A suspension of WAS membership is an action that could be taken in the General Assembly if it is in session or by  a majority (half plus one) vote of the members of the Advisory Committee when the General Assembly is not in session.

Item 9 Before each General Assembly a meeting of the Executive Committee and Advisory Committee will be held.

Item 10 Each member organization is allowed one to six delegates to the General Assembly. Only delegates from member organizations whose dues are paid to date may vote. A delegate may represent only one member organization at the General Assembly, having the right to vote as many times as the number of votes this organization has.

Item 11 The Executive Committee draws up the Agenda of the General Assembly, which is approved by the Advisory Committee before being sent to the member organizations.    Members of the General Assembly may request the addition of items to the Agenda when this is presented for approval to the Assembly at the beginning of the meeting.  Acceptance or rejection of additional agenda items will be decided by a simple majority vote of the General Assembly

Item 12  Membership dues are to be paid on an annual basis and are determined based on the type of membership (organizational or individual) and on the number of members of an organization,  The following categories will be used:

• Individual supporting members
  
• Organizations with up to 100 members
  
• Organizations with 101 to 399 members
  
• Organizations with 400 to 699 members
  
• Organizations with 700 to 999 members
  
• Organizations with 1000 to 1999 members
  
• Organizations with 2000 or more members

The calendar year for computing payment shall commence on January 1st and terminate on December 31st of each year.

The dollar amount of dues for individual supporting members and member organizations shall be determined by the Advisory Committee and approved by the General Assembly for the period immediately following each General Assembly Meeting.

Item 13 Delegates in the General Assembly;

1. Each member organization shall be entitled to
1. Delegate for less than 100 members
2. Delegates for 101 to 399 members
3. Delegates for 400 to 699 members
4. Delegates for 700 to 999 members
5. Delegates for 1000 to 1999 members
6. Delegates for 2000 or more members
2. Only the organizations whose membership dues are paid to date vote at the General Assembly.
3. At the beginning of each calendar year,  member organizations must  electronically submit a mailing list of its members and list of current officers, including a contact email addresses to the Secretary General/Treasurer.  Membership dues will be determined using this information.
   

Item 14 The Executive Committee will suspend the membership of any organization or individual supporting member that  is 4 or more years behind in their payment of dues.

Item 15 During the meeting of the General Assembly voting for the election of members of the Advisory Committee will be conducted using a secret ballot.

Item 16 The General Assembly may vote by secret ballot vote or by a show of hands on all other actionable items on the agenda.

Item 17 The secretarial and financial management responsibilities of WAS are the charge of the Secretary General/Treasurer and the President.  The hiring of appropriate staff and external consultants to complete necessary tasks is at their discretion.    These may include, but are not limited to, accounting and auditing consultants, legal and technical advisors, and assistants for financial and clerical activities.

Item 18 All correspondence received and sent by WAS should be handled by the President and/or the Secretary General /Treasurer. The proper filling of the correspondence should be made in electronic form for easy transmission to the subsequent elected officers.

Item 19 The Secretary General/Treasurer is responsible for the financial management of WAS, controlling the checking account and the check book. Only the President or Secretary General/Treasurer have the authority to sign checks on behalf of WAS.

Item 20 At each meeting of the Executive and Advisory Committees and the General Assembly, the Secretary General/Treasurer shall report on the current financial position of WAS.   The Secretary General/Treasurer will be a member of any Finance Committee appointed by the Executive Committee.

Item 21 During the period between the ordinary General Assemblies, the Executive Committee is entrusted by the General Assembly with the operations of WAS.

Item 22 The World Congress of WAS must be held every two (2) years, taking into consideration the dates and locations of other related Congresses and meetings.  .

Item 23 The date and location of upcoming World Congresses shall be proposed by the Executive and Advisory Committees and will be decided upon by the General Assembly, at least four years in advance, whenever possible.

Item 24 The General Assembly, based on recommendations from the Executive and Advisory Committees, will elect the President of a World Congress.  In the absence of an ordinary General Assembly, the WAS Advisory Committee is empowered to elect a provisional Congress President with final approval pending at the next General Assembly of the WAS.  The President of the Congress must have the support of a WAS member organization.

Item 25 A written agreement must be made between all organizations and individuals responsible for the World Congress.  These may include, but are not limited to, the Host Organizing Committee of a World Congress, the President of the Congress, any other responsible individuals associated with WAS member organization(s), the WAS President, the Secretary General/Treasurer, and any other entity entrusted by WAS for the organization of its World Congress.

Item 26 The finances of the World Congress of  WAS will be the responsibility of the WAS Executive Committee, which may entrust a Professional Congress Organization Company (PCO) to ensure the best promotion, fund raising and attendance of the WAS Congresses.

Item 27 The responsibilities of the President of the Congress, under the supervision and with the advice and approval of the Executive and Scientific Committees, will encompass the following: 1. The responsibility to structure the scientific program; 2. The establishment of a Host Organizing Committee and a Host Scientific Committee, which will take charge of the various tasks necessary for the organization of the Congress.

Item 28 The President of World Congress of  WAS will serve as an Ex-officio member of the Advisory Committee, with no voting rights

Item 29 The President of a Congress is an office independent from that of the President of WAS. The President of a Congress cannot hold the office of the President of WAS during the period he or she serves as President of the Congress. 7

Item 30 The President of WAS or the appointed PCO must present a full, independent, audited financial report on the World Congress within six months of the conclusion of the Congress. This report will be submitted to the Executive and Advisory Committees. In addition, the report will be delivered by either the appointed PCO or the President of WAS at the next General Assembly of WAS.

Item 31 A council of all WAS past presidents will be called upon to advise and offer guidance to the President of WAS as requested by the President or the Executive Committee.  This council is advisory and does not have a vote on the Advisory Committee.

Item 32 The Chairperson of the Council of Presidents will be the immediate Past-President.

Transitory Statute 1 These transitory statutes establish the rules that the integration between WAS and the Regional Federations of WAS will require and make it clear that the effect of some of the statutes hereby approved will gradually take effect as the following steps are completed.

Transitory Statute 2 The mutual immediate and automatic acceptance of membership, described in Statute 12, will take effect immediately in the direction of members of Federations becoming members of WAS. For the opposite direction to take effect: members of WAS will automatically become members of the corresponding Federation. The respective General Assemblies of each of the Federations will consider and in its case approve this mechanism of mutual recognition of membership. For this process to be completed a maximum of four years starting the day of the approval of the present Statutes is expected.

Transitory Statute 3 For the dues described in Item 13 of the By-Laws, a transitional period of 2 years will be established for the proper study of the mechanisms of integration of the dues between WAS and the Regional Federations and the development of the administrative tools necessary for the proper distribution of funds between WAS and the Regional Federations.

Transitory Statute 4 These transitory statutes will be in effect from the day of the approval of the present statutes and bylaws for a maximum of four years. After this period these transitory statutes will be automatically derogated.