The bar industry has a long history of being a space where people can party freely and enjoy themselves. Whether it be for date night, a night out with friends, a birthday or other special occasion, for many a fun night out involves hitting the bar or club. Resilience provides services to over 2000 survivors of sexual assault each year, many of whom experience this sexual violence during or after a night out. We want to make clear that the only thing that should happen after a night of drinking is a hangover, not being raped.
Everyone has a right to go out and enjoy themselves safely and without being harmed. This responsibility to maintain this right doesn’t only rest on potential victims ‘watching what they drink,’ it also belongs to the patrons and bystanders around them. This Black Out Wednesday we want to send a powerful message to the bar and restaurant industry that you are bystanders too.
You have a responsibility to keep your patrons safe and that includes ensuring your staff receive training on understanding how to identify the signs of drug and alcohol facilitated sexual assault, ensuring advertising does not promote the objectification of women’s bodies and creating zero tolerance policies to hold people accountable for sexual harassment of your patrons and your own staff.
We call on the bar industry to acknowledge and take action on their responsibility to keep patrons and staff safe and help create a culture where sexual violence is not tolerated and survivors are believed and supported.
#BarsAreBystandersToo #RiseUpWithResilience #FightRapeCulture