If you’ve been out on a night in Bristol recently, you’ve probably noticed one of Bristol Nights’ campaigns. Stop Spiking and It’s Not Okay – which calls out sexual harrasment – posters cover the walls of nearly every bar, pub and club in the city centre. Now they are increasing efforts to demonstrate a zero-tolerance response to sexual harrassment.
This Autumn, ahead of the return of students to the city in September, Bristol Nights is offering expert training to all night time economy workers. They say that 97% of women in Bristol have experienced sexual harassment, but only half of the men they interviewed could articulate what sexual harassment is.
As a result, Bristol Nights has launched an online platform that gives free access to training courses addressing sexual harrassment and drink spiking. The city’s night-time economy workers are invited to take part in the courses and be better prepared to tackle potential issues. This includes security, bartenders, servers etc.
“Improving the safety of women at night is vital, and a challenge which cannot be achieved without allies throughout the city. We know that our nightlife communities care about the safety and wellbeing of people enjoying our nightlife, and we want to reinforce this important message as students return to the city,” said Carly Health, Bristol night-time economy advisor. “We invite all members of the night-time workforce and businesses to join our zero-tolerance approach to sexual harrassment.”
Anyone can access the eight part course at any time, with training manuals and practice manuals available for download. It will also include feature films presented by female members of the city’s night-time workforce. Bringing to life issues and the city’s approach to stamping out incidents in its venues.
Bristol Nights has also announced new dates for free in-person training sessions at Watershed on October 11, 24 and November 8. While there will also be live online training on August 21 and October 11. To learn more about the training course and to take part head here.