Empowering the hospitality industry to stop sexual harassment, aggression, and assault.
The Connecticut Safe Bars Chapter makes bars, restaurants, and other locations safer for customers and employees. We train hospitality staff to recognize and respond to sexual violence and other forms of aggression among staff and patrons. Together, we are building a more inclusive, welcoming space for all customers and staff.
As part of the commitment to hospitality, bars, restaurants, clubs, breweries, distilleries, and other alcohol-serving spaces can build guest satisfaction and loyalty through improved safety. Establishments where staff are treated with dignity and respect also have better performing teams and lower turnover.
The Connecticut Safe Bars Chapter trains staff to recognize and respond to sexual violence and other forms of aggression among staff and patrons.
Safe Bars works to:
- Increase staff understanding of the scope and causes of unwanted sexual aggression;
- Increase staff recognition of problematic behavior along the continuum of sexual and relationship violence;
- Provide staff with the skills to respond to such behaviors safely and appropriately, whether by intervening in the moment, or when asked for help;
- Actively promote establishments that adopt safety standards.
Why bars?
About half of all sexual assaults involve alcohol. Unwanted sexual attention, including verbal harassment and touching, occurs frequently in bars, restaurants, and clubs. We know that alcohol doesn’t cause sexual assault, but it’s used as a weapon to incapacitate targets and as camouflage to excuse aggressor behavior.
Bars, restaurants, clubs, and breweries also have some of the highest rates of workplace sexual harassment of any industry in the U.S., harming workers and their workplaces alike.
Why bystanders?
Bystander intervention is key to preventing sexual violence. Bar owners, managers, security personnel, and other staff are in a unique position to observe and intervene to prevent sexual assault by creating a safe space for patrons and staff alike. Active bystander training programs show increases in both responsive and proactive bystander behaviors.
Safe Bars empowers bystanders with skills to:
- Identify high-risk behaviors of aggressors;
- Intervene either proactively or responsively; and
- Overcome barriers to taking action.
This way, everyone – those targeted and those witnessing it – have skills for stopping harassment, abuse, and assault and creating cultures of safety and respect.
Download outreach materials to learn more.
Become a Connecticut Safe Bar!
If you work at a bar, club, restaurant, brewery, distillery, or other alcohol-serving establishment and you’d like to become a Connecticut Safe Bar, we would be delighted to work with your team! Register for a training below.
Connecticut Safe Bars Training Details
An active bystander training runs 2.5 hours. There is no fee for hosting the training. We certify bars and restaurants that take part in the training as “Safe Bars,” which allows an establishment to promote themselves as a trained Safe Bar and be listed on this webpage.
- We require 66% (two-thirds) of front-of-house staff to be trained and encourage back-of-house to participate.
- We know that there is a lot of employee turnover in bars and restaurants that could occur as often as every season. With that in mind, our Safe Bars certifications are valid for 18 months. We encourage Safe Bars to reconnect after 12 months to schedule the workshop and maintain certification.
- We provide the trained Safe Bars with a dated decal for their front window or door. Once one bar gets the label, others want it too. It makes sense: Why would you want your venue to be seen as less safe than the one down the street?