Street Roots •
Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2017
HARASSMENT, from page 5
News
for several years due to our acceptance and
celebration of excessive drinking and drug
compelling testimony and criminal
use.”
convictions, the closing arguments carried
Owings, in agreement, said, “Liquor is a
laments from the defense attorney regarding
drug. If we’re giving someone the legal
thé victims’ believability. She argued the
ability to deal drugs, they should be trained
girls were not credible witnesses, citing
in how to deal with the repercussions.”
inconsistencies in their testimonies.
Alcohol is present in about half of all
This distrust is why many women do not
sexual assaults in the United States
come forward. Owings recently wrote on
according to the National Institute of Alcohol
“The Reality of Sexual Assault in the
Abuse and Alcoholism, though the study is
Cocktail Community” blog: “The thought of
quick to point out that these numbers are
speaking up didn’t really cross my mind. If I
difficult to determine because so many
fought for myself or spoke up - as much of
women and men do not report Additionally,
my experience in this industry has taught
at least 80 percent of sexual assaults occur
me - I’d be disregarded as dramatic, a
between people who know each other.
liability, emotional, attention-seeking,
Furthermore, alcohol consumption by
pathetic, a trainwreck, alcoholic, etc.”
perpetrators and victims tends to co-occur,
which means both are consuming alcohol <n
a socialized setting, like in a bar or at a
Taking action
party. As a result, a victim might feel shame
and give the perpetrator what another
Of the women Street Roots interviewed
woman on the blog calls “a drunken pardon.”
who worked in the Portland bar scene, all of
She elaborated: “I keep telling myself that
them had at least one - some had several -
if the person who attacked me had been a
personal stories about being'on the receiving
stranger, I would have gone straight to the
end of sexual assault or harassment while
police. But what would you do when your
working in the service industry. Each Of the
friend attacks you while he’s under the |
men reported having at least seen it a few
influence of alcohol? I pretended it didn’t
times; one said it was
happen.”
""The way I was treated
“widespread and
Wright, of BASA, said she was saddened
disgusting.”
b y m y peers {alter being
but not surprised when the blog appeared in
But now, several groups
assaulted} made me snap
the BASA Facebook gfoup.
of service industry workers
“When one victim speaks out, it tends to
lute perspective. Bartend
are trying to change th a t'
create a watershed moment for others to*
ers feel the need to stay
Bartenders Against Sexual
come forward. Telling our stories creates a
quiet because we're just
Assault, or BASA, formed in space for others; it pushes shame into the
2014 to stand against sexual shadows where it belongs,” she said.
so subjected to tills atxno-
assault using educationand
According toRestaurantQppqi^unities K
sphere that we internalize
[awareness to tram
C enters U nited, 88 p ercen t of w orkers who
it"
bartenders and bar
experienced sexual harassment said they’d
KELLY V A U G H N , professionals to recognize
be more likely to talk to their supervisor
BARTENDER, M A N A G E R A N D
about it if they had the support of
C O-FO UN D ER OF N O T O K PDX these dangerous situations
and intervene. Its public
co-workers.
Facebook group has more
Through BASA and other resources, fed-
up servers and bartenders are organizing
than 4,700 followers from around the U.S.
around the country to foster solutions and
and Canada, many of whom work in
educate bar owners and managers in an
Portland’s bar and restaurant industries.
effort to prevent sexual harassment and
BASA hopes to transform society through
assault in the service industry, for both
things like educating bystanders, compelling
workers and customers.
lawmakers and believing victims.
The Orange County Bartenders Cabinet
“We have a duty in our work environments
and Long Beach Bartenders Cabinet in
to watch for signs of sexual predators and
California called for a special meeting on the
take action when necessary,” said Stacey
Wright, co-founder of BASA. “It’s time to end subject in December. In Canada, the Toronto
cocktail community has rallied in support of
the silence and the shame in the cocktail
a sexual assault victim with a protest and
community. This is how we create change.
campaign called “I Believe Her.”
The blog about sexual assault was quickly
And in Portland, three women - ,
shared in BASA’s Facebook group, where it
Rosengrant, Vaughn and Danielle Verbus -
sent shudders through its wide readership
have created a nonprofit called Not OK PDX
and beyond. Perhaps more importantly, it
that will provide low-cost training to local
sparked a series of conversations about
bars to educate service staff on the dangers
awareness, prevention and the continuation
and prevention of sexual assault and
of victims sharing their stories. The man
harassment They are calling the educational
accused on the site was a prominent
individual in the Los Angeles bar scene, who
program SaferBars.
guest-bartended repeatedly in Portland,
which is how several Portland women came
‘We hit a nerve’
into contact with him. No one has pressed
charges, which is why Street Roots isn’t
Rosengrant came across the flagship
naming him. The victims’ message, though,
program,
Safe Bars, while visiting
is not simply to harpoon the perpetrator; it
Washington, D.C., and thought, “Why don’t
is more to shed light on the rampant
we have this in Portland?”
harassment that occurs daily throughout the
Safe Bars uses innovative bystander
service industry.
education
strategies to empower staff to
One of the women wrote on the blog: We
stand up to sexual harassment and assault
need to continue the dialogue about
when they see it. This empowerment, they
recognizing, reporting and not condoning
believe, will save women from potential
inappropriate or illegal behavior. We need to
aggressors who prey on bar employees and
continue this conversation because we have
women who have had too much to drink.
allowed a predator to attack his colleagues
Page 7
“The way I was treated by my peers (after
being assaulted) made me Snap into
perspective. Bartenders feel the need to stay
quiet because we’re just so subjected to this
atmosphere that we internalize it,” Vaughn
said. “We hope that with these trainings we
can not only provide a source of comfort for
both staff and patrons, but also build
awareness if an issue that has long been
ignored for way too long.”
A 2014 study from the University of
Toronto and the University of Washington
found that 90 percent of sexually aggressive
incidents involved male initiators and female
targets, and almost all involved aggression
that was either intentional or probably i
intentional.
Targets mostly responded with evasion,
and staff and third parties rarely intervened,
according to the study. The study stated,
“Initiators’ level of
invasiveness was related to the
intoxication of the target, but
Not OK
training
to not their own intoxication,
suggesting intoxicated women
were being targeted.”
in
The study’s conclusion
to their staff can reach Not OK
suggests, among other things,
POX at info@notokpdx.org to
that prevention must focus on
set one up. The cost is $50.
better management of “highly
sexualized and sexist
environments of most bars.”
The study’s lead researcher, Kathryn
Graham, told NPR, “There should be
training for staff on how t'ointervene.”
PDX
This set th e stage for Safe Bars, launched
in W ashington, D.C., in 2013 thanks in p a rt
to a $20,000 g ra n t fro rn th ^ N F fo T F ^ NK f J
which h a i Taced scrutiriy fc ^ ^ d ïn ^ ÿ ^ k fo ïS ^ |
athletes who perpetrate assault, has
responded by investing in Sexual violence
prevention initiatives.
*
TJ
“It’s a huge, enormous
problem, unwanted sexual
Resources
aggression,” said Lauren
Bartenders Against Sexual
Taylor, Safe Bars co-director.
Assault (BASA):
“Alcohol and sexuality come
www.basa.bar
together to create a culture of
Sate B a rs : w ww .safebars.org
closeness among bar staff that
often leads to harassment.
S 8 3 IIB 8
Safe Bars wants to engage the
whole community; we all have
a responsibility to create a setting we want
to live in.”
Once the program began, Taylor said, “we
hit a nerve. People want to step in and
interrupt but don’t have the skills and tools.
Once you provide that, they’re off and
running.”
With the help of Safe Bars, Portland’s own
Not OK PDX has created a curriculum that
“should be used as the industry standard,”
Rosengrant said.
It incorporates educational materials,
personal stories and role-playing to raise
awareness. Once the staff is certified, the
establishment receives a decal for their
window and social media pages, as well as
posters to hang in the restrooms that
establish it to guests as a safe place.
Additionally, Rosengrant said she hopes that
“people who are creepy will know they are
unwelcome.”
The women behind Not OK PDX hope
their program can help Portland have one of
the first bar scenes in the nation where
bartenders and servers don’t feel like putting
up with sexual harassment and assault is just
another part of the job.