PHILOSOPHY & APPROACH

• Promotion & Positive Exposure: Safer Bar will promote your establishment, logo and social media channel(s) on our website, newsletters, events and our own social media, exposing your establishment to an expanded customer base. We also provide posters and window decals for your bar, which communicates competence, collaboration and trust to your patrons.
• Staff & Patron Trust & Satisfaction: By becoming Safer Bar Certified, you are demonstrating to your staff and customers your commitment to providing a safe and fun environment for everyone. When you prioritize safety and respect at your establishment, customers are more likely to return and tell their friends and you are more likely to attract and retain talented and loyal staff.
• Preparedness: With Safer Bar training, you and your staff will be equipped with a wider range of strategies to use when addressing harm, violence, or predatory behavior, whether it’s directed at you, your staff or your customers. Trainees will gain skills in noticing and discerning early signs of problematic or threatening behavior, reducing the likelihood of escalation or filing an incident report.
• Being a Leader: Becoming Safer Bar certified offers establishments the opportunity to be a leader in their community and set the standard for hospitality and care in our city.
• Increased Profits: We all know how devastating bad PR can be (and how hard the service industry has been hit financially since the pandemic). We also know that customers who have positive experiences are more likely to return and spread the word about your awesome establishment. Losing even a few customers and the resulting word of mouth can add up to thousands in lost bar tabs. Safer Bar training can help you avoid an incident and the bad PR that comes with it.
• It’s the right thing to do! Nightlife and bar culture is a huge part of the lifeblood of our communities, especially in Wisconsin! We want to uplift and celebrate the vibrancy of the people and the places that offer us connection, joy, and a space to commune and de-stress. We love nightlife and we want everyone to have a safer bar experience!

Bar & restaurants are beloved public institutions and fulfill many different roles in a community. As such, they are in a unique position to help foster a safe, respectful and protective environment for all who frequent them!

We know that in Madison, 1 out of 10 sexual assaults happen at a bar or restaurant. We also know that at least half of people who commit sexual violence are under the influence of alcohol at the time. Unwanted sexual attention, such as verbal harassment and groping, is commonplace in bars and clubs. Sexual aggressors may also take advantage of the bar space to select, isolate and/or intoxicate their targets, making bars a unique and crucial place to address sexual violence.

• Recognizing and identifying predatory behavior and sexual aggression
• Assertive communication skills
• Early interventions, negotiations and/or mitigations in addressing potentially threatening behavior
• Assertive boundary-making and language tools to reduce probability of conflict and harm
• Recognizing our own triggers and styles of confrontation
• Safety planning to keep each other safe: Creating a safety plan for your business/staff
• Targeting strategies to intervene in the workplace and the opportunity for live practice with trained Safer Bar facilitators