For hospitality- and service-industry workers, serving alcohol is often a part of the job. That can also mean learning to navigate harassment, aggression, violence or abuse between patrons or even other staff.
That’s why Peace House, a local anti-domestic violence nonprofit dedicated to helping reduce the rate of domestic and interpersonal violence, is training local bars to help staff navigate conflicts that may arise in social situations when alcohol is involved.
It’s a national, evidence-based program called Safe Bars, and Peace House is one of the first organizations in Utah certified to offer the training.
“It’s a free training that we offer that’s really focused on creating safe and welcoming hospitality spaces, specifically alcohol-serving spaces,” said Erin Meottel, prevention coordinator at Peace House. “(It uses) the ‘active bystander’ approach combined with de-escalation strategies to empower hospitality staff to stop sexual aggression and any other form of gender-based violence in their work environments.”
The training is an hour to an hour-and-a-half long and is intended to address situations that can arise in all elements of the service industry, Meottel said, whether that’s aggression or violence between staff members, patrons, management or some mix between them.
The training starts with sharing some local resources for dealing with abuse and conflict, such as the National Street Harassment Hotline, a legal aid hotline for service workers and the national Human Trafficking Hotline.
Then, trainees are asked to consider some sobering statistics: 81% of women and 43% of men have experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault in their lifetime. LGBTQ+ people experience four times the violence that straight cis people do, and trans women of color account for 80% of all known violent killings of transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people. Black trans women account for 63% of this population. Ninety percent of women and 70% of men who work in restaurants regularly experience harassment, and tipped workers experience 50% more sexual harassment than non-tipped workers.
This stuff is common, sometimes even normalized. The curriculum emphasizes that alcohol does not cause harassment or sexual assault, but its consumption can contribute to an environment wherein these behaviors become permissible, camouflaged, or even excused.
To handle these scenarios, the program teaches five Ds and one R: direct, distract, delegate, document, delay and responsiveness.
“Bystander intervention isn’t one size fits all,” Meottel said. “People have different personalities. There are different situations. And so essentially, we try to teach them that as a bystander, you don’t have to do everything. We just want you to do something.”
That can look like distracting an aggressor or documenting a conflict, creating evidence that a victim can later choose how to use. Delegating means bringing in someone more assertive and suited to confrontation. Delay means that a bystander doesn’t necessarily have to step in right in the moment — following up after a conflict is meaningful, too.
Responsiveness is similar: Listening to someone talk about what happened or reassuring them that they are not at fault can go a long way. Even just believing a victim who tells you about abuse they suffered can make a significant impact on their ability to recover from the trauma.
Finally, the group reviews video examples of harassment in bar settings.
“We highlight, ‘Who is the aggressor in the video? Who is the target? What were the signs that someone was feeling uncomfortable, (and) which intervention tactic was used? How could you utilize that?’” said Moettel. “And that usually brings up a really great conversation of different things that people notice and different ways that they can intervene.”
Meottel added that a lot of the training is encouraging people to use these tools to act on gut feelings.
“The bystander effect is really common,” Moettel said. “We think, ‘Oh, someone else will intervene,’ or, ‘I don’t know how to intervene,’ and that can prevent people from intervening. And so empowering these staff to know that: ‘This is your establishment. You guys set the tone for what is expected and allowed here and what is not, and we support you in intervening and keeping these people safe.’”
While Peace House has conducted the training at several businesses in the Wasatch Back already — such as Black Rock Mountain Resort, Red Banjo Pizza and Westgate Resort — the nonprofit is specifically looking to work with more on Main Street, where locals and tourists often mingle and the potential for conflict may rise.
According to Sara Sergent, co-founder and master distiller at Alpine Distilling and its Social Aid & Pleasure Club, 364 Main Street, the training was an easy yes because it dovetailed with the “living room” approach the bar takes to hospitality: The club closes at 10 p.m. and only seats 50, a third of its max occupancy.
“(We want to be) just a nice, cozy place for people across the board, whether you work there, whether you visit there,” Sergent said. “We’re very fortunate to live in the community that we do … but even in a community like ours, it’s good to just explore.”
It’s not the type of place to get rowdy, but that doesn’t mean the conversation isn’t important, Sergent said.
“I think a lot of bars, restaurants, the hotels, there is a lot of benefit in this to open up dialogue with your team, because every business culture is a little bit different, and just spark that, and then have a very easy resource that’s available for both team members and guests coming in.”
For Marie Griffin, a longtime bartender from Moab who worked at Alpine during the ski season this year, the training was a chance to share her experience with situations that have become familiar to her.
“When you’re training new staff members and younger staff who maybe aren’t used to the bar scene, you don’t really get to go over situations that could go wrong,” Griffin said. “Sex trafficking … there are so many things that, as a vet bartender, you’re able to notice because you’ve been through it.”
The bar scene in Park City isn’t unlike Moab’s, where tourism is also strong, she said. It can lead to unpredictable behaviors.
“People are on vacation. They’re partying. You don’t know what other substances they’re using,” Griffin said, “and that usually causes some drama. Someone could be fine at one point, and then they mix something, and then all of a sudden, it’s not fine, right?”
Being a bartender involves a lot of soft, interpersonal skills, navigating situations that can change quickly. It can be helpful to build a rapport with customers in case things do go wrong, but that can also backfire, she said. Safe Bars gave her a space to talk about the challenge of riding that line with dozens of patrons every night.
“I’ve been through some crazy instances,” she said, “and I think that (Safe Bars) is just a beautiful program. It brings a lot of light to certain situations. But also, I think every bar should know how to be a ‘safe bar.’ And I feel really proud in knowing that I am one of the first bartenders certified in Safe Bar. I reached out to them because I would love to facilitate something like that in Moab.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the Safe Bar program can reach out to Meottel at Peace House via email at [email protected].