A safe place

Sofia Garcia, a political science junior from Cincinnati, was having brunch for Mother’s Day last year with her family. As they waited for their meal, Garcia excused herself to use the restroom. There, she saw a poster hanging up on the wall promoting a program called Ask for Angela.

“It said, ‘If you feel unsafe, or you’re worried about someone harassing you, ask for this shot at the bar, and we will help you,” Garcia said. “I thought, wow, that is a great idea. Why don't we have that on campus?”

Ask for Angela is the name of a campaign started in Europe in 2016 used in bars, restaurants or clubs to keep customers (mostly women) safe from harassment or sexual violence. Posters, mostly hung up in women’s restrooms, inform patrons of a code word they can use with any staff member. Those who feel they are in danger can approach a server or a bartender and ask for a fictitious member of the staff, “Angela,” or they can ask a bartender for an ‘Angel shot.’ Trained staff members can then ensure the patron’s safety and intervene in harassment or assault situations.

No university community is immune to sexual violence, unfortunately, said Garcia, a junior class representative for the UD Student Government Association. She began reaching out to campus partners like the Brook Center, the UD Women’s Center, Dayton’s Artemis Center (a domestic violence resource agency) and UD’s Greek organizations to see what type of program was needed.

“I started asking around and met with almost every single sorority. … I heard stories of people coming into bars and harassing girls,” she said. “It was clear there was a serious problem, and I wanted to do something that makes the establishments on Brown Street safer for students.”

Garcia said it was then that she brought the project to SGA leadership as an advocacy project with current SGA senators and UD's Campus Safety Committee. They reached out to YWCA Dayton, which, in April 2021, announced a program called Gem City Safe Bars. While different from the Ask for Angela program, many of the same training and mechanisms for anti-violence are used. According YWCA Dayton, Gem City Safe Bars “uses innovative bystander education strategies to empower bar, restaurant and club staff to stand up against sexual harassment and assault.”

Topher Peck ’21, a sexual violence preventionist with the YWCA, is aiding SGA and University Public Safety with the initiative and helping to bring the Safe Bars program to the Brown Street area. As a student at UD, Peck, an environmental biology major, said he witnessed several concerning behaviors while living next to a local bar on Brown Street.

“I was witnessing things almost every weekend, not necessarily related to sexual violence, but I could see the impacts that sort of culture … the nightlife scene has,” he said.

“I could see the impacts that sort of culture … the nightlife scene has.”

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the nation’s largest antisexual violence organization and partner of YWCA Dayton, an American is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds and about half of those who commit the assault are under the influence of alcohol.

At UD, Peck was involved in Peers Advocating for Violence Education, and he earned a certificate in human sexuality studies in 2021, which led to his interest in a position at the YWCA. When he joined the staff, he said he planned on approaching the University with a similar partnership. He was thrilled to hear that talks were already taking place.

“I had a chance to speak with SGA at the end of last year, and it's been a great ongoing conversation,” he said.

Peck said the training for bar staffers follows a general timeline, similar to how a possible event might occur. “It firstly teaches staff the warning signs and patterns of sexually violent behavior at each step of a typical assault,” Peck said. “Then we talk about how they can best intervene and respond in their roles, depending on the situation, while practicing the same Green Dot strategies already familiar to UD students.”

So far, Peck said, several downtown Dayton bars and restaurants have signed up to train or have been trained already, including Yellow Cab Tavern, 416 Diner, Fifth Street Brewpub, and most recently, Troll Pub, Sueño and Tender Mercy.

“My goal is to continue this through the summer and hopefully, by the end of this year, we'll have trained every establishment near campus as well,” Peck said.

More information can be found at www.ywcadayton.org/gem-city-safe-bars/, or contact the program directly by emailing safebars@ywcadayton.org. Contact YWCA Dayton’s 24-7 Crisis Hotline at 937-222-SAFE (7233).

Photos courtesy YWCA Dayton.