Imagine this…
You got the tickets months ago, and this event was all you could think about since. Your outfit was planned ahead of time, and so lovingly packed in your suitcase. You are perfectly prepared, and ‘excited’ is an understatement. You hold on to your friend’s hands tightly as you enter the venue and the sound fills your whole body. Your eyes almost tear up in excitement; you love this song! Everything is perfect.
As you maneuver through the crowd, fellow attendees meet your “excuse me’s” with smiles. At last, you find that perfect spot. Everyone is dancing, and everything is good, free. Until you feel hot breath on your ear and a strange body press into you. The sound suddenly feels far, far away. Just like that, the night you had spent months looking forward to feels stolen in an unwelcome touch and breath down your neck.
We all know someone who has been approached or touched inappropriately on the dance floor. Whether it be a misinterpreted gesture or a violent outburst, these things happen regularly (if you know a woman, it’s more than likely happened to her). In efforts to dampen the sexual violence happening on our dance floors, artist teams and venue staff have started to educate themselves on harm reduction and bystander intervention practices to create safer dance spaces for their fans and patrons.
But how? Most training programs don’t understand the niche habits of the electronic music scene, and venue security is rarely seen within the crowd where the action is happening. And while the artists are up on stage, what could they do?
Meet Good Night Out
Good Night Out Vancouver (GNO) is a non-profit company based out of Vancouver B.C. that aims to deafen the sexual violence that has plagued our dance floors, creating safe spaces for people to dance freely while educating people in positions of power in harm reduction techniques and bystander intervention.
“Our whole mandate is to create spaces that are better equipped to prevent and respond to sexual violence,” said co-founder and Education Director Stacey Forrester. “All it takes is one person groping you or not taking no for an answer to ruin something that you’ve looked forward to for weeks, if not months. And so, we started this project as a way to ensure, as the name says, good nights out.”
In their efforts, GNO has been serving the dance space community in more ways than one. They offer bystander interventions and protective space workshops. They’ve worked on tours with many notable like G Jones, and more recently, LSDream and CloZee.
GNO x CloZee, the perfect duo
In preparation for her latest Microworlds Tour, CloZee and her team worked together with GNO to ensure the safety of her fans and team. As her tour comes to an end, the consent outreach team will be at CloZee’s New Year’s show at the Mission Ballroom.
“At her shows,” Stacey explains, “we have what we call SOS cards. On one side it says something to the effect of, ‘If you’re at this show and something makes you feel unsafe, slide this card to anyone working the venue, and they’ll help you.’ The venue knows ahead of time about them.”
At these shows, the GNO team has a table filled with protective materials like drink covers, SOS cards, earplugs, and Kandi. As show-goers graze the tables, the Consent Outreach Team is out roaming the dance floor, easily identified by their bright pink t-shirts.
“We all know that there’s security at events, but security often stays around the periphery. So they miss a lot of the more subtle things that can ruin someone’s night,” said Stacey. “So [the consent outreach team] is on the dance floor, they’re interacting, they’re being friendly.”
Good Night Out Workshops
While their consent team helps the audience, their workshops aim to help venues and tour staff understand the nuances of sexual violence in the electronics scene. Having these workshops not only helps concert-goers but venue staff as well. Just last year, GNO held 72 workshops at bars, nightclubs, festivals, tours, and other nightlife spaces.
“Things are happening in this community where a more traditional training won’t work. Traditional training will tell you to not date your coworkers, but that’s not realistic in this scene. No other training will mention the role that alcohol and other drugs play,” says Stacey. “We also are just really accessible in terms of language. You can walk into one of our sessions knowing nothing. I promise you I will not make you feel stupid.”
Bystander intervention can be done in a multitude of ways. Learning how to make it less “serious” and more silly or awkward could help diffuse situations. A million ways exist, and brushing up on your skills could prove useful on a night out. If you are on staff for a venue that hosts any kind of nightlife, holding staff training is a great idea.
And in the meantime, while you’re on the dance floor, Stacey has some advice.
“Within your friend group, keep tabs on what people are consuming, like a signal chat or something. If someone says they’ve only had one drink but then they’re super loopy in the bathroom, that might be a sign that maybe a drink got spiked or something,” she said. “Check in on everyone. If you see something and it gives you a reason to do a double take, follow your gut. Watch that person, check in with them, and get help from the venue staff.”
Taking care of one another is what our scene and its culture stands on. If you are going to be spending your hard-earned money on a night out, it should be spent at venues that care about you not just as a customer, but as a person. They should be focused on your safety and be educated on the nuances of the music scenes that they market to.
“It’s like trying to vote with your dollar a little bit more. You are in a position of power in that you’re buying the tickets, you’re filling the venue, you’re buying the drink. You’re a patron, so I feel like you should have a say on safety practices, especially if they’re inadequate,” says Forrester.
With trained venue staff, tours with safety riders in place, and a broader knowledge of bystander intervention practices, we will be looking over our shoulders a lot less and loving the rave a lot more.
Now, imagine this
You’re standing in a crowd at one of your favorite artist’s sets. People in pink are roaming about, trading kandi, and are here to help. The venue staff is trained to spot and handle situations before they start, and the artists themselves are trained as well. The sense of community is strong, and the music and people are the purpose.
So, the next time you find yourself at a show, bar, club, or festival, we hope you and your friends have a Good Night Out. <3
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Check out the workshops and resources from Good Night Out Vancouver HERE.
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