Pubs, restaurants and bars are places where people go to socialize and unwind. Sexual harassment is generally not what most people think about when they’re enjoying a night out. 

Unfortunately, the risk of experiencing sexual comments, groping and other forms of sexual violence is higher in nightlife environments for many reasons: 

• Alcohol consumption and substance use is common. 

• The potential for drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA). 

• Perpetrators may choose to touch someone in a crowded place without their consent as it is harder to be identified and held accountable.

• The highly sexualized nature of certain nightlife settings may facilitate and encourage unwanted sexual behaviours.   

Perception of nightlife safety  

Good Night Out Vancouver (GNOV) is a BC-based non-profit society committed to building community capacity to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and sexual assault through education, outreach and advocacy.  

In 2024, GNOV conducted a public survey to gauge public perception of safety in hospitality and nightlife spaces in Vancouver, Victoria and Nelson. Survey results showed that: 

• Disorderly/intoxicated patrons, experiencing, and/or witnessing sexual or gender-based harassment were the top three reasons why patrons felt unsafe inside a hospitality establishment.  

• Patrons identified mandatory sexual violence prevention training for all staff or a consent ambassador role inside the venue as the number one intervention that would increase safety. 

• Between 75% and 89% of all patrons indicated that the presence of safety interventions at an establishment would increase the likelihood that they would go there more often or recommend the place to others. 

• 1 in 4 Vancouver and Nelson patrons and 1 in 3 Victoria patrons identified that they know someone who has experienced drink spiking in the past 12 months.   

GNOV is putting proactive prevention into practice 

GNOV delivers sexual violence prevention workshops for the public and hospitality, music, arts and nightlife sector to create safer spaces for patrons and workers.   

GNOV delivers approximately 80 workshops a year and has facilitated sessions across BC, in Ontario, Alberta, the Yukon and Washington State. 

The focus of training is prevention — identifying and reducing risks for sexual violence through practical strategies such as looking for signs of over intoxication and behaviours associated with DFSA perpetration, responding proactively using bystander interventions, and safety planning with potentially vulnerable individuals.  

Although GNOV is based in Vancouver and Victoria, it has provincial and federal funding until spring 2026 to offer training throughout BC and Canada, including free workshops for the public, and subsidized training for businesses.       

Creating change and increasing safety 

GNOV works with an evaluation consultant to help measure the impact of their work. Over 96% of the servers, managers, bartenders, and security who participated in a GNOV workshop increased their knowledge and comfort in recognizing and responding to sexual violence in nightlife. One participant stating: 

“I simply wish that more people knew about Good Night Out. It was extremely easy to digest and really easy to apply the knowledge presented and learned [through] the scenarios (throwing events for POC/LGBTQ people). I was very impressed.” 

Stacey Forrester, Education Director of GNOV, talks about the changes she’s seen since GNOV started in 2015: “As a society we don’t think proactively or about prevention. People don’t think about investing in skill building to prevent gender-based violence. Initially when we started, the only reason people reached out for our services was because of a complaint of sexual harassment or misconduct. Now about half of our clients are asking for support with mitigating the risk of sexual violence.” 

Stacey explains, “We’ve seen businesses sign up in crisis seeking help from GNOV; completing the training has turned businesses around in their approach to addressing sexual violence. Clients are actively participating in culture change after taking our workshop —  the majority take meaningful steps to improve safety such as creating a code of conduct. 90% of our business comes from referrals, which speaks to the impact and value of our training program and outreach services.” 

Stacey talks about her positive experiences: “Meeting other people doing this work has been so rewarding — I wouldn’t be doing this work if we hadn’t amassed so many team members, supporters and a board of directors that are aligned and committed to preventing sexual violence.” 

“We’re wrapping up a grant through Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada which has allowed us to showcase the “GNOV street team” outreach model as a promising practice in preventing gender-based violence. The street team started as a local, grassroots initiative to support people feeling scared or targeted in Vancouver’s nightlife district. It feels validating to be recognized and have federal government interest in bringing street teams to Victoria and Nelson.” 

For more information about GNO’s sexual violence prevention workshops and services, visit Good Night Out.