Good for Business, Good for the Community: Exploring Nightlife Professionals’ Perspectives on Sexual Violence Prevention in Nightlife Settings

Abstract

Up to 80% of female nightlife patrons in the US have experienced nightlife-related sexual violence – sexual violence incidents that occur in or are associated with nightlife settings – in their lifetime. Nightlife-related sexual violence (NRSV) is not only bad for victims and society, but also for businesses that rely on return and new customers to feel safe while enjoying these community spaces. This study sought to document nightlife professionals’ ideas for NRSV prevention along with the barriers and catalysts to doing so. The findings in this report come from interviews and focus groups with 24 professionals working in and around nightlife settings in Anchorage, Alaska conducted between February and July of 2024. The purpose is to provide CHARR, Alaska’s nightlife setting owners and management, and other invested community partners such as non-profits, other local businesses, and local policy-makers with a guide to implementing, evaluating, and sustaining NRSV prevention strategies. Fourteen strategies that nightlife owners, management, and staff could take to prevent NRSV were discussed by participants. These specific strategies are grouped under three larger action categories: (1) Cultivate capable guardianship; (2) Keep problem patrons out; and (3) Help patrons keep themselves safe. Dozens of specific catalysts and barriers to implementing NRSV prevention strategies were identified, and these are grouped under nine broader categories. While this study illuminates a range of possible NRSV prevention strategies, it does not allow for understanding how commonly used these different strategies are, what nightlife professionals’ general likelihood of adopting and using these strategies are, and, of course, whether these different strategies, independently or used together, would actually prevent NRSV. A next step toward successful NRSV prevention could be to measure nightlife setting owners’ knowledge about SV and NRSV, as well as their use of and self-stated likelihood of adopting different prevention strategies. These assessments would highlight which strategies to pursue for implementation and evaluation.