UC student leaders take a stand against gender-based violence with revival of music event

Four businesses near the UC campus — Rohs Street Cafe, Mac’s Pizza Pub, Clifton Tavern and Uncle Woody’s — will host more than 40 musical acts set to perform Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4 and 5. The price for a single one-night ticket is $10, with a pair costing $15.

“It is kind of a melting pot of the Cincinnati music scene,” says UC Student Body President Madison Wesley. “We have some up-and-coming DJs in the area, and we also have country singers. Each venue is kind of curated to a certain feel for the evening."

A portion of the proceeds will go to a community-based program and UC’s Bearcats Pantry. Businesses supporting the event have all agreed to undergo gender-based violence prevention training to equip bartenders and other staff with tools to help keep patrons — many of them UC students — safe. 

Wesley says student leaders have long wanted to bring bars and restaurants that serve alcohol on board to find ways to stem gender-based violence. “It’s been part of the platforms of the last four student body presidents before me,” she adds..

“College bars play an important role in many college students' lives,” says Alex Woodall, co-director of CHMF and member of Student Government who was spotted handing out posters on campus to promote the festival. “It’s important to go where the students are. And our duty in student government doesn’t just fall only on campus, but it extends to areas that students are occupying or frequenting.”

Wesley says supporting the festival helps bring back an enjoyable event for college-age residents, but it’s also an incentive to encourage businesses to be trained in gender-based violence prevention techniques. Their support has included offering financial backing for production equipment, stage setup, salaries of local bands and marketing assistance. 

Student expertise is involved in various stages of the festival, which is being presented by Far-i-Rome Creative. UC Student Government, the Programs and Activities Council (PAC), UC Music Club, CEAS Tribunal and a local business, Mac Shack, are sponsoring the event.

The UC Office of Equal Opportunity agreed to assist student leaders in providing gender-based violence prevention training to restaurants and bars.

Morgan Shaw, an education specialist, says the training is similar to what the university uses as part of the Green Dot Bystander Intervention program, which is available on many college campuses to teach faculty, students and staff how to identify and respond to potential violence on college campuses.

"Gender-based violence is any form of violence on the basis or sex or gender,” says Shaw. “I look at it as an umbrella term for a lot of things. So it includes sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual harassment and any form of sex- or gender-based misconduct."

Her training with bar and restaurant staff lasts for an hour and is often followed up with a video that provides additional resources. She opens a dialogue with staff by proposing real-life scenarios that might occur in bars and asking how they might respond. 

“It is kind of a scenario-based discussion. I'm not a trainer who likes to talk at participants. I am a very interactive person, and I also want them to come up with realistic ideas and ways in which they can intervene,” says Shaw.

“So we talk about a scenario about a woman sitting at a bar seems uncomfortable as a man is leaning too close and starts to touch her arm, despite her kind of pulling and shifting away. As a bartender who is serving drinks and seeing this in the corner of their eye, how could they intervene.”

As part of the intervention training Shaw offers the three Ds: direct intervention, delegation and distraction.

“Bar staff can be direct, so directly saying, ‘Hey, that's not cool,’ or ‘You need to move away,’” says Shaw. “To delegate might mean pulling in a manager or, if things have escalated where it's not safe for you to intervene, delegating and maybe calling the police.”

“So we talk about delegating as well as distracting,” she adds. “A staffer might say, ‘Hey, we've got free popcorn. Why don't you come over here, and I'll give you a bag of popcorn,’ or ‘Hey, you know I have this new drink. Why don't you come over and sit by me?’”

Distractions can be used to interact with the person engaging in misconduct or the person experiencing the harm, says Shaw. It calls attention to what is happening, placing the offending party on notice that someone is watching their behavior.

Bartenders and staff have the power to ask offending parties to leave or have them escorted from the premises. That dynamic can help keep bad behavior in check.

“I mostly delegate or distract when choosing interventions, just because it's a part of my nature. So we talk a lot about barriers that people have to acting,” says Shaw. 

Barriers to acting might include an introverted nature or biases toward the people involved, she explains, so she tries to provide plenty of examples of realistic situations and how they can intervene. 

Businesses that receive the training also get a student-designed decal they can display in their establishments. Additional businesses will have the opportunity to request training even after the music festival.

Learn more about the Clifton Heights Music Festival. 

Featured photo at top of domestic violence ribbon with sign. Credit/iStockPhoto/nito100.