March 2021 – The European SHINE project on the mitigation and prevention of sexual harassment in nightlife entertainment spots, led by the Lithuanian Centre for Crime Prevention and in which Efus is a partner, established an Advisory Board in February tasked with ensuring the project’s results reflect European diversity and build on existing knowledge and promising practices.
The five members of this consultative instance come from different countries/regions and fields of expertise, such as victim support, scientific research, awareness raising, knowledge on nightlife governance, and knowledge on the functioning of nightlife establishments. Also, they provide the project with knowledge and understanding of existing local, national and EU-level innovative practices related to awareness rising about and prevention of sexual harassment in nightlife venues in one or several EU Member States, and on the role played by relevant actors such as mediators, municipal police, owners and employees of nightlife entertainments venues and other actors responsible for enforcing local security policies.
Members with a wealth of expertise
The Advisory Board gathers five members (organisations or individuals):
The non-governmental organisation Victim Support Europe, which seeks to “strengthen the rights and services for all victims of crime in Europe and beyond” and is represented by Executive Director Levent Altan and Deputy Director Aleksandra Ivankovic. They will provide extensive knowledge and practices in the field of victim support.
Rosella Selmini, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna, will provide expert knowledge on the factors influencing the increase in perceived and real insecurity in nightlife environments.
Mathilde Neuville, Co-founder and Director of the French association Consentis, which “promotes a culture of consent and fight against sexual violence in festive venues,” will provide practices and knowledge on awareness and prevention of gender-based harassment in nightlife venues.
Eva Schaab, of the department of Equal Opportunities of the German municipality of Mannheim, which notably works on the prevention of violence against women in the private and public spheres, will provide a city-based governance approach and valuable expertise on hands-on local practices.
Denis Talledec, Director of the Cultures Bar-Bars Collective, a long-time partner of Efus which gathers over 500 night-time venues in France, will bring their extensive knowledge on the role of nightlife venues in the security of nightlife and more precisely on how bar and club staff can play an important role in preventing and mitigating sexual harassment at night.
Céline Degrave, she has been assisting Culture Bar-Bars and Denis Tallédec in their coordination of the National Nightlife Platform (Plateforme nationale de la vie nocturne – PVN ) since 2017.
Monthly meetings
The SHINE Advisory Board had its first meeting in early March, and will meet once a month to discuss the project’s progress throughout the next phases:
- End of the research phase and finalisation of the national reports on sexual harassment in nightlife entertainement spots in Lithuania and Slovenia (e.g. definition, manifestations, perception by society, level of awareness, potential ways to prevent and/or mitigate it, etc.)
- Elaboration of quality management systems (skills and procedures to prevent and mitigate sexual harassment in nighlife entertainment spots).
- Drafting of the ‘Conceptualised Model for the Fight Against Sexual Harassment in Nightlife Entertainment Spots’. As research shows this Model cannot be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model as the national and local contexts vary in the different Member States. Therefore, this Model shall further be re-adapted to the local needs and specificities.
- Elaboration of training sessions – based on the Model – for relevant stakeholders in 5 European cities that are not part of the project’s consortium on how to prevent and mitigate sexual harassment in nightlife venues.
- Creation and implementation of an awareness campaign and dissemination throughout Europe.
A mutually beneficial collaboration
Participation in the Advisory Board is voluntary and provides members with the opportunity to participate in the co-creation of a working model for the prevention and/or mitigation of sexual harassment in nightlife entertainment venues. Furthermore, the Advisory Board members also have the opportunity to disseminate articles or other publications and take part in the project’s final event, foreseen to take place in Vilnius (LT).
Efus is currently preparing an article on the findings and recommendations of the national reports (Lithuania and Slovenia) that is foreseen to be published in the spring (2021) and will include contributions by Advisory Board members.
