Asking for Angela: What Are University Bars Doing to Combat Sexual Harassment on Campus?

Universities are breeding grounds for intellectual thought and progressivism, but less illuminated are the sexual harassment and assault claims that seldom result in perpetrators receiving appropriate repercussions.

In 2015, the National Union of Students launched the ‘Talk About It’ survey for women identifying and non-binary students to see just how widespread sexual harassment and assault was on university campuses. The results were released a year later and highlighted that there was indeed a real issue.

The survey produced many damning results, with 47.8 per cent (or 642) of the respondents saying they had received suggestive comments or jokes and 31.05 per cent (417) claiming they had received ‘unwelcome touching’.

But the most worrying thing to come out of the survey’s results was the low number of incidents that were actually reported.

Only 5.54 per cent (or 48) of the female respondents admitted they had reported any of their incidents to their university, and only 4.78 per cent (39) took their complaint to police. Of those who did report, 71.57 per cent were not satisfied with the way their case was handled.

During the following year, Universities Australia asked the Human Rights Commission to launch a national survey into sexual harassment and assault on all 39 Australian universities to address the issues with policy and reportage on campus. Those results are expected to be released later this year.

So, what are universities doing to counteract this?

While sexual harassment and assault can occur anywhere on campus or in campus accommodation, an obvious hotspot is the university’s waterhole. For instance, just last month Perth Now reported that the Tavern at the University of Western Australia (UWA) had introduced the ‘Ask for Angela’ initiative.

i saw this in a toilet and thought it was important and should be a thing everywhere not just lincolnshire !!!! pic.twitter.com/oO45I7gaJL

— strawberry girl (@iizzzzzi) October 18, 2016

The ‘Ask for Angela’ initiative was born out of England's Lincolnshire County Council last year, after they saw a more informal version in place around individual bars.

It works by offering bar patrons a chance to subtlety tell bartenders that they are feeling uncomfortable by the advances of their date, companion or a total stranger. They can do this by asking for an Angela at the bar or, in some places, ordering an ‘angel shot’: a non-existent unicorn drink in the bartending world.

every restaurant needs to have this in the women's restroom pic.twitter.com/vvsE6NLWqK

— stephanie duran (@ItsSteephh) January 9, 2017

UWA Student Guild women's officer, Hannah Matthews, told Perth Now that the initiative will help support students.

"It not only offers a practical tool in the fight against sexual harassment, but also sends a strong message that harassment isn’t OK and you don’t have to put up with it," Matthews said.

Another big supporter of the initiative is Dave Javor, the Bar Manager at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).

He told Student Edge that he has trained all his staff at UTS' The Loft to respond to any requests for the 'angel shot'. While he hasn't had anyone use the initiative in his bar yet (since its implementation in October last year), he explains that it's better to have something in place than nothing.

"It's an incredibly sensible, preventative measure for any bar to adopt," he said.

There is a growing number of bars in Melbourne and Sydney outside of universities who are adopting similar initiatives, but that number is still small. 

"I think it should be implemented [everywhere], not just university bars," Dave added. "I would love to see some initiatives like this incorporated and adopted into every bar across Australia."

But not everyone’s totally on board with 'Ask for Angela'.

Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) Licensed Venues Manager, Perry Canning, thinks that if someone's been made uncomfortable or is experiencing harassment, he'd rather they tell the bar clearly so they can deal with the situation.

"If a person comes to the bar they can tell staff they are being harassed, and it will be dealt with immediately," he explained.

"So, why would they need to 'Ask for Angela' when they can simply say that they are being harassed?" 

That's not to say Canning is against the initiative; he just thinks it's more suited towards the busier public bars rather than those at university campuses. 

"'Ask for Angela' is probably a good initiative in clubs or pubs in the CBD... [but] within our environment and with our demographic, we rarely, if ever, have complaints of sexual harassment," Canning said.

He clarified that it didn't mean they neglect it or don’t expect them, but that the rare incidents they deal with are usually on a "case-by-case" basis.

The 'Ask for Angela' initiative and similar programs have also received some criticism from feminists who think it puts the onus of personal safety back on the victim rather than stopping unwanted sexual advances in the first place.

However, there's also an argument that this initiative isn't strictly a rape prevention method; rather, it could help students in a sticky situation (like awkward dates) as well as in more serious times, where the date is veering into unsafe territory. It's a way of showing that the establishment is on your side and looking out for you.

As the public—and, in particular, university students—wait for the outcome of the national sexual assault and harassment survey, these initiatives are at least taking small, practical steps to raise awareness and attempt to offer support networks to students in uncomfortable and unsafe situations.

'Ask for Angela' and 'angel shots' may not be the magic solutions to solve the very real issues affecting university campuses, but they could be the first ingredient.

Photo: iStock