Balance your bar | A new protest movement is erupting

In Belgium, the United Kingdom and France, hundreds of women are breaking the silence about the sexual violence they experience in liquor stores, in the eyes of almost everyone. A movement that stretches across the Atlantic to Quebec.

Leila Dussault
Press

After the #metoo and #balancetonporc movements, it is #balancetonbar’s turn to gain momentum in Europe. With this hashtag, hundreds of European women have chosen to testify on social media about the attacks they experience in festive environments. Thus they created a real shock wave.

“It started with two in Brussels [bars] The women condemned the employee who gave them drugs there, ”explains Florence Hauteclaire, a volunteer for the feminist group Et ta Sister, the leader of the #balancetonbar movement in Liege.

“Upon learning of this, the boss switched the bar server and scolded Florence Hotclair. Police and officers did not actually respond to the various allegations. At one point, Brussels women wanted to hear their voices.”

These voices, created in mid-October, are on the Balance Tone Bar Instagram page, about sixty shill testimonials.

“I drank half of my drink, then nothing … black hole.” ”

“They were the ones who told me that I was often sexually abused in the rock classics.”

“I woke up hours later, lying alone and on the floor, with my pants and panties down.”

If the victims are anonymous, the name of the bar is clearly visible. The Instagram page grew rapidly, appearing in the names of other cities across Belgium and France.

On Friday, a joint call was made to boycott liquor stores in Belgium.

A movement that gains speed

“This is actually an overly arbitrary movement with a view to violence, which has been going on for years already, but it has not been heard of,” explains Florence Hotclair.

Women from many cities, such as Paris, Liège, Toulouse, and Marseille, have shared with Brussels women their bad experiences in liquor stores. At the same time, in the UK, students reported in October that they had been unknowingly injected with drugs at dance venues and nightclubs. Since then, the boycott of clubs and bars has been a group under this word Girls night inside, Has appeared. A petition has also been submitted to the British Parliament to make searches at the entrances of companies compulsory.

And in Quebec?

“This is a European movement, perhaps, but there are a lot of cases like this [d’agressions dans les milieux festifs]”Here, in Quebec,” says Catherine Rosie, a professor of crime at Laval University who specializes in violence against women.

“I think there is anyone who is old enough to drink alcohol in an establishment or a club [au Québec] I hear horror stories from those around me, ”says Alexandra Dubui. He is the co-founder of the Quebec Joint #jaichangémoiaussi, which aims to give a voice to victims of sexual or racist attacks.

According to him, the exact size of the event is not known in Quebec. “It’s time for these companies to question their practices,” says Alexandra Dubui. And don’t close your eyes if you know something is going on. ”

View shared by Peter Sergakis, President of the Union des Tenciers de Barஸ்a du Quebec. “Tenants can’t be negligent either,” he believes.

In 2015, Melanie Lemme submitted a petition to the National Assembly aimed at implementing a campaign to remind people that “alcohol is not equal consent”. The co-founder of Quebec Against Sexual Violence is pleased that the #balancetonbar movement has emerged. “What has always been of interest to me is how we ensure the punishment of these individuals and the removal of poaching sites. [les agresseurs] “, She says.

“Tate is a rapist,” observes Melanie Lemme. More than 80% of adults are affected [d’agression sexuelle] Keep that item in their body, in the party scene, ”he insists. “Drug aggression is a tactic to blur consent in the eyes of the public,” he laments.

“A woman should never choose which bar to go to. She should never think about what she is wearing – Catherine Rossi believes you will never do it for a man. [avec le mouvement #balancetonbar] ! ⁇