Our Mission, Services, and History
OutSmartNYC is a collective of industry staff, patrons, clinic providers, educators, and activists organizing to prevent and end sexual violence in bars, restaurants, and nightclubs.
Our mission is to create a safer space where everyone can have the best possible night out.
We believe that ending violence and discrimination in nightlife will make going out safer and more fun for all. We apply a sex-positive, intersectional lens to our work. Our aim is to support the industry community in this philosophy.
What do we do?
- Offer violence prevention and bystander intervention training for industry staff
- Train volunteers from the community on this training for their spaces
- Educate the community on resources and services available to survivors of sexual violence
- Organize industry events to bring people together
- Meet regularly to discuss our activities and plan for the future
- Participate in local coalitions to end sexual violence
- Speak at local and national events on our work
Where do we come from?
In 2010, the Manhattan Multidisciplinary Sexual Assault Task Force made it a priority to tackle sexual violence in nightlife venues head-on. Task force members including the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, New York City Hospitality Alliance, Crime Victims Treatment Center, and NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault reached out to the industry about preventing sexual violence in nightlife spaces. Again and again, staff and patrons emphasized both the need for a training program to prevent violence and the eagerness of venues to support that training. Funding secured by the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault, in partnership with Project Envision and CVTC, led to the creation of an industry coalition for incubating the nightlife training and outreach program.
The newly formed coalition needed a name that reflected its industry leadership. Project Envision’s partnership with OutSmartBK, a grassroots patron safety campaign designed by and for the nightlife industry in Brooklyn, offered a solution. With the endorsement of OutSmartBK’s leadership, the new coalition became known as the OutSmartNYC collective.
Working with the Alliance, Project Envision, and CVTC, we seek to engage industry staff and stakeholders in sexual violence prevention through outreach, resource sharing and training.