Campaigns and actions to prevent sexist aggressions in nightlife context and to promote safe parties, in a short space of time, have become an indispensable public policy. The first experiences arose mainly from feminist groups, community and neighborhood movements, placing in the middle of the debate those socially more tolerant sexist violences and before which the institutional response was absent. The first campaigns meant moving from the speech to action to influence the ways of relating in leisure and party spaces.
At the same time, these first experiences have put sexist aggressions in public spaces at the center of feminist debate, also challenging gender and equal-scope policies. The effect has been a massive reproduction of campaigns focused on local parties, with a greater or lesser impact, in a good number of Catalan municipalities and the rest of the State. A policy that has become indispensable in the local world.
In this context, we analyse 18 campaigns to prevent sexist aggression and sexual violence in the context of nightlife to reflect on some elements to be taken into account before designing the intervention: Who do we want to involve in the prevention strategy? How do we define the problem? What are the most relevant actions? Who and how do we want to address us in the messages of the campaign?
These are some of the questions that guide this article and that seek to provide some reflections to the entities, collectives and administrations that are considering to prevent sexist aggression in nightlife contexts.
The article comes within the framework of the Q de Fiesta project! – Quality Nights of the General Sub-Directorate for Drug Dependencies of the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya, whose objective is to develop strategies to convert nightlife into a safer, attractive and healthier space for everyone.
