SACRAMENTO, California — Sacramento bars started a new program this week aimed at educating themselves on ending sexual violence.
The program is through WEAVE, a nonprofit organization that is the primary provider of crisis intervention services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Sacramento County.
"Things like domestic violence where couples would get into fights and there wasn't a lot of effective intervention," said Shelby Vice, campus violence prevention specialist with WEAVE.
Vice helped start the program called "Safe Night Out."
"I would witness how bar staff would see physical violence, and how they would respond to physical violence, get into a fight and both get kicked out. But sexual violence, the response to that was different," Vice said.
A manager at Golden Bear in Sacramento along with a few other Sacramento area bar managers and owners went through the training.
"We're talking about doing something that's right and that's motivation in itself enough," said Josh Milholm, general manager at Golden Bear.
The training goes through signs and how to respond to sexual violence.
"Instead of throwing both of the parties out...make sure one of them is kept safe inside the establishment so they could call for help while the other one is outside maybe getting an Uber or something like that," Vice said.
Unfortunately, what motivates many to get educated is a situation they see too often.
"Sexual violence is a part of our culture, unfortunately," Vice said. "It's everywhere and I wanted to do something to stop that. I know a lot of people who have gone through sexual violence and domestic violence."
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