Nightclub tells revellers they cannot stare at people without verbal consent
25 August 2022, 08:14 | Updated: 25 August 2022, 09:05
A Sydney nightclub has told revellers not to stare at people in the venue unless they have given verbal consent.
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Club 77 said it will designate one of its security guards as a "safety officer" who will wear a pink high-vis vest.
They will handle complaints where a customer says they are being harassed by somebody or receiving unwanted attention.
A statement on the club's website said: "As a nightclub, we encourage you to interact with strangers, however any engagement MUST begin with verbal consent.
"This also applies if you are, for example, staring at someone from afar. If the attention you are giving someone is unwanted, that is considered harassment."
The club, in the Darlinghurst part of Sydney, said it is "continuously striving to create a safer and truly open space" and is "not a place to come to if your sole purpose is to 'pick up'".
"If you do come in and are approaching multiple people or giving unwanted attention to someone, you are going to attract the attention of our security, who have been instructed to stop this kind of behaviour."
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It wants to create a safe space and that means doing more than stopping incidents after they have happened, the club said.
It will operate a policy of always believing a customer when they report harassment and remove the offending individual and call the police.
"YES this is the best thing ever!! The amount of creepy AF staring I've put up with at bars over the years…And I've always been the one to leave because it's so uncomfortable. Over it! Well done Club 77," one Twitter user wrote.
"An excellent initiative which honestly, should've been implemented a long time ago. I know a lot of women who get unwanted stares and attention from guys all the time at nightclubs and it's about time this stopped. Kudos to Club77," said another.
But one reacted by saying: "Why would anyone who enjoys having a good time bother visiting the dumb country?
"Nightclubbing in Australia- don't bother. Looking at other patrons can get you thrown out."
