A new Tennessee state law going into effect on January 1, 2025, requires bartenders and some servers to complete sexual assault prevention training.
A new Tennessee state law going into effect on January 1, 2025, requires bartenders and some servers to complete sexual assault prevention training.
The mandatory training sessions cover a variety of ways staff may recognize the signs of human trafficking and sexual assault. Servers and bartenders are also informed about the role drugs and alcohol may play in sexual assault.
Seth Barber, owner of The Pirate Tavern in North Knoxville said safety is the establishment’s number one priority.
“We want all of our customers [to know] that they can come to us to feel safe. So, we want to make sure we recognize those things… We will absolutely watch your drink. We don’t want somebody else coming and doing something to your drink when you’re not around,” Barber said.
Originally, the bill only included training on preventing human trafficking. The Sexual Assault Center helped lawmakers integrate additional sexual assault training before the bill passed.
This addition promotes consistency between staff throughout the state and emphasizes the intersections between alcohol and sexual assault. Intervening safely can be difficult, and many are not informed enough to do so successfully.
Lorraine McGuire with the Sexual Assault Center emphasizes that alcohol is present either from the victim or perpetrator in 50% of sexual assaults.
“If, as a society, we learn some of these basic bystander intervention tactics that we’re teaching all of these bartenders and servers, more people will actually step in and get involved in a way that makes them comfortable,” she said.
The law requires that bartenders will have to be recertified every two years.
Authors: Andy Goldwasser and Alexis Kabat
