A celebration of women at the heart of Bristol’s diverse night life scene

Sexual harassment, security and sex workers’ rights were among the topics covered during an event to celebrate women within Bristol’s nighttime economy.

Against the colourful backdrop of the Lost Horizon stage, five of the people who are pioneering positive change within the culture, hospitality, music and arts sectors discussed some of the issues that need to be addressed to ensure the city is safe, welcoming and inclusive for all.

The event hosted by Bristol24/7, in partnership with Bristol Nights, sought to shine a light on the women and non binary people who play a key role in making the city as vibrant, diverse and celebrated as it is.

There was also reflection on how things can change for the better, the steps being taken and the wider investment needed in the panel discussion, which was hosted by Bristol24/7 Deputy Editor Ellie Pipe.

Watch the event in full:

“What I got from Bristol is how open it is to DIY space and DIY culture,” said Linda Devo, the co-founder of Kiki Bristol and member of Booty Bass DJ collective.

“There’s a tradition of people setting up their own thing.

“There’s room for improvement but, in the ten years I’ve been here, I’ve seen enormous leaps in the things being set up. The city is open to that spirit and culture but it’s thinking about how we support it.”

While the will to set up grassroots movements, organisations and collectives is strong, there is a lack of affordable space for people to test out new projects and ideas. Linda suggested using school buildings that are standing empty at night as places to foster community spaces.

Emma Harvey said Bristol has a real richness and diversity in its offering

Emma Harvey, the CEO of Trinity Community Arts, the charity that runs Trinity Centre, reflected on the “amazing richness and diversity of people” in the city, but agreed about the need for space in which to incubate grassroots projects.

Some of the challenges of changing the culture around sectors that are still dominated by cis white men were explored.

Laura Lewis-Paul, the founder and creative director of Saffron said: “It’s about the council being able to invest in those organisations that are supporting people into those spaces to enable people to explore and change their audiences and change who they’re working with.”

Ola Poroslo is setting up a security company with a focus on queer and femme employees

Ola Poroslo, the founder of PHAT Bristol, is setting up their own security company and introducing a guardianship scheme largely in response to negative experiences with security.

Speaking about the city, Ola said: “I can’t undersell how much Bristol has such a platform for acceptance – there’s so much acceptance and solidarity of people who looks a bit different from you or is a bit different from you.”

They went on to speak about the proposed nil cap that would effectively mean the closure of Bristol’s two strip clubs, Urban Tiger and Central Chambers.

“More support definitely could be given is to sex workers and sex work collectives in Bristol,” said Ola.

“They are saying about supporting women in the workplace and they’re excluding women in the workplace just because of the kind of work they do and there’s so much prejudice and so much wrong with that.”

They added: “You should have equality at work no matter what the nature of the job is.”

Agreeing, Laura said: “With sex work becoming unregulated, that creates a place that’s not safe for women working there. I feel there’s an element of the nighttime economy that’s in a similar place – it’s a very informal workplace. I think there’s a certain amount of regulation that needs to come into this space to support all workers.”

Aysha Tailor-Whyte, Trinity’s events production coordinator, is running training sessions being offered to 1,000 staff working in the nighttime economy to help them know how to deal with sexual harassment.

She said there is an openness to change in the city, adding: “The way it’s been rolled out as a citywide sign-up to this rather than individual spaces having to say ‘we might need some sexual harassment training’ creates that environment where you are not having to pinpoint one issue.”

Emma added: “There is no perfect venue – sexual assault can happen in any venue and incidents can arise in any venue.

“This training getting rolled out across the city collectively is a good first step – saying this is the city we want to create.”

Aysha also spoke of the need for diversity at the top level within the nighttime economy in order to instigate positive change.

Bristol’s nighttime economy advisor Carly Heath was unable to attend the event on Thursday due to Covid.

In a statement, she reflected on the work to tackle sexual harassment, saying: “Something extra happens when we focus on safety of women in this space, although we mention ‘women’ a lot in our most recent campaign, please take it for granted that this work to create safer spaces applies to everyone.

“We shift focus to all vulnerable groups, particularly non-binary, people of colour, those with different physical and mental differences… and all sexualities. By establishing a zero tolerance to harassment across the city, we aim to look out for all communities and create a network of allies that represents the heart of what it means to be a Bristolian.”

Carly added: “For a city like Bristol, powerful women are embedded into the very heart and soul of our after-dark community.”

Aysha Tailor-Whyte says there needs to be more diversity at the top levels of sectors

All photos: Mia Vines Booth

Read more: Why we are championing women in Bristol’s nighttime economy 

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