our story
Safe Bars was founded by Lauren R. Taylor in 2013 out of a dire need for greater safety in the hospitality industry. With her lifelong experience in empowerment self-defense and bystander education, she worked with bartenders, servers, and others to create a way to stop sexual violence in alcohol-serving spaces. Thus Safe Bars was born with a clear mission: to create safe, equitable, and inclusive hospitality spaces.
We’ve grown from training staff at DC bars to training teams and establishments nationally and internationally. Our curriculum has expanded to include bystander intervention, de-escalation, and allyship training.
Lauren R. Taylor, Founder
We are the leader in gender-based violence prevention for the hospitality industry, and our goal is to reach more people, more venues, and more communities to end sexual violence and create safe, welcoming, and inclusive alcohol-serving establishments.
Today, Safe Bars is led by
Executive Director Amie Ward.
