The Prince Edward Island Rape and Sexual Assault Centre (PEIRSAC) is launching a poster campaign “The Island Shot” to bring in licensed venues across the Island to create a safer drinking culture. Since 2017 the “Angel Shot” has been a code that a patron can use to signal their server that they are in an unsafe situation. Ordering the drink “neat”, and a server will escort the patron to their car, “on the rocks” results in a cab being called, and “with lime” means police intervention, with the server escorting the patron to a safer location.

Prince Edward Island is a community driven province, and PEIRSAC believes that by introducing the “Island Shot”, it calls on all Islanders that work within and frequent establishments that serve alcohol to be mindful of one another, and to create environments that feel safer, and more guided by community care.

Laura K. Bird with PEI Human Rights Commission is the project manager for Workplace Sexual Harassment Project (SHIFT) “The goal of SHIFT is to address and prevent sexual harassment in Island workplaces through awareness, education and training that is tailored for employers, employees, high school students and the general public.” [1] Bird and Hagen feel like “Island Shot” campaign and SHIFT are a natural partnership that focus on creating a permanent “shift” in the normalization of sexual harassment and violence that permeates throughout drinking culture. Bird believes that, “Safe workplaces also include the safety of customers.”

“The goal of this campaign is not to call out any individual bar or drinking establishment, but rather call folks in to create a shift in consciousness when it comes to drinking culture on Prince Edward Island. We all want to have safer venues, and to create a community where we genuinely take care of one another.” - Candace Hagen, Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Coordinator with PEIRSAC.

Hagen will be reaching out to licensed establishments across the Island to ask if they would be willing to place Island Shot posters in all of their washrooms, as well as an informational poster behind the bar with emergency contact numbers for staff. Each establishment will have to undergo a training session prior to receiving their posters, carried out by SHIFT project manager, Laura K. Bird, to ensure their staff feel empowered to act in the requested manner of their patron. Hagen is pleased to announce that Upstreet Craft Brewing has already signed onto the project.

Award winning Island musician and anti-violence advocate Kinley Dowling is in full support of the project. “When the Charlottetown drink spiking story was released in November of last year, [2] I knew I would continue to lend my voice to causes that aim to create a safer community. The Island Shot sends a message to everyone that we’re looking out for one another, and that together we can build a stronger, safer province.”

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