Albuquerque Bar Offers ‘Angel Shot’ in Unsafe Situations

An Albuquerque Bar is helping to put a stop to sexual harassment in bars in New Mexico by offering a ‘code’ for help in unsafe situations.

New Mexico Uses ‘Code Drink’ to Keep Women Safe

Carri Phylis opened a bar of her own in Albuquerque in New Mexico, and among many other things, she decided to include a bathroom alert for all ladies that could be in trouble while on the premises.

She put up a notice in the women’s bathroom in which she explained that the staff of the bar offers them a way to discreetly ask for help if they find themselves in a bad situation.

The sign is called ‘Date Gone Wrong’ where Carri carefully explained that if they found themselves in an unpleasant situation or someone was bothering them, they should feel free to go to the bar and ask for an ‘Angel Shot,’ and the staff would read the situation. A woman in such a situation would be escorted home safely and would even have transportation secured.

Carri Phylis, a former rape crisis center worker, stated that she was not responsible for the ‘Angel Shot’ invention. This code grew immensely popular in bars worldwide in the last couple of years.

She continued explaining that since she opened her bar in January, she had only two situations when ‘Angel Shot’ was requested. She added that she was pleased that her offer is not abused and that she is pleased to say that in both situations, the bartenders reacted accordingly. They are trained to act calmly and ask for the bar security or manager, and then, they assess the situation.

One of these two cases needed further transportation assistance since, unfortunately, a young woman was being followed by her aggressor even though she was protected by security.

Phylis was in charge of women who suffered through rape crisis, so she is aware of the troubling situation in the state.

The national rate of this dangerous state is that 1 in 6 women will experience an attempted or a successful rape in their lives. However, according to the information from the rape crisis center, in New Mexico, the numbers are more troubling — 1 in 4 women will have similar experience in their life.

The experience of working with women survivors taught her that it was up to the community to prevent these situations from happening.

She added that she knew that opening a bar business would require a different approach, so she decided to give an example on the way a business should be conducted.

Lastly, she added that she would be thrilled to see that women feel safe at her bar and that she hopes that other bars will introduce a similar feature, no matter how they end up naming it.