SAFE, Austin’s large nonprofit working to end sexual violence, abuse, and harassment, launched its latest initiative to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace on Tuesday, Jan. 29. Dubbed the “SAFE Institute,” the program provides custom trainings, consultants, and resources to organizations big and small in an effort to create “zero-violence environments” both in the office and out in the community. Local businesses such as Alamo Drafthouse (see “A Broken Trust at the Alamo Drafthouse,” March 2, 2018), L’oca d’oro, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and the Texas Roller Derby have already received the training, according to the press release.
The Institute, with its flagship program “BASE Training” – a two-hour interactive session on identifying, preventing, and responding to sexual harassment, led by SAFE consultants – doesn’t currently have a physical location. Instead, SAFE’s co-CEO Kelly White explained via email, the trainings happen in person – “at your place or ours.” (Additional resources are available online at www.safeinstitute.org.)
As the flagship program, BASE “distills the expertise of SAFE’s consultants” into trainings tailored to individual work environments, and combines group activities, videos, and real-life scenarios to help build a “respectful and safe environment,” said White. The Institute also offers additional programming – including one to promote healthy, violence-free relationships for children and teenagers. But White said SAFE was “compelled” to make BASE the flagship in light of the #MeToo movement, noting that workplace abuse is where “we’ve seen the highest demand.” White, who called this new venture an “exciting step” for the nonprofit, anticipates the initiative having a “tremendous impact on the overall culture of our city, especially as our business community grows rapidly.”
This article appears in February 1 • 2019.