This past October marked 4 years since the #MeToo Movement started. When it started people were hesitant to report sexual assaults and victims were shamed into staying silent and were not likely to be believed when they did break their silence.
This movement brought about a change, mostly for women, but men saw a slight uptick in their numbers of reported cases as well. Sixty-two percent of women said they are more likely to speak out if they are a victim of sexual misconduct as a result of recent attention to the issue, compared to 44% of men. Women also are more likely than men to say they would speak out if they are a witness, 63% vs 53%.
In the security industry, companies like Bunker360 saw a change in the requests for security equipment like Panic Buttons to aid in the movement and help people not only report but prevent sexual assaults and sexual harassment.
Cities and States began passing laws at the push of unions for the hospitality industry, more specifically hotels, casinos and bars. These laws require employers to provide panic buttons to their employees so they can alert other staff members, management and security staff that they are experiencing an emergency or an assault and these staff members can provide immediate assistance.
Some hotel chains have even gone so far as to join the AHLA in the 5 Star Promise to have each hotel provide panic buttons to their staff nationwide. For many of them the deadline to have these buttons was a year or two ago, but the pandemic made that difficult so extensions were provided to the hotel management.
There are currently proposals for more laws, specifically in Massachusetts. The law has not been passed yet but it is in it’s proposition phases. Currently states with Panic Button Laws are New Jersey, Washington State and Illinois. Other states have cities that have passed laws but not for the entire state. These cities are Santa Monica, Sacramento, Oakland, Miami, New York City, Las Vegas and Seattle.
As we come out on the backside of the pandemic, we are starting to see hotels request information and quotes for their panic button systems and our hope is that soon every hotel in the United States will have a system for their employees.
For more information on the #metoo movement and it’s progress check out https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-10-15/metoo-4-years-in-id-like-to-think-now-we-are-believed