HOUSTON – Before Valentine’s weekend crowds fill Houston bars, some nightlife spots are training staff on a program designed to help women who feel uncomfortable, threatened or unsafe during a night out.
It’s called the “Angel Shot,” but it’s not a real drink.
Instead, it’s a code phrase customers can use to discreetly ask bartenders and managers for help if they feel pressured by unwanted advances or fear a situation could escalate to harassment or sexual assault.
How the Angel Shot works
Attorney Colby Lewis, who is helping spread the program in Houston, said the Angel Shot is meant to give women a quick and private way to alert staff.
“If a patron, particularly a woman, feels uncomfortable, feels like she’s in a situation she shouldn’t be in, she can go to the bar and ask for an Angel Shot,” Lewis said. “Now this is not actually a drink, it’s code.”
At BLVD Park in the Heights, manager Eli Rivera said the business is training staff on how to respond.
“We are going to train all of our staff … over this Angel Shot that I truly believe could save potential lives,” Rivera said.
Three ways to order it
The Angel Shot can be ordered in different ways, and each signals a different level of help:
Jacquelyn Aluotto, president of the No Trafficking Zone and a victims advocate who has worked with hundreds of survivors, said the program is needed in more bars and clubs.
“It’s a huge problem … approximately 4,000 rapes and sexual assaults were reported in Harris County,” Aluotto said. She added that the program can help not only in cases of potential assault, but also when a woman feels like she is being stalked or harassed.
With dating apps making bars a common place for first-time meetups, some women said uncomfortable encounters can happen quickly, and it’s not always clear what to do in the moment.
One woman, Karli Skees, said she’s experienced “creepy” encounters in clubs and bars. Another, Lily Patton, said meeting someone in person and feeling unsafe can be a real concern.
How to know if a bar offers the Angel Shot
Lewis said one way to find out if a bar participates is to check the women’s restroom, where management may post signage explaining the Angel Shot and how to order it.
Lewis is encouraging more bar and nightclub owners across Houston to adopt the program, saying it can be implemented quickly.
“It requires zero cost,” Lewis said. “Print up some signs, explain what the Angel Shot is and have a five-minute meeting with your staff.”