Safe and abuse-free nightclubs

The Reykjavík Metropolitan Police, the City of Reykjavík, the Greater Reykjavík Fire and Rescue Service, the Association of Reykjavík Nightclubs (Samtök reykvískra skemmtistaða) and the Icelandic Travel Industry Association have made a joint agreement on safe and abuse-free nightclubs.

Agreement on safe and abuse-free nightclubs

The agreement aims to prevent all possible violence at nightclubs. Violence such as gender-based and sexual harassment, prostitution and human trafficking, as well as violence based on discrimination or hate, such as towards immigrants or queer people, is not tolerated.

Other municipalities and police departments have worked with nightclubs and restaurants in their regions in a similar way.

Nightclubs that participate in the project are labelled with a dedicated sign.

Parties to the agreement

Public policy

The police maintain a dedicated phone line for nightclub staff during peak hours in order for them to relay information and seek assistance. Staff should nevertheless call 112 in case of emergency.
The police aim to maintain a response time under 5 minutes during peak nightclub hours.
A meeting is held every 6 months with nightclub representatives and head bouncers along with a staff member of The Emergency Room for Victims of Sexual Violence where violent crimes in nightclubs over the past six months are reviewed.

City of Reykjavik policy

The City of Reykjavík sets up and operates security cameras in the city centre (in collaboration with the police), and ensures good lighting where it is needed outdoors, based on comments from police and nightclubs.
The city gives a sign to nightclubs that show that they fulfil the requirements that have been outlined in this agreement.
They city is responsible for the email address oryggi@reykjavik.is and forwards all comments and questions to the correct channel.

Safe nightclub policy

Safe nightclubs:

Call the police if a violent offence or sex offence occurs or in the case of possession or use of illegal substances.
Do not show any tolerance toward violence in any form, including sexual offences, gender-based or sexual harassment, as well as other harassment and violence based on discrimination or hate, for example toward immigrants or queer people.
Monitor their bathrooms in a systematic, organized, and scheduled manner, in order to counteract violent offences, sexual offences, and possession or use of illegal drugs.
Ensure that doors and locks to bathroom stalls are such that bouncers and staff can open doors from the outside so that they can counteract violent offences and sexual offences.
Equip stalls in such a way that it is not possible to climb over or crawl under their partitions but so that it is easy to see whether and how many people are inside so that violence offences and sexual offences can be counteracted.

All nightclub staff has the right to:

Work without experiencing abuse or threats.
Work without experiencing gender-based or sexual harassment.
Feel safe at work.

Nightclub staff

Nightclub staff that participate in the “Safe nightclubs” project commit to ensuring the safety of guests and staff.

We are all prejudiced

Marginalized groups are groups that experience discrimination and violence more often than others in society. Prejudice makes us more likely to inflict violence on other people or neglect to help them when they need it.

Enjoy yourselves

112 hopes locals enjoy themselves at events and is launching an awareness campaign on sexual harassment in collaboration with the National Police Commissioner and the Ministry of Justice.

More about the Enjoy Yourselves campaign

Tónleikar þar sem hljómsveit stendur á sviði og er að spila. Ljóskastarar lýsa upp sviðið. Fyrir framan sviðið stendur hópur af fólki og nýtur tónlistarinnar. Myndin er í lit fyrir utan einn gest sem er greinilega að káfa á gestinum fyrir framan sig. Það er ekki góð skemmtun.