The release of a man on bail following a nine year-sentence for sexual assault has reignited conversations about women’s safety in Toronto’s bars and nightclubs and whether Ontario’s justice system does enough to offer them support.

A decision to allow College Street Bar owner Gavin MacMillan bail while he awaits appeal shows there is a long road ahead to make the Toronto entertainment industry safe and accessible for female bar staff and patrons alike.

The recent decision by the Court of Appeal found a new jury-selection procedure implemented by the Liberal government should not have been used in cases that predated that change. More than 30 cases are affected by the decision, including that of MacMillan and Enzo DeJesus Carrasco, who last week were each sentenced to nine years for the prolonged sexual assault of a 24-year-old woman at MacMillan’s downtown bar.

The ruling has sparked concern. Alexandra Miller, who used to work in the hospitality industry, worries about the impact the College Street Bar decision has on women trying to navigate an already-complex justice system.

“What’s most concerning to me is the obvious lack of justice in a trial like this,” Miller told the Star in an email.

“Assailants shouldn’t be dismissed because of administrative or judicial error in legal processes, nor should these errors even be occurring in this day and age.”

Miller, 25, said she fears that women may assume that safety standards at bars are followed, and are sufficient to protect them.

“It makes me worried for other women who might let down their guard,” she said.

Experience working in the service industry showed Miller one side of nightlife culture, where rigorous safety standards were enforced at the downtown bar where she was employed.

“I might have too much faith in the universality around security standards that were exclusive to my bar,” Miller said.

With her friends moving out of the downtown core, Miller often goes out to bars unaccompanied.

“I’ve started going out alone to bars or live shows on weekends to places I deem ‘safe’ if it’s within walking distance and is relatively more approachable than some of the formal clubs downtown,” Miller said.

Safety doesn’t just come from being prepared for the worst, she said.

“I think building a wall and communicating your whereabouts to people you trust needs to be normalized.”

Protecting women who work in the entertainment industry needs be the norm, said Atina Chaikith, a DJ who has been involved in Toronto’s bar scene for about four years.

“We need to stop enabling men and their actions,” Chaikith said. The 27-year-old has gone through a fair share of harassment, even while she’s on the job.

Early on in her DJ career, she was confronted by a bar patron who kept making passes at her while she was trying to work. “He kept saying things like ‘I’ve never been with a Thai girl before’ and he kept grazing my butt and standing behind me as I was DJing (very into my space).”

Chaikith said she kept rejecting him, but it never deterred his advances. Then, he took it to another level.

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“When I went to the women’s bathroom, he followed me, cornered me and offered me coke to have sex with him right there. I declined, again,” she said. “I asked the other DJ what was up with him, and he said ‘He’s just like that.’ ”

This complacency is just what Chaikith hopes changes in nightlife culture.

“Excuses like ‘He’s just like that’ or ‘He’s just kidding around’ are not acceptable. They need to take accountability for their actions, in and outside of the bars.”

Chaikith said that being a woman of colour increases the amount of unwanted attention or touching.

“As an Asian woman, a lot of men think I won’t stand up for myself. The typical stereotype is that Asian women are passive and docile. A lot of the time, I’m alone working, so I feel like I have to try even harder to make it known that advances are not welcome …. Why should I feel unsafe in my place of work?”

For the most part, now that she’s more established, she is fortunate to know most of the staff at the venues she works at or frequents, and that they’re usually looking out for her best interests, she said.

But Chaikith doesn’t think there have been many improvements to women’s safety over the years she’s been DJing. “I think women are still in fear of asking for help or speaking out if they ever feel uncomfortable,” she said.

Often, Chaikith will stay away from gigs and venues if the security staff don’t seem to care about the safety of women and workers.

As a manager in a position of leadership, Juliana Wolkowski, manager at Bar Raval, thinks the next step to improving safety of all people is by training the staff.

Wolkowski has worked in the hospitality industry for the last 10 years. In that decade, she thinks many strides have been made in women’s safety.

“Ten years ago, it was commonplace, as a young woman, to not only run a location with little to no security or support, but also close said bar and restaurant alone at 4 a.m. I know that in most hospitality spaces now, that would never be the case. But to think, at one point in time, that was (considered) appropriate … (it’s) unnerving and (the practice is) irresponsible.”

Wolkowski pointed to the Dandelion Initiative, an organization which focuses on creating safer spaces for women, recognizing and preventing potential issues and responding to sexual harassment and violence.

“I highly recommend (those in the hospitality industry) look inwards, and question if the standards you have put in place are good enough. There is nothing wrong with realizing you have missed something, but there is something very wrong if you don’t do anything about it,” Wolkowski said.

In addition to ensuring safety for women, the goal should be “to broaden our outlook and strive for inclusivity,” she said.

“Yes, of course, women need to be kept safe. But, more importantly, people need to be kept safe. If you have policies put in place for feminized people, you should also have them for everyone,” she adds.