Last week, in the wake of their national takeover tour, Bars and Clubs spoke to the Sorry Not Sorry collective about their movement to highlight injustices in the hospitality industry. One part of that movement is raising funds to support a legal campaign against their former employer and underscore the pressures faced by individuals seeking justice within entrenched systems.
“There is a daunting fact that pushes most women and Queer people away from choosing to pursue the people that have wronged them: the legal system is a very expensive, very steep uphill battle,” says Britt Rowe, who, alongside Jenna Hemsworth, Rachelle ‘Rocky’ Hair, Alex Hooker and Reuben Kahl, forms Sorry Not Sorry.
And while Britt acknowledges that it is easy to be discouraged by the emotional and financial toll of the legal process, they say it is hard to demand accountability without it.
Change starts here
While the Sorry Not Sorry collective was formed as a result of the shared experiences of its members, Jenna stresses that the legal proceedings are not only about the individuals behind the collective, but also challenging the long-standing hierarchies that silence marginalised voices.
“We are in the lucky position to be able to feel safe enough to publicly stand behind our claims. Not many people get afforded that luxury, so we are fighting for them. We are fighting so that in the future, abusers fear the repercussions of their actions, fear ostracisation in their community and fear just as we have had to fear for so long. No one should have to go to work and feel scared or intimidated. We won’t stop until that is a reality,” she told Bars and Clubs.
Alex added: “It’s time to say enough is enough. If the turnout to our events and the outpouring of industry-wide support has shown us anything, it’s that so many people have suffered in silence or positions of submission for so long, both at the hands of their abusers and their employers, and often those are the same person or people.
“Our legal campaign is a statement, and that statement is that the time for apologies is long past. The businesses that have built their empires on the backs of our broken bodies have to be held responsible for the action – or lack of action – they took when it mattered most. The people on the ground providing world-class hospitality to guests and making the money that fills your pockets are very rarely business owners. And they must be respected and taken care of.”
Paying the price
Alex says she has often been paid up to $10,000 less per year than her male counterparts, and if a global advocacy campaign and legal action is what it takes for the industry to listen, she’s committed to seeing it through.
“It’s no secret that working in hospitality can be extremely draining, not just mentally and physically, but financially. We are often paid significantly less than men who are working the same jobs we are. Your salary in bars and restaurants has everything to do with who you know, rather than what you know, and I’ve often felt over the last 10 years that I have been in the endless pursuit of ‘proving myself’ to the men I have worked for,” she says.
The uncompromising fight for justice
For the Sorry Not Sorry collective, true justice extends far beyond any legal outcome. It’s about catalysing a cultural shift within the hospitality industry and ensuring safe, respectful workplaces with zero tolerance for misconduct. It’s about shifting power structures and elevating women and non-binary people into decision-making roles, and more.
Britt says: “Justice is knowing that negligent, dismissive, power-hungry companies don’t get to make profits off our bodies and leave us traumatised at the end of it. Justice is knowing every 19-year-old girl will walk into work tomorrow and know she is safe. Justice is Queer people being treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. Justice is knowing that the boys’ clubs of yesteryear are dismantled and thrown away.”
For Reuben, justice is being heard, seen and respected for their hospitality, not just their pain.
“As people of the service industry, we don’t get spotlighted enough unless we are in positions of power or in ownership of venues, however we keep the cogs moving for the success of them. Now we are here being loud and proud with very confronting, painful and vulnerable recounts of personal experiences.
“Justice isn’t money – the legal system is intimidating and challenging to navigate and often confusing to figure out who that system is there to protect and support.
“Justice for me is accountability falling into the laps of the men that created, fostered and relished in this misogynistic culture. Justice is having resources for women and marginalised folks in this industry to be supported throughout such processes. Justice is believing victims and nurturing them. Justice is listening. Justice is championing the oppressed. Justice is change by those who are pushing for it. Justice is people over profit. Justice is eradicating discrimination and putting women, Queers and oppressed voices in power. They understand the pain.”
“Sadly, it’s a man’s world and this isn’t only an industry issue at its core, it’s a societal issue of misogyny. This is a boy’s problem, and it’ll take real men to help fix it. Women are assaulted, abused and threatened every day in the comforts of their own homes, neighbourhoods and this world. We want to make sure that women can come to work to work, to be protected and know that safety is ensured and prioritised.
“I’m sick and tired of waiting to hear people in power decide how to handle a woman’s pain. We need to consult the experts, victims and oppressed to help create more realistic, rewarding and fitting processes around handling sexual assault in the workplace. I also want proactive leaders that see the creeps and deal with them before it goes terribly wrong. We can smell them from a mile away, let’s rid them before it’s too late.”
Reuben Kahl
If you would like to donate to support the Sorry Not Sorry collective with the fees associated with their upcoming legal cases, you can donate via Gofundme.
