Goa bars offer secret code to ensure women safety

Some of the popular bars in Goa are now offering secret code words to women to encourage safer nightlife in the state. This initiative in Goa was the idea of Priyansha Mishra, a former product manager at Microsoft, who first saw a poster for a code word at a bar in Anjuna. She realized how these little things can make women feel so much safer and so, she read up about techniques like the ‘angel shot’ concept where if a patron asks for an angel shot at the bar, they’re secretly letting their bartender know that they don’t feel safe because of another guest’s behavior or that the date they are on isn’t working out.

Mishra has taken it upon herself to connect with local entrepreneurs and standardize this practice. The code words will help women to some measure, if not more, in tackling obstacles they face while out and about in Goa. Women who find themselves in uncomfortable situations can use these codes and seek help.

She has identified 10 bars in Goa that will put up posters in women’s bathrooms where the code word and other necessary steps that should be taken next will be shared.  It is great to see entrepreneurs joining hands in ensuring a way to help women who otherwise find it challenging to get out of situations that can compromise their safety or seek help with trust. The bar owners who signed up for this project will be now training their bartenders and staff that can help assist women. They will be introducing the code word shot to the women in secret. Sharing the code words online will defeat the whole purpose of this movement, explains Mishra.