Our History

In 2010, after noticing an uptick in sexual violence in nightlife and party spaces, the Manhattan Multidisciplinary Sexual Assault Task Force made it a priority to address sexual violence in nightlife spaces. On behalf of the Task Force, the New York City Hospitality Alliance, Crime Victims Treatment Center (CVTC), and NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault connected with members of the nightlife community about how they could support efforts to prevent sexual violence in nightlife spaces. Again and again, staff and patrons expressed both the need for a training program to prevent violence and their support of such a training, if it were to be created. Funding secured by the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault, in partnership with Mount Sinai Beth Israel and CVTC, led to the creation of an industry collective that would create and implement a nightlife training and outreach program.

The newly formed collective needed a name that reflected its industry leadership. Project Envision’s partnership with OutSmartBK, a grassroots patron safety campaign designed by and for the nightlife industry in Brooklyn, offered a solution. With the endorsement of OutSmartBK’s leadership, the new collective became known as OutSmartNYC.

This new partnership between the Nightlife industry, the NYC Alliance, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, and CVTC sought to engage industry staff and stakeholders in sexual violence prevention through education, training, and community mobilization, by connecting survivors to support services.

2026 marked the start of an exciting new chapter as The Alliance officially steps into its role as New York State's sexual violence coalition, becoming The Alliance Against Sexual Violence. This also begins a new chapter for OutSmartNYC, with CVTC focusing on training and outreach in the five boroughs of New York City and The Alliance expanding training and technical assistance for OutSmart into the rest of New York State.