Bartenders more likely to ‘over-serve’ women

Bartenders in Norway “over-serve” drunk women more often than men, despite a law prohibiting them from selling alcohol to intoxicated customers.

A new study shows bartenders in Norway “over-serve” drunk women more often than men

As reported by Medical Daily, a study conducted by scientists from the Norwegian Institute of Alcohol and Drug Research found that bartenders “over-serve” customers more than 60% of the time.

Accompanied by male and female actors aged between 20 and 30-years-old who were pretending to be drunk, the researchers visited 153 “drinking establishments” across three Norwegian cities – Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen.

Out of a total 425 attempts by the actors to buy alcohol from the bartenders, they were served 347 times, representing 82% of attempts.

Bartenders over-served female patrons 95% of time if it was past midnight, while men were served 67% of the time if it was before midnight.

Researchers also noted that rates of over-serving increased significantly when bars had loud music, poor lighting, and a higher number of drunk customers.

A similar study was conducted in the UK last year, where researchers found the law preventing bartenders from serving alcohol to already intoxicated customers was being broken on a regular basis, placing “enormous burdens” on the NHS and other public services.

While such law-breaking among bartenders across the world is prevalent, conviction rates are extremely low.

However in January last year, two Oklahoma bartenders were charged with serving an intoxicated pilot who was killed after being hit by two cars.