Women Call For Action In Brighton After 'Worrying' Public Sexual Harassment Stories

A group of Brighton women are calling for action after noticing, what they call, 'a worrying increase' in women sharing stories of public sexual harassment during lockdown.

The Anti-Harassment Club was formed at the end of June to combat and eradicate cat calling and gender-based street harassment in the city, and nationally.

Ultimately the group are on a mission to make this type of harassment illegal in the UK, and they currently have a parliamentry petition under review.

It's something that countries like France, New Zealand and Belgium have enforced in recent years.

The group intend on campaigning against harassment, providing support for victims and putting pressure on all local authorities to do more to tackle issues of this nature in the city.

One of the group's founders, Emma Wilson, said it's after an increasing amount of stories were shared on social media groups, particularly the Brighton Girl Facebook group.

The private group describes itself as a support network for young women in the city, and has attracted more than 9,000 members.

Emma, along with founders Chloe Payne and Helen Brown, began to compile a database of the stories to gain a wider view of how often these incidents were occurring.

Emma said:

"We wanted to understand the pervasive nature of that public sexual harassment.

"It became painfully clear that someone needed to take direct action to tackle this.

"Not just on a local level, but on a national level and that's to ensure that women feel safe on our streets, and that they don't feel alone after they've been subject to sexual harassment in public spaces."

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The trio noticed a pattern in the stories that were being shared, and that a large portion were women who had been harassed on the beach, on central streets, or in local parks across Brighton and Hove.

Emma clarified:

"They involve a pattern of harassment often starting out with pervasive leering or staring, ignoring their target's lack of interest, coming closer into their personal space by sitting too close to them when uninvited; or by standing over them in an intimidating manner.

"This is followed by persistently asking personal or sexual questions, or making personal or sexual remarks about their target's appearance.

"In some cases this has escalated into the perpetrator touching themselves or their target innapropriately.

"This is completely unacceptable and seriously concerning for our community."

The group also said they've seen many cases of women becoming subject to more aggressive and offensive verbal abuse in response to them standing up for themselves, or rejecting advances.

This is one area Emma said the group are trying to provide support for:

"It's really important that bystanders step in and help the victim if they think they are witnessing gender-based street harrassment.

"We have information on our social media pages of how you can step in and help in these situations."

Support is also going to be provided in the form of Zoom workshops, where a qualified therapist will teach techniques to deal with any shock or trauma as a result of feeling sexually objectified and intimidated by someone in a public place.

The group have reached out to local MPs, Brighton & Hove City Council and Sussex Police.

Councillor Carmen Appich, Councillor Jackie O'Quinn, and community safety officers are planning to talk to the group, and possibly put more support into action.

As the seafront has come up a number of times they are in touch with Sergeant Andrea Leahy, who patrols Brighton beach and nearby areas.

Sergeant Andrea Leahy said:

"As the Neighbourhood Police Team we are always supportive of crime prevention awareness in Brighton and Hove.

"There is no place in modern society for the harassment of any people and we aim to provide a safe and welcoming space for all to enjoy.

"Sussex Police encourages reporting of crime, you can do so on our website, on the phone or in person a police station.

"When you see us on patrol please speak to us and tell us about any issues that you are aware of. "

According to Emma, the Anti-Harassment Club intend to work very closely with Andrea, to put pressure on the police to have more of a presence on the seafront - which they hope will deter perpetrators.

It's also hoped they can encourage officers to be open minded when receiving reports of this nature.

Emma added:

"However, this is still relying on the public to protect ourselves and eachother - and the responsibility should be taken away from our shoulders and placed where it belongs, and that's with the police, local authorities and the UK government."

Anyone wanting to find out more or share their stories can visit www.antiharassment.club or send a message to their Instagram or Facebook pages.