Brighton Beach is for Everyone

Sipping cider in the sun or huddling for the winter sunset murmurations Brighton Beach is the heart of our city…

But for many of us, especially women and girls, we have shared experiences that are far from enjoyable

To raise awareness and challenge sexual harassment, we are asking women and girls to share their stories

Women and girls should feel free to go about their lives without fear of sexual harassment or violence in public spaces. #ReclaimTheBeach campaign aims to raise public awareness, support women, challenge perpetrators and encourage active bystanders to call out this behaviour

#ReclaimThebeach

Reclaim the Beach is conceived and supported by Brighton Women’s Liberation Collective, a feminist discussion and support group for women who live, work or study in Sussex.

BLWC holds Sisters Salons – monthly gatherings for women in Brighton & Hove.

Brighton Reclaim the Beach is a community response to an unacceptable level of rapes, sexual assaults and harassment of women and girls on our city’s beaches.

Local news reports in 2023 and 2024 described rapes and sexual assaults carried out by 20 different men in public spaces in Brighton & Hove. Of the 30 separate assaults, 17 took place on the seafront. We also know that very few cases of rape and sexual assault result in arrests and convictions such as those reported in the media. In 2023-24, just one in 50 rapes reported to Sussex police resulted in a court case.

Our campaign aims to draw attention to the fact that our local beach and seafront do not feel like safe spaces for women and girls. We aim to empower women to act when they are subjected to harassment, voyeurism, indecent exposure, assault or rape.

We also want to empower everyone using this important public space in our city to safely intervene and act if they see someone harassing or assaulting women on the beach.

In this first stage of the campaign, we are inviting testimony from local women about their experiences on the beach and in seafront venues. This will begin to build an evidence base which we can use to press for quicker and more effective action from the police.