Anti-sexual harassment campaign launched by Brighton club Volks and writer Leanne Shoreley
The Brighton venue is “working hard to empower all of our attendees to feel safe in the dance”
Brighton club Volks has launched a new anti-sexual harassment campaign in collaboration with writer and spoken-word poet, Leanne Shoreley.
Launched earlier this month, the campaign features a collection of informational posters which have been shared across Volks’ social media platforms and placed around the venue with the hope of turning up the volume on conversations around sexual harassment in night-time spaces.
“More than four-fifths of women in the UK have been subjected to sexual harassment. At Volks, we are committed to listening to women’s lived experiences and working hard to empower all of our attendees to feel safe in the dance,” shared the venue on the new initiative.
The campaign was initially prompted during Shoreley’s studies at the University of Brighton, where she was writing at length about issues facing the local community and began to uncover the magnitude of sexual harassment cases in Brighton’s late-night venues.
After months of research and conversations with local Brighton promoters, including Volks’ social media manager, Ashton Le Bailly, she began creating “disarming educational” material to encourage club-goers to be mindful of their behaviour and to empower both victims and bystanders of harassment to report it to Volks staff and security.
Speaking on BBC Radio Sussex last week about the issue, Shoreley said: “In night time venues, it’s really difficult to safeguard people, just through the nature of it being dark and late, and people dancing up close to each other.”
“That’s why in the images, I wanted to clearly define what dancing is compared to harassing. The whole point of these images and words is for men to hopefully engage with them and learn, and be more mindful of their behaviour. Although this is an issue that is affecting women, it really starts with the perpetrators and those are the people we’re really hoping to engage with the material,” she said.
Located on the Brighton Seafront, Volks has been hosting underground club nights in Brighton for over 25 years, including recent sets from Break, Coco Bryce, Tim Reaper, DJ Stingray 313, and Fabio.
Find out more about the venue’s anti-sexual harassment campaign below.
