Reclaim The Night March: Protesting Against Gender-based Violence
Brighton’s Reclaim The Night march is back for ‘a night of unity, resistance, and hope’ says the organisers. Join the network of feminists, survivors, and activists this Friday, 28th November 2025, starting at 6pm outside Brighton station.
Lucy May, Brighton’s spokesperson for the RTN march told me, “As an activist and as a survivor it’s often hard to find a space where my pain and rage are appropriate and even welcomed. The march offers a space for survivors and allies to get out.. use that rage and be a part of something!”
This year’s march was planned not only by Brighton feminists, but also by organisations like Survivors’ Network, Brighton Women’s Centre, and The University of Sussex Student Union.
The annual event which was first held in Brighton in 1977, is a national movement that began in Leeds as a response to the police advising women to stay indoors at night following a series of murders.
Lucy sorrowfully told me that “we have no choice but to adapt! Gender-based violence is no less prolific and pervasive now in 2025 than in the 1970’s… each year we are faced with new challenges”.
Nowadays this women’s liberation movement demands more than just the ability for women to move throughout public spaces at night, it extends to protesting against all gender-based violence, and promoting safer streets for all.
“Year on year, our fight grows stronger and our voices grow louder”, says Lucy. With evolving issues around safety and treatment it is important that the march grows bigger, bringing women and other people together. Attendees are encouraged to bring banners, flowers, and lights as symbols of hope and resilience.
Lucy explained the continued importance of the march, “We’ve seen far-right and racist groups hijack the issues of sexual violence to serve hateful agendas… All while, vital services that provide support and care for survivors are facing a funding crisis and an unpredictable future.” This march is vital for Brighton’s people to show support for one another and stand-up against misogynistic prejudice.
“This march is so interwoven with Brighton’s activist spirit that we can always rely on people of our own community to brave the cold and turn out in their hundreds.”
The march brings people together creating a community of support, advice, and empowerment to combat misogyny. The organisers of the march promote intersectionality and inclusion, claiming ‘true safety and equality must include all identities- women of colour, LGBTQ+ and trans people, disabled individuals, migrants, and others facing compounded oppression’.
Lucy’s view is that “To me this is a form of collective healing and community building”.
It will be a night of inclusion, one not to miss, emotional but essential for the liberation of minorities and projection of voices. A chance to speak your story and not be silenced.
Written by Isabel Meszaros