FiLiA response to BHCC Community Safety and Crime Reduction Strategy Consultation
9th February 2026
Dear Richard Tuset, Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) Head of Community Cohesion,
Re: Correction to Strategic Needs Assessment for the Community Safety and Crime Reduction Strategy
I write on behalf of FiLiA, a UK wide charity, to request a correction to Page 92 of the BHCC Strategic Needs Assessment for the Community Safety and Crime Reduction Strategy which reads:
‘In the aftermath of the Supreme Court April 2025 ruling and impending EHRC guidance on TNBI services there were heightened tensions around this year’s Filia (sic) conference at the Brighton Centre, with the TNBI community fearful of transphobic hate incidents and the Filia conference organisers fearful of disruption or physical attacks in response to their support for the Supreme Court ruling.’
The above paragraph represents the FiLiA conference organisers incorrectly and without having sought their views directly.
Please delete and replace with this text:
The female volunteers (including local residents) organising the FiLiA conference in October 2025 were subject to harassment and threats up to and including the three days of their feminist conference taking place in Brighton. These threats came to fruition when on the morning of the conference’s opening day, large sections of the Brighton Centre’s glass frontage were smashed, with Bash Back, which describes itself as a ‘trans-led direct-action group’, claiming responsibility.
FiLiA conference organisers had planned for disruption and physical attacks working closely to manage risk with BHCC, Sussex Police and Sussex OPCC.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court April 2025 ruling and impending EHRC guidance some local groups had shared heightened tensions around this year’s FiLiA conference at the Brighton Centre, expressing fear of transphobic hate incidents. These fears did not materialise.
We understand that the council is required to produce an accurate data and intelligence driven strategic needs assessment so it can plan appropriately hence our request to correct the inaccurate passage about FiLiA on page 92. In addition, you may wish to note that there are a range of perspectives from ‘TNBI’ identified local community members as there are from the LGB and the heterosexual community. It is not helpful or factual to assume that there is only one homogeneous view that all ascribe to.
We have provided background information and links below to inform the requested correction, and we look forward to hearing from you with a corrected version before final publication.
Background:
FiLiA is a women-led organisation and part of the Women’s Liberation Movement. We have charitable status for our work promoting women’s human rights. FiLiA’s vision is a world free from Patriarchy where all Women and Girls are Liberated. FiLiA’s mission is to contribute to the Women’s Liberation Movement by: Building Sisterhood and Solidarity (locally, nationally, globally); Amplifying the Voices of Women (particularly those less often heard or purposefully silenced); Defending Women’s Human Rights. We are known as an anti-racist, anti-fundamentalist, feminist charity and are secular in our approach.
FiLiA held our 10th annual conference with over 250 speakers on 10-12th October 2025 in Brighton. FiLiA is deeply meaningful to thousands of women with hundreds of Brighton and Hove women and children attending this event.
The weekend of FiLiA2025 unfolded against a backdrop of months of sustained and organised opposition to and protest against FiLiA relating to our lawful and established position on sex and gender. In the months leading up to the conference, we became aware, primarily through social media of campaigns urging the venue to cancel the event, calls to protest the conference itself, and some vague threats of violence. All of this information was shared with the police, the council and incorporated into the event’s security planning.
On the morning of the conference’s opening day, large sections of the Brighton Centre’s glass frontage were smashed, with Bash Back, which describes itself as a ‘trans-led direct action group’, claiming responsibility. By the time that volunteers and attendees arrived, the glass had been cleared, enabling the event to proceed safely. These were the conditions under which our volunteer-led team and the participants stepped into the conference. We did the very best that we could under exceptionally challenging and distressing circumstances.
Organisations promoting women’s rights have faced opposition and protest from trans rights activists for a number of years. The Charity has previously experienced small-scale demonstrations from 2019 at our Bradford event onwards and has therefore consistently anticipated and planned for some level of protest at our conferences.
In line with established practice, extensive advance planning was undertaken for the October 2025 conference. From late spring 2025, the Charity liaised with Sussex Police, and the event was assigned a Gold command structure with regular engagement through a designated Bronze lead. Intelligence gathered through our own monitoring of social media and local contacts was shared with the police, and intelligence from police sources was shared with us in return. Trustees also worked with the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioners Head of Victim Services to ensure oversight and guidance. Risk assessments were regularly reviewed and updated throughout this period.
We engaged early with the local council and held an initial meeting; however, the council subsequently declined further meetings, deeming them unnecessary. Regular meetings were held with the venue’s security team and close liaison established with our own security team. Calls were made by some activists for the Brighton Centre to cancel the event, but the venue confirmed that it had reviewed its equality and security processes and was satisfied that the event was lawful and that cancellation would be contrary to equality legislation. The council owned venue remained supportive throughout.
The trustees were aware of calls for protest and worked closely with the police to plan for this. While we would have welcomed a more proactive policing approach, the police advised that they anticipated protest activity and would determine appropriate measures on the day, with close communication between officers and the Gold group to enable swift decision-making. We applied for a Public Spaces Protection Order to assist with managing protest activity around the venue. However, unfortunately this application was declined by the council.
The vandalism that occurred in the early hours of 10 October 2025 was unexpected. The group claiming responsibility, ‘Bash Back’, is a recently formed direct-action group that emerged during summer 2025 and had not issued any threats in relation to our conference. Trustees note that this group had previously targeted the office of Wes Streeting MP in July 2025, and more recently it has taken responsibility for the Free Speech Union data breach of their donors.
Trustees became aware of the incident at approximately 04:30am on 10th October 2025, when a volunteer staying in a nearby hotel contacted organisers after hearing breaking glass and observing police activity. Two trustees and our head of security attended the venue immediately, where graffiti and broken glass were found. Working jointly with venue staff and the police, the glass was cleared, windows were boarded up, and the venue management assessed it as safe to open. The incident did not delay the opening of the conference, and no injuries were sustained. Attendees expressed determination and appreciation that the event was able to proceed as planned although we are aware (through anecdotal conversations) that this incident caused distress to some attendees with some local women choosing not to attend to avoid being exposed in their local community.
The incident received widespread media coverage (see below), the general sense of which opposed the violent action and praised FiLiA for continuing without disruption. A protest did take place that morning; however, attendance was significantly lower than anticipated (approximately 20–30 people rather than the expected 50–100), and some protesters publicly distanced themselves from the use of violence. Protestors with loud hailers and noise makers were allowed by police to position themselves alongside and close to the queue for those signing in despite requests for a larger separation from FiLiA security representatives.
Press reports:
We look forward to hearing from you with confirmation of the updated and more accurate Strategic Needs Assessment for the Community Safety and Crime Reduction Strategy.
Yours sincerely,
Lisa-Marie Taylor
FiLiA CEO