BOUNCERS are getting more training from police on how to prevent sexual assaults and protect vulnerable people in and around bars and clubs.

Yesterday door staff in Brighton were the first to be given advice on how to spot both vulnerable people and sexual predators, and what to do next.

It comes just a day after Sussex Police released a public appeal following a rape in Revenge nightclub.

The 23-year-old victim was in a secluded part of Brighton’s most popular gay club when the incident occurred on January 6.

The new training is part of an ongoing police campaign focusing on those who can intervene to prevent sexual assaults. Police and other frontline staff are also to be getting training.

Speaking at the training session, Sussex Police Chief Inspector Katy Woolford said: “What we are trying to do is raise awareness about the issues of vulnerability in the night-time economy, and also give them tactics to use if they do see someone who is vulnerable.

“Vulnerability is not just about being intoxicated, it is about the fact that you might be new to the city, you don’t know where your friends are, you haven’t got any money.

“It is about people looking after each other and ensuring that we have got a safe community and night-time economy for people to enjoy.”

Police suggest door staff can help by, for example, re-uniting vulnerable people with friends, calling police, contacting family or simply stepping in to check whether a woman knows who she is leaving the club with. They stress men are also vulnerable to sexual assault.

Many clubs have long been taking this approach, and Brighton and Hove Business Crime Reduction Partnership has also been working with door staff to promote their duty of care.

Bouncer Daniella Ditella, 33, who works at Shooshh in King’s Road, said clubs were a lot more focused on helping vulnerable people these days.

She added: “I see girls being sick, losing their friends. I give them water, keep them awake, try and find their friends or call their families and get them a taxi.”

Peter Reeves, 28, who also works at Shooshh, said: “I have been doing this for a long time but some of the training [today] has been quite eye-opening.

“Just that little moment where you see something you are not sure about, to stop and ask.”

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has funded the vulnerability awareness training and said: “We all have a social responsibility to protect and support these people so that no harm will come to them.”

  • Anyone with information about the rape in Revenge nightclub should email 101@sussexpolice.co.uk quoting serial 1122 of 16/01, call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

background

  • Last year of the 363 serious sexual offences reported in Brighton, 247 took place between 7pm and 7am.
  • The training being rolled out in Sussex was developed in Northumbria, after a 17-year-old was raped by three separate men after leaving a nightclub.
  • Shooshh nightclub has recently started using breathalysers on the door and not letting in people who are more than twice over the drink-drive limit.
  • Last month police had to withdraw a poster encouraging girls to look after each other on a night out after opponents said it blamed victims for getting sexually assaulted.