Rape victims are not given enough support because the majority are women, a councillor has claimed.

Green councillor Alex Phillips said more money would be made available to tackle the issue if men suffered the horrors that women do from sexual violence.

She made the comments as a cross-party panel of Brighton and Hove City Council members discussed a report on the subject.

Coun Phillips asked for the council's chief executive to write to the Government and ask for the funding to be ring-fenced so it could only be used to help victims.

But fellow councillors rejected the request and criticised her for using the issue to try to score political points.

The panel, which heard evidence from victims and charities, estimates 4,235 women and girls aged between 16 and 59 - or more than 11 a day - were victims of a sexual assault in the city in the past year.

The report estimates the social cost of sex offences - including lost work time and costs of treating long-term health issues - at £60 million between April 2007 and March 2008, making it the most expensive crime to afflict the city.

The report will be discussed by the city's Community Safety Forum on July 5.