OBJECT's Stripping the Illusion campaign challenges the normalisation of lap dancing and in partnership with Fawcett Society is calling for lap dancing clubs to be licensed as sex establishments. Here's why:
What is a lap dancing club?
Lap dancing clubs are venues where customers pay female performers to sexually stimulate them by grinding on their lap whilst removing most or all of their clothing. This occurs at tables, in private rooms or in private booths. Working practices in many clubs implicitly encourage men to seek sexual acts from performers and some women report sexual assault and violence within the industry (1). Women pay a fee to work in lap dancing clubs (often around £80-£100 per night), pay for club outfits and pay fines for being late or missing shifts. High performer to punter ratios mean there is intense competition for the attention of male punters and it is in this context that the buying and selling of sex acts occurs in some clubs. Even in clubs where licensing conditions are adhered to many women report a heavy psychological toll linked to dealing with, in effect, normalised sexual harassment on a nightly basis.
What is a Sex Encounter Establishment?
A sex establishment is an umbrella category currently used for sex shops, sex cinemas and sex encounter establishments (SEEs). A SEE is a venue where nude or semi nude entertainment is provided for the purposes of sexual stimulation. ‘Encounter’ does not mean physical encounter, it is used to differentiate between ‘live’ entertainment such as a peep show or lap dancing, and entertainment ‘on film’, such as that offered by a sex cinema (porn cinema).
Why aren’t lap dancing clubs licensed as Sex Encounter Establishments?
To sell alcohol and provide music lap dancing clubs must first buy a Premises Licence, also used for cafes and karaoke bars. A loophole in the Licensing Act 2003 means that once they have this licence they cannot be considered as an SEE, despite offering entertainment that falls directly into this category.
Why is this a problem?
Lap dancing clubs are a form of commercial sexual exploitation and form part of a sexist 'sex object culture' which sees women increasingly sexualised in the media and popular culture. They create 'no go' areas where women feel unsafe walking at night (2) and are linked to sexism in the workplace (3). Their social impact is therefore clearly different from that of cafes or karaoke.
Yet current licensing laws prevent local councils from treating them any differently from cafes or karaoke and they must use ‘one size fits all’ criteria when putting conditions on licences and listening to the views of local people, who can only have a say if they live close enough to the proposed club. In practice this has made it easier for clubs to open almost wherever they like and led to situations where councils have to disregard sometimes hundreds of letters from people living or working near a proposed club.
What difference will licensing them as Sex Encounter Venues make?
The government has proposed to act on our campaign by creating a new category of 'Sex Encounter Venue' - similar to the Sex Encounter Venue licence which will be applicable to lap dancing venues. Closing the loophole will remove current barriers to adequate licensing and give local councils the same licensing powers as apply to sex shops and sex cinemas. It will restore the power of local councils and local people to decide on the quantity and location of lap dancing clubs and allow local councils to apply better regulation - protecting both those who work in clubs and live / work near them.
Want to read more? Download 10 FAQ's (pdf) about lap dancing
(1) http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AF8653FD-9FC4-4DE6-8238-CE629C7D6C3E/0/LapdancingReport.pdf; http://www.ccv.org/downloads/pdf/Strip_club_study.pdf
(2) Royal Town Planning Institute Good Practice Note 7: Gender and Spatial Planning, December 2007 www.rtpi.org.uk
(3) eg. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3448360/Muslim-City-workers-win-multi-million-payout-over-sexual-harassment.html and The Economist 2005 (23 July). Special Report: The conundrum of the glass ceiling –Women in business. The Economist. Vol 376, Iss 8436, pg 67
