Lap Dancing in Edinburgh

Lawyers for United Sex Workers, a branch of the United Voices of the World (UVW) union successfully helped out against Bristol Council's bid to ban lap dancing. The group has now applied to help out in a legal case in Edinburgh where dancers are trying to reverse a moralist ban on lap dancing clubs in the city.

Lawyers for United Sex Workers have applied to the Court of Session to be allowed to participate in a judicial review of plans that will cost the loss of 100 jobs.

The council voted in March to close all four strip clubs in the capital.

United Sex Workers are crowd-funding to launch legal challenges against strip club bans across the UK, starting with a judicial review against Edinburgh City Council. We desperately need your help 203 any contributions you can offer will help us fight to keep our livelihoods afloat and our workplaces open.

Strip club bans violate workers' rights at a time of severe economic crisis. They form part of a wider attempt by the state to oppress precarious workers and dictate what women and other minorities can do with their bodies.

We **cannot** stop this without you, so please donate and share!

Background:

On the 31st March 2022, Edinburgh City Council voted in favor of a nil-cap on Sexual Entertainment Venue (known as SEVs) licenses - effectively shutting all Edinburgh strip clubs as of April 2023 and forbidding any new ones to open. The consequences of this for workers, including strippers, bar staff, and security, will be devasting.

This nil-cap is a result of one of the several SEV consultations that have taken place across the UK where workers' voices have been completely ignored. It leaves hundreds of precarious workers unemployed during a time of unprecedented financial insecurity and rising living costs.

Nil-caps are plainly unlawful as they discriminate against women and other marginalised groups, such as people with disabilities and migrants, who make up the majority of strippers. If Councils continue to adopt them, the consequences for workers across the UK will be devastating.

We have a legal team in place to challenge the nil-cap's compatibility with the Equality Act 2010 and are confident we will win. But we need your help!

Edinburgh's moralist councillors have voted to ban lap dancing clubs. The city's regulatory committee voted to ban sexual entertainment clubs in the city from April next year by a majority of five to four.

Councillor Cameron Rose claimed that the Scottish government's policy of preventing violence against women and girls gave a national definition which included commercial sexual exploitation, defined as lap and pole-dancing as well as stripping.

Performers and managers from Edinburgh clubs gave evidence at the online meeting. Alexis, who has worked as a dancer for 15 years, said she was proud of her job and did not want to find another job because being a performer did not fit into the committee's moral values. (We are) educated women making educated decisions about what's best for our lives , she said.

United Voices of the World, a union representing exotic performers, said it would go to court in a bid to overturn the decision, and said it would request a judicial review.

Danielle Worden, legal case worker for the union, said:

The union is extremely disappointed that the council has chosen to disregard its legal obligations and the relevant evidence by adopting a policy that discriminates against women.

Not only does this violate the Equality Act 2010, it is an act of cruelty to remove the livelihoods of hundreds of workers as we enter the worst economic crisis since the 1970s.

Managers at Club Rouge in Edinburgh has said that efforts are under way to create an independent dance censor which would cooperate with licensing officers and police to ensure elf 'n' safety in strip clubs and adult entertainment venues across the Capital and Scotland.

They said the body would issue certificates of good practice to businesses only after they introduced measures to clamp down on abusive customers, unhygienic working environments and unfair charges imposed on dancers when clubs are busy or when they phone in sick.

Day-to-day monitoring and enforcement would still be carried out by police and licensing officers though.

Alex Smith, manager of Club Rouge, said:

This is an opportunity for the clubs to say that from now on, they're going to work together for a better environment.

He said meetings would soon take place with senior councillors to move the process forward, with the new dance censor on a voluntary basis and financed through a mixture of public money and contributions from the industry.

Licensing staff said they were receptive to the idea. A spokeswoman said:

The council would welcome any initiative to encourage industry good practice, however we would need more information on this specific proposal to be able to comment further.