Lap dancing….. what’s the big deal? It is an innocent exotic dance right, the ‘girls’ are empowered and make loadsamoney too right! This is the story we are fed, but it could not be further from the truth. Not Buying It provide some excellent insight into the UK industry, whilst all over the country, local communities are fighting back and Portsmouth is no exception.

 Although Portsmouth has made some progress towards shutting down the strip industry in the City, it is not immune to the grip of these powerful businessmen. We interviewed a local campaigner, Charlie, about the story so far….. 

What is the local authority’s approach to licensing lap dancing clubs?

In 2011, a group of local activists lobbied the Council to adopt a Sex Entertainment Venue (SEV) policy for licensing. Prior to this, the Council had licensed lap dancing clubs using the standard premises licensing method, using licensing for the sale and consumption of alcohol, and the performance of dance.

The campaign was supported by the local feminist group, Solent Feminist Network and Aurora New Dawn, a domestic and sexual abuse support organisation as well as a number of local Councillors. We lobbied for a ‘nil cap’ policy and following a consultation this was adopted in October 2012. The policy states ‘that there is no place within the City of Portsmouth of which it could be said that it was situated in a locality in which it would be appropriate to licence a sex establishment’…. Bit of a mouthful!

However, we understand that the policy was later amended in private, which we did object to at the time. The final policy included the clause….. ‘ Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 7.10 (relating to the numerical control on the number of sex establishments in a particular locality) the presumption to refuse shall not apply to:

• The renewal or variation of an existing sex establishment license’

We currently have two licensed venues in Portsmouth, both owned by the same man. One of them, ‘Elegance’ is the oldest venue, situated in the heart of residential Southsea very close to the pier and beach, popular with tourists and families, two schools, a church and an area dense with multiple occupancy housing for vulnerable people. ‘Elegance’ appears to have been closed for a few years now, but has just applied to renew their license. The owner did attempt to open a club in Albert Road one of the most popular and quirky areas of Southsea. He put forward a proposal that if he was granted the new license, he would rescind the existing ‘Elegance’ license. This is because he knows that the current location of ‘Elegance’ is bad for business, as it is very much ‘out of the way’ from potential customers and any other nightlife. Thankfully, the new license on Albert Road was not granted. Interestingly, the owner, Mr Ojla, has recently been fined £6000 by Portsmouth Council for allowing 12 students to live in a high-risk, unlicensed converted pub. Is he really fit to be a license holder?

The second club, ‘Wiggle’, is in our commercial town centre, just next to the main bus stops for the town, lots of shops and family restaurants, and a residential block of flats, as well as being close to numerous student flats.  

The owner of the two Portsmouth clubs also owns clubs in Bournemouth and Southampton. In 2013, the Bournemouth ‘Wiggle’ was found by a visiting licensing officer to be breaching its licensing conditions, by allowing dancers to straddle customers, simulate sex acts and inappropriately touch each other and the customers, as well as high levels of drug use within the club. PC Darren Harris, who also visited the venue, said in his report: “Dorset Police are of the opinion the management and owners of Wiggle have failed in their legal obligations in ensuring the venue is run in accordance with the conditions of the Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence and have demonstrated themselves to be unsuitable to operate such a venue.” Despite these findings, the club vowed to do better, were given a slap on the wrist and allowed to continue to operate.

How receptive is the Council to discussion on this issue?

They are very reluctant to change their automatic renewal approach. We know that Councils have sweeping powers to refuse to relicense these venues on the grounds of locality. This is regardless of any change in locality or any other material changes whatsoever. This has been widely confirmed by case law, judges and other experts. And, operators have no legal grounds to challenge such a decision. Those that do must go to the High Court, and this is a very difficult route. None have ever succeeded. Frequently the case is instantly dismissed without being heard. Portsmouth SEV policy states that ‘the presumption to refuse does not apply to existing clubs’. This simply reiterates SEV case law that ‘regard’ must be given to the fact that a license is already held. No more. But the council appears to be wrongfully interpreting this to mean ‘existing clubs cannot be refused’. Such an interpretation is unlawful and a breach of SEV legislation. This has been confirmed by judges and other legal experts. Pre-existing clubs cannot be treated differently from new applicants.

The Council have also been asked to provide evidence that they have carried out a proper Equality Impact Assessment in relation to the licensing of lap dancing clubs. The Council has two levels of Equality Impact Assessment, a preliminary assessment and a full assessment. They have only ever been able to provide a preliminary assessment on paper which cannot be found online, relating to the SEV policy itself. And on this assessment, they ticked the box regarding the protected characteristic of ‘gender’, acknowledging the impact these clubs have. Yet no full assessment has been carried out, and no assessment is done for each club license application or renewal, so the impact on ‘gender’ is being disregarded. In July 2018 I escalated a complaint about this to stage 3 of the council’s complaints procedure. I am still waiting for a conclusion.

How have locals in the area responded?

Support for the campaigns to challenge strip clubs has been good. In the case of the attempt to open a new club in 2018 on Albert Road, there was a huge local campaign. People in Southsea really love the area with its quirky shops, independent restaurants and friendly bars. Nobody wanted a lap dancing club here. With regards to the 2 existing clubs, numerous local residents have objected. In the case of ‘Wiggle’, which is in our commercial town centre very close to the main shopping precinct, many complaints were made, including by residents in the block of flats opposite, Avalon House, that customers of the club had been urinating in their doorway and smashing glass. Again, these complaints have been ignored. Numerous residents have objected to the site of ‘Elegance’ including many women that have told the council that they feel unsafe walking by the clubs. There is also a small vocal crowd that rush to defend the clubs locally, and the owner has organised mass letter writing to the council in support of his clubs. But many of the letters came from people that didn’t live anywhere near Portsmouth and contained exactly the same content. The more prominent feeling by residents and businesses in Portsmouth is that they do not want the clubs.

The local domestic and sexual violence support service, Aurora New Dawn has continued to object to all the licenses and made their position very clear. It is recognised that these clubs play a big part in the normalisation of objectification and violence against women, but the issue of locality is also very important here in Portsmouth. The city is very densely populated, with many schools and community facilities, and that is exactly why the Portsmouth policy was adopted because there really is no place in Portsmouth that is suitable for one of these clubs! We also have high rates of domestic violence and poverty. It goes without saying that the council should be very vigilant towards anything that could increase these statistics or prey upon vulnerable women in an exploitative way.

What has been your involvement and experience of tackling SEVs?

I was involved in the local campaign from the very start. My experience of lap dancing clubs has been very negative, and I completely understand how they feed into the objectification of women in our culture and how this relates to male violence against women. This is not just a feeling, it has been documented and well evidenced. I used to live at the southern end of Waverley Road, very close to one of these lap dancing clubs. At the time I was living there, there was a shooting outside the club relating to one of the doormen. There were numerous complaints to the council about illegal parking by the clubs customers on a dangerous junction opposite. And highly offensive graffiti was left on the outside of the club for many months before the owner was forced to remove it. One day I walked past the club during the daytime. There were flyers with a semi-naked woman all over the pavement and a group of young schoolboys in uniform picking them up and giggling. I have raised all of these issues with the Council. I became so uncomfortable in the area, particularly at night, that I actively avoided walking that way so that I did not have to pass this club. I eventually moved away from the street as the area had become a ‘no-go’ zone.

Unfortunately, I have also experienced online harassment as a result of campaigning locally against lap dancing clubs. A small group of men who support lap dancing even set up a website to deliberately harass and intimidate feminists by making sure our names were repeated often enough to be found by google, and in my case, by posting details of my former employer and position in my trade union. These men are nowhere near Portsmouth and certainly have no understanding of the local context or feelings around lap dancing. The approach is always to claim that we somehow hate ‘sex workers’ or want to make women redundant because we are ‘prudes’. This couldn’t be further from the truth. If only they would take to time to examine their own behaviour, why as men do they find it is acceptable to keep women and girls in the sex trade as a steady supply of sexual entertainment for men like them?

On the opening night of ‘Wiggle’, the second club, I was involved in a protest outside the club. We made it clear we were protesting the club and the customers and not the women that work there. At one point a group of male customers started shouting at us and one of them solicited us for a lap dance and exposed himself. I reported this to the police as sexual harassment and was practically laughed off. Eventually, I got agreement to view the CCTV footage and was able to make out the guy, but the police decided that this was not enough evidence. I was refused a physical copy of the footage. I continue to object whenever a license comes up for renewal or a new application goes in. I always describe my experiences as well as referring to the local policy but it feels like I am speaking and the mic is turned off! The club owner attends the hearings and repeatedly claims that there have never been any issues with his clubs. Well if a shooting for one is not an issue, I don’t know what is…….

So what about survivors of the Portsmouth strip industry?

Ex lap dancers and residents alike have spoken out about the Portsmouth clubs. Conversations took place on Facebook and on the comments section of the local newspaper, and dancers revealed that dancers from the Portsmouth clubs were also offering prostitution services through local escort agencies, and that drug-taking on the premises is rife. One dancer submitted a response to the consultation (section 3.7)

“There is a lot of talk on Facebook and in the Portsmouth area in general about the council shutting down all of the strip clubs in the city. As a dancer myself, who has worked in all 3 of the Portsmouth clubs, Elegance, Wiggle and Heaven Sent I think it would be a great idea. I am not a reformed dancer who doesn't believe in the industry anymore or a disgruntled girl who has been sacked from any of the above-mentioned clubs. My reasons that you should look at / review / decline licences are as follows. The clubs in Portsmouth DO NOT ensure that the girls get to their cars safely at the end of the night. They DO NOT send doormen with them, whatever they say. They leave the girls to their own devices and do not seem to have a duty of care towards them. The clubs allow the customers to participate in taking drugs. This may sound strange, but they see the type of customer that has the money to spend on drugs has money to spend in their clubs. If you believe this to be untrue, ask the police how many times the clubs have called them asking for assistance when drugs have been seen to be used, or shared. I'm pretty sure they have never called. I've personally witnessed this brought to a managers attention, only for that person to be told, "but they spend a lot of money" A number of the girls have developed drink problems, due to customers being encouraged to buy them drinks, and some girls needing to "loosen up" before being able to work uninhibited. The club may have "rules" about them drinking too much, but again, they will not turn down the money. The clubs DO NOT seem to care about the girls and do not offer counselling etc. which I personally think would be a very good idea.

A number of girls also break the laws regarding how close you can get to the customer. As I believe, and I may be wrong, but this should be a non contact "strip tease". The problem is, the girls think if they do not touch the customer or let the customer touch them, they will not make much money because another girl will let them. This starts a domino effect which the club managers ignore all the time that the customers are spending money. Also a number of the girls I know have developed drug problems. This is generally due to young girls suddenly making lots of money and not knowing what to do with it. Again, the clubs do not seem to care about this. All they worry about is "fining" them x amount of pounds. Again, they DO NOT offer counselling, advice etc. They are aware of these problems but just brush them under the carpet. They say that this is not the sex industry, but I have witnessed girls meet men inside the club, and then leave with them in their taxi's. This is against ALL club rules, but again, the club will just fine the girl. Again, as long as the clubs get their money, they are happy. They DO NOT warn the girls of the hazards of leaving with customers, and some of the girls that have done this do then charge for sex. The clubs DO NOT condone this behaviour but they DO NOT do enough to stop it happening. There has also been a lot of talk about the council would have to support these girls if they were suddenly out of work. This is simply not true. They are self-employed and are free to work where ever they wish. In the summer they will all work in Bournemouth and chase the money as they do ever year. If all the clubs in Portsmouth shut, they would simply go and work in Southampton or elsewhere. Also, a very high percentage of these girls DO NOT declare any of [their] earnings to HMRC. They work TAX-FREE. A high percentage also claim Job Seekers, Housing Benefit, Council Tax reduction etc. How is this fair when they can and do earn over £1000 PER WEEK !!!I urge you to seriously consider licensing any more clubs, and as I understand, Wiggle DOES NOT yet have a licence and never should…………….”

Equally, many residents of Southsea and Portsmouth, mainly women, have described their lived experiences of harassment outside the clubs, and no less important, their fear of walking and living close to them. Here is just one female Southsea resident’s response to the SEV policy consultation (section 3.12)

“I have been a resident of Portsmouth for the past 17 years and have lived in various places across the city. For quite some time I lived in Southsea very close to 'elegance and on a number of occasions I was verbally harassed outside the club. Men leaving the club or walking towards the club would regularly shout lewd comments at me if I was outside my flat, implying they would pay me for a dance or asking me to "get my tits out". Because these men were often in groups and very often quite intoxicated I did not feel safe to go to my local shop (previously called stu's news now called the Nisa local) whenever the club was open as I'd have to walk right past the club to get there. The door staff never did anything to prevent any of the harassment even after I reported it to the club. I often felt confined to my flat during the opening hours of the club. This kind of harassment is also something that has happened on a number of occasions outside 'heaven sent'. I have been verbally harassed by men standing outside smoking when I've been on nights out in guildhall walk and in particular when I have stood in the smoking area outside fuzzy duck. I have found it so intimidating that I have stopped going to the area for quite some time now. It is not fair that entire areas of the city become no go zones for women who don't want to experience this kind of harassment. From speaking to others I am aware my experiences aren't unique and that almost every women I know has experienced similar harassment outside these clubs. They promote the idea that women are sexual objects there for someone's sexual entertainment. From what I can tell, having any more clubs open in the city will only exacerbate the problem so I fully support the draft policy and a NIL cap. I feel these clubs promote an outdated sexist attitude that doesn't belong in a city in this day and age...especially one with white ribbon status!........”

It is true that in the wake of the Sarah Everard murder, the Council is once again looking to sign up for White Ribbon status for the city. It is time for Portsmouth to step up and declare an end to lap dancing.

So what can people do to object?

The meeting to discuss the renewal of ‘Elegance’ has been rescheduled for after the local elections on the 6th May, we do not have a date yet and the deadline for written objections has passed, but you can still request to make a deputation at the meeting. Keep an eye on the Portsmouth licensing and sub licensing meetings and agendas on their website.

Location, location, location……..

Under the Portsmouth policy, there is deemed to be no place within the city that is suitable for lap dancing. It really is the only grounds on which you can object. So make sure your objections focus on the location of the premises each time you object.

The ‘Not Buying It’ campaign has developed a template objection letter especially for the ‘Elegance’ application in Southsea. It is also very valuable to write about your own experiences of living, working and socialising near these clubs. Email your objections to licensing@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

You can write to the Council’s licensing team and ask to be notified when any application is made concerning an SEV, and get involved in the objection process. Email licensing@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

You can also contact your local Councillors and ask them to attend the hearing and object on your behalf. Find your local representatives using this link https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors

Want to know more about lap dancing in the UK?

The fantastic ‘Not Buying It’ campaign work tirelessly with local communities to challenge the licensing of lap dancing across the UK and have won two successful legal challenges against Sheffield Council. You can visit Not Buying It for a complete picture of the truth behind the UK strip industry.

Bristol and Blackpool, two very popular stag locations fought back and won. This includes a clamp down on renewals of existing clubs. If they can do it, so can Pompey!

This article is part of the FiLiA Legacy Project, written in response to requests from local residents. FiLiA will be hosting two sessions on how you can participate in challenging the re-licensing of strip clubs in Portsmouth. Dates to follow.