SEV'S IN EDINBURGH

Public Consultation 2023

THE HISTORY

After the successful legal challenge brought against Edinburgh City Council by the SWU (Sex Workers’ Union) earlier this year, the Council’s previous decision to set the number of Sexual Entertainment Venues, or strip clubs, allowed in Edinburgh as zero, was thrown out. This decision potentially meant the permanent closure of strip clubs in Edinburgh, resulting in the forced unemployment of over 100 workers.

What you
can do

We recommend you fill out the consultation using this guidance. It is by no means prescriptive, and we do encourage you to give your own input. This guide will help you to navigate the consultation in a way that benefits the workers’ struggle for their rights, and livelihoods, but it is imperative you do not copy and paste the answers for your submission to make an impact. The deadline for the consultation is the 3rd October 2023. Please share this guide and the consultation amongst your networks! This consultation consists of 12 questions, and will take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
click here to fill out the consultation

YOUR VOICE MATTERS

Guidance on the Public Consultation

You can use your real name

This form can be submitted more than once
  • If you are a part of a trade union (any at all) please note it here.
 
  • If you are a business around the area of the ‘pubic triangle’.
 
  • If you are an organisation that supports sex workers’ rights.

If you are a dancer – we invite dancers from around the country to submit a response in support of our industry.

  • SWU suggests no limit on the number of clubs as currently the dancers have less power to bargain with their bosses as they have a monopoly.  
 
  • Capping the number of clubs at the existing amount precludes any new clubs from opening, even if run by dancers.
 
  • It leaves no room for change or innovation within the Edinburgh strip club industry. 

SWU suggests putting strongly agree for all points, but especially the city centre and late night economy areas. Please note it is especially important for dancer safety to keep to busier areas.

Luckily we have read through the policy for you and have picked out the most succulent points should you wish to respond directly to it. Please add your own thoughts as it will make your responses considerably stronger. The policy can be seen by clicking on the link that says ‘policy’ above the question. 

RE: 1.5

  • There is no evidence that strip clubs directly correlate with, nor cause, instances of violence, particularly violence against women. 
 
  • Increasing the cap on the current number of strip clubs within Edinburgh would allow for workers to collectively open their own strip clubs, outside of the current monopoly. 
 
  • This will enable them to improve their own working conditions and lessen the exploitation of their labour by 3rd parties such as managers. 
 
  • The majority of the workers in the clubs are women, and closing down any number of their current workplaces would force those women into unemployment and poverty. It will limit their bargaining power at work with management, directly contravening the council’s objective of reducing violence against women.
 
  • If the council were to follow its objective on securing public safety, then their aim should not be to close down the safe and legal workplaces of over 100 workers.
 

RE: 3.3

  • A city is, by definition, somewhere that has many different types of businesses and community resources side by side. This means that wherever a business is placed may inadvertently be close to one of the mentioned community resources.  
 
  • There is no evidence that trafficking is a problem within the UK strip club industry. Indeed, it is far more likely to become an issue if the industry is unlicenced and pushed underground as a result of a zero cap.
 

RE: 4.4

  • SWU disagree that these organisations are the only stakeholders in the making of this policy and the decision to open new clubs. Any policy on sexual entertainment venues should be consulted on with those it will impact the most, which includes any current workers within the clubs and their trade union organisations. 
 
  • Furthermore, a number of these organisations have explicitly defined any form of sex work, including stripping, as violence against women and girls – completely ignoring the agency, and human and work rights of the workers within the strip clubs. 
 

RE: 4.12

  • Whilst it is a good move by the council to take workers’ financial burdens into account, it is worrying that by reporting instances of house fees and fining, workers are potentially encouraging the council to close their workplace down. Workers should be free and empowered to bargain with their workplaces, with the council’s support, without fear of losing their livelihoods. 
 
  • This particular policy should be especially consulted upon with the workers in the clubs, and how both they and the council can work together to improve their working conditions. 
 

RE: 6.1

  • Defining all instances of sex work including stripping as ‘commericial sexual exploitation’ and/or violence negates the real and material instances of exploitation and violence that can occur to those in the industry. It ensures that workers are unable to speak about genuine instances of violence and exploitation when all and any aspects of their work are seen as violent and exploitative. It is unhelpful and disempowers the workers when they cannot define their own experiences and we urge people to reconsider this definition.
    Framing sex work under Equally Safe, a strategy specifically aimed for women, also leaves out male and sex workers of various genders who also require support.
  • The current licensing was created without consultation with strip club workers, and does nothing to protect their working rights. Any changes to the conditions and regulation of Sexual Entertainment Venues needs to be formulated with and agreed upon by the workers it directly impacts.

     

  • Just like all other workers, sex workers and their representative trade union bodies deserve to be consulted regarding any policy that directly impacts their working conditions. The best way to ensure the safety and dignity of the workers in the clubs is to grant them agency over their own working conditions, and to protect their access to the work rights they are due. 
  • Any policy that will directly impact the workers within the strip clubs, should be directly consulted upon with those workers. If Edinburgh City Council decide to review their current licensing policy, they must centre the insight and experience of the workers who will have to adhere to it, and involve them within any decision making.

     

  • The Council have a duty to preserve the safety of the public, which includes those who work within strip clubs. The best way to protect the safety of the workers within strip clubs is to ensure they not only have a safe and legal workplace to work in, by not reducing the current number of their workplaces any further, but to give those workers a voice in any policy making decisions surrounding their work. In reviewing the licensing policy, ECC have a unique opportunity to enshrine the rights of the worker within it.

     

  • Any cap on the number of SEV’s would be to perpetuate the current monopoly strip club owners have on strip club venues, reducing the power workers’ have to bargain for better conditions. We strongly encourage Edinburgh Council to increase the current cap of 3 licences, so workers have the opportunity to set up their own club and directly control the conditions of their labour.

     

  • It is reprehensible that ECC are again exploring the potential of limiting the number of workplaces strippers have access to during a cost of living crisis. Not only would limiting the cap even further than 3 licences undoubtedly force some workers into unemployment or into the benefits system, but grant more power to strip club management rather than the workers.
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