‘Without safe venues, women will be forced to dance in dangerous situations’

As the consultation on sexual entertainment venues nears its close, the decision must be made to either leave the situation as it is with two tightly regulated venues or to move to a nil-cap of no regulated clubs as other cities have.

The motivation is the safety of women and girls in our city, and the concern being raised is that strip clubs increase gendered violence in society.

I have been a feminist my entire life, with my feminism growing, learning and evolving with time and expanded understanding.

My feminism is intersectional, and at its heart is the mantra “nothing about us, without us”.

Both of Bristol’s strip clubs, Urban Tiger and Central Chambers, are located in my ward, on and just off the city centre. One is a few doors away from a 24-hour slot casino, both are short walks away from some rather problematic bars on the harbourside.

So as well as being the Green group representative on the city council’s Bristol Women’s Commission, a body that advocates the nil-cap, I have met with the women who work in the SEVs and the women who own the clubs.

I have spoken to the sex workers in other cities where there is a nil-cap, and I have visited the clubs during their operating hours, asking “will women, all women, be safer if these clubs are closed?”

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Read more: Open letter demands council ‘honours workers’ rights’ by not banning strip clubs

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Women become dancers in strip clubs and sex workers for a wide range of reasons.

For some, it’s to fund studies, others to support families or the social care of their families. Others are circus performers and dancers, and it’s a better paid use of their skills than the arts are generally.

Some are sex workers because it pays better than shelf stacking, and lots do it because they enjoy it.

And while some sex workers provide sex, it’s key to remember that not all do, with sex work being a term used to describe a wide range of activities.

The SEVs in Bristol are tightly regulated. There are cameras everywhere, no touching is allowed in any context. Watching is the only activity.

On my visit I watched the bouncers rapidly responding to the slightest hint of an overstep of the boundaries. Women speak of feeling safe and secure in Central Chambers and Urban Tiger.

Under the same financial distress as many people during the pandemic, women often had no other choice but to keep working over the last two years.

Sex workers have spoken to me about where they worked during lockdown. There were multiple pop-up events across the city and in other cities across the UK. Illegal and unregulated, dancers had no choice but to allow touching and agree to do extras, up to what’s known as a “full service” which is full sexual intercourse.

To a degree this was consensual, but women tell how they felt they had no other option in order to earn income.

These events did not have security teams who had the safety of the women as a priority, there were no cameras and the venues themselves were often dangerous.

Central Chambers on St Stephen’s Street is one of Bristol’s two SEVs which could be banned if a nil-cap is implemented – photo: Martin Booth

Women speak of events where they would not work unless they went with colleagues for safety.

One woman speaks of a time she went to an illegal private party in an Airbnb, to discover a large group of off-duty policemen.  A clearly frightening experience, she acknowledges that had that event gone badly she would have had no recourse to help.

In cities with a nil-cap, these illegal and unregulated venues are the norm. Even in Bristol under the current regulations it is possible for a hotel suite, an Airbnb, anything to become a pop-up strip club or private event with or without a temporary event notice license that lacks the safety of an SEV licenced venue.

And it’s possible for events to be entirely under the radar: illegal and unregulated.

However, women have better, safer options to work at in Bristol. And the demand is largely catered for via the regulated venues, thus rendering the illegal event less financially attractive for those that run them.

Through their very nature, these strip events are run by organisations that do not operate within the law. Women tell me about being robbed by their clients, and also raped at these events with no protection or interventions from the people running the events.

These are also the sorts of events where women are much more likely to be there without choice, either due to a lack of options or trafficking.

The old adage is that sex work is the world’s oldest profession. It’s clear that sex work won’t stop happening if these clubs were closed.

The pandemic and the lockdowns provide a demonstration of what would happen under a nil-cap. The demand doesn’t go away, but the regulation and safety for the workers does when an operator steps that operates outside of the law.

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Read more: Nighttime economy adviser says her position on strip clubs is irrelevant

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As a survivor of sexual violence and having been sexually assaulted within just the last week while walking home through the centre, I understand through lived experience what’s at stake.

Sexual violence is on the increase, disproportionately impacting women and girls. But I also know that the strip clubs had no bearing on my experiences.

The decision on the future of the clubs should be based on facts only. Whether one approves or disapproves of sex work, the fact is that without safe venues the women working in them will be forced to dance in dangerous situations.

Rather than targeting those women, advocation of tools for the elimination of the reason’s women turn to this work.

Living wages, universal basic income, truly affordable housing, properly funded social care, focus of removing the need for women to choose this work if one would prefer they don’t chose it. Educating ourselves and our children in consent, and respect of other’s boundaries and bodily autonomy.

But we must take care to not make it more dangerous for women in our city.

Bristol City Council’s Sex Establishments Policy consultation closes on Sunday. To take part, visit www.bristol.citizenspace.com/bristol-city-council/sex-establishments-policy-consultation-2021

Ani Stafford-Townsend is the Green Party councillor for Central ward, and co-shadow cabinet member for culture, communities, equalities & public health

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: Mayor Marvin Rees backs proposed ban on strip clubs

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