A campaign for banning strip clubs in Bristol has been backed by the city’s mayor Marvin Rees. Strippers warn that such a ban will push the sex industry underground and put them in “more danger” thetimes.co.uk/article/bristo…
🗣️ “If the clubs were to close down there is a very strong possibility that the industry would go underground, it would go in hotels or Airbnbs, where there are basically no workers’ rights”
“Violence against women and girls is a significant issue,” Mark Shelford, Avon and Somerset’s police and crime commissioner says. “Specifically objectifying women, misogyny, is of great concern and sexual entertainment places are very much a part of that”
A 12-week consultation imposing a ban on Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEV) in the city has now ended and councillors are considering the ban, but would this be the right thing to do?
A report last year said some groups believed that permitting strip clubs normalised “the sexual objectification of women”, had a negative impact on women’s safety and “may attract and generate prostitution”
There was no evidence of a rise in crime in the vicinity of Bristol’s SEVs however, and banning the clubs was likely to have a negative impact on the livelihood of predominantly female employees
The report also included findings from a study in 2015 suggesting that one in four SEV performers had a degree and there was no evidence of forced labour, trafficking of women or connections to organised prostitution
Bristol Sex Workers’ Collective said that data showed that violence against women had not reduced after councils introduced bans
They also highlighted a report by Avon and Somerset police that showed mainstream nightclubs in Bristol reported many more incidents of sexual assault than the two strip clubs between 2018 and 2020
So far a petition set up to stop Bristol city council from closing the city’s strip clubs has gained almost 7,000 signatures.
Read the full story here: thetimes.co.uk/article/bristo…
Read the full story here: thetimes.co.uk/article/bristo…
Do you think strip clubs should be banned?
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
