But most committee members could only smile when performers from the city’s two dance clubs greeted their decision not to close the venues with shouts and cheers. For six years, the Labor council has debated whether to ban all sexual entertainment venues (SEVs) in Bristol to protect women and girls across the city. More than 6,000 people took part in a consultation and the council’s moves were closely watched by authorities from across the UK. Women’s campaigners have strongly argued there should be a blanket ban on Bristol’s SEVs, arguing they lead to misogyny and violence. But after hearing testimony from dancers that they will be driven to less safe workplaces or face financial ruin if SEVS is banned, licensing board members voted nine to one against the ban Thursday. The dancers posed for pictures outside the town hall and, in a statement issued through the Bristol Sex Workers’ Collective, said: “We scream, we cry, we throw up with joy.” WE DID IT!!! After two years of campaigning against people with far more institutional power and privilege than a group of sex workers, we won the null by a vote of 9-1. We scream, we cry, we throw up with joy rn. — Bristol Sex Workers Collective (@BristolSWC) July 28, 2022 The decision was roundly condemned by the Bristol Women’s Commission, which accused the commission of failing to take action to “tackling the sexist culture that underpins male violence”. He said: “SEVs promote and profit from a sexist culture that supports male violence. We cannot address male violence without addressing this culture. “Today’s decision gives Bristol’s two strip clubs the green light to take advantage of the cost of living crisis to recruit more young women into the sex industry and open the door to the sex market for future generations of young men. It reinforces a dangerous, sexist message to all women and girls that their value lies in their bodies and how they perform for men. We are extremely disappointed and disappointed that @BristolCouncil’s Licensing Committee did not take this opportunity to take clear action to tackle the sexist culture that underpins male violence. Read our full statement here > https://t.co/IVp31gGCPr — Bristol Women’s Commission (@BWCommission) July 28, 2022 “We know some people will celebrate this as a victory, but the real winners here are men who want unfettered access to women’s bodies.” One of the performers, Amelie, told Thursday’s meeting that she worked at the Urban Tiger lapdancing club for three years after struggling to make ends meet as a circus performer. She said: “Stripping has allowed me to have a flexible enough schedule to pursue my dream career while at the same time allowing me to live a comfortable life. “Closing Urban Tiger and Central Chambers [the second club] it would push me back into poverty, precarious and poorly paid work – or I’d probably still be dancing in Bristol, but in more dangerous venues where there would be no security staff and no CCTV. I find it particularly hard to push a predominantly female workforce into poverty.” A second performer, Leila, said: “Dancing has given me financial freedom,” adding that she had been sexually harassed not while working at dance clubs but at other venues on nights out. Others had called for Bristol to be brave and ban all SEVs. Nick Gazzard, founder of the Hollie Gazzard Trust, which campaigns on violence against women, said: “We need the council to take the lead in promoting mutual respect between boys and girls, men and women and help educate young people how to achieve healthy relationships, instead of licensing the objectification of women.” The police and crime commissioner for Avon and Somerset Police, Mark Shelford, also supported the idea of a ban, but members from all five political parties represented on the council voted against it. Labor licensing committee chairman Marley Bennett said the city needed to do all it could to tackle violence against women and girls and acknowledged the industry was about sexually arousing men. He said he suffered sleepless nights over the issue, but concluded that it was better to have regulated clubs instead of driving underground dancehalls. Bennett continued: “These are working-class female performers who would lose their livelihoods during a cost-of-living crisis. I’m a trade unionist. They have a profession they say they want to keep.” One of the biggest cheers from the dancers came for Greens councilor Guy Pultney, who criticized some of them for saying they were representing the interests of ratepayers. She said: “Some of the voices we’ve heard are sometimes pushing arguments that we should dismiss some women’s voices to empower them and limit their choices in the name of equality and take away their jobs for their own good.” The only committee member to support a ban, Labour’s Philippa Hulme, said having lapdancing clubs did not fit the image of progressive Bristol. He said: “There is a huge weight of evidence that visiting these venues leads customers to objectify women and leads to misogyny.”
