Limit to be set for number of lapdancing clubs
Elegance in Granada Road, Southsea
STRIP clubs could be banned from Portsmouth, under new regulations being drawn up by the city council.
Councillors want to limit the number of ‘sexual entertainment venues’ – lap dancing and strip bars – allowed in each ward of the city. And the limit could be set at zero per ward, effectively a blanket ban for Portsmouth.
Lib Dem Councillor Terry Hall has led the campaign to see a limit introduced.
She explained: ‘I’m not the sort of person who wants to ban things like nude beaches, art or books.
‘But these clubs give a bad message to the young people of this city about how women can be treated. They send the wrong message to visitors about our city. I’m very concerned that these clubs, probably not deliberately, appear to foster in a mindset that leads to domestic violence.’
The city’s licensing department will use new government powers which means it can refuse to allow strip clubs to open because of the character of an area.
Previously, it has had to use normal licensing laws, including rules on noise and disorder, to consider sexual entertainment licence applications.
It won’t be able to apply the rule to the city as a whole, but it can set a limit in each of the council’s 14 wards, meaning if the limit is zero in each, no clubs will be allowed. Charlie Dacke, a member of the Solent Feminist Network, said: ‘It’s vital to make sure women in this city feel safe. They don’t now, walking close to these clubs. They encourage an unacceptable view of women. I hope a zero cap is set.’
Portsmouth has two strip clubs – Elegance, on Southsea’s Granada Road and Heaven Sent, on Guildhall Walk. For Your Eyes Only has been given permission to open a strip club at the site of the former Mint Casino in Guildhall Walk. And a fourth club, Wiggle, will open at Surrey Street, Landport, on Friday.
All four must apply for new licences when the new policy comes in, and could lose the right to trade when they do. Glenn Nicie, operations director of For Your Eyes Only, said: ‘We accept a club in a residential area is unlikely to be suitable, but we deny our clubs cause the kind of problems some people say we do. We’re responsibly run, and follow the rules set. We hope we will be allowed to continue trading in Portsmouth.’
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Comments
There are 23 comments to this article
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PaulNelson
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 06:01 AMThe sexual objectification of women in the media and mainstreaming of the sex industry is filling the gap of sex education and shaping how sexual identities are formed. Alarmingly, 66% of young people say that they find out about sex, love and relationships through the media (Institute of Education, 2003). This is concerning. As pornography saturates mainstream culture and the line between what used to be considered hard core and what is sold in newsagents and supermarket becomes increasingly blurred, the rape narrative which originated from porn has become increasingly acceptable. In fact, Maxim (2006) even tells teenage readers that ‘a lot of women fantasise about things like being raped’ and that ‘it’s a myth that women like soft stuff’. This message is reflected by statistics showing that almost half of all adult women in England and Wales have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking (British Crime Survey 2004) and a high proportion of people still think that women are at least partially to blame for rape, with rape conviction rates at an all time low (Amnesty International, 2005). ‘Sex object culture’ also harms boys who are pressurised to act out a version of ‘being a man’ in which power over women is normal. The effect is demonstrated by the fact that only 8% of rapes are stranger rapes. The vast majority of rape is carried out by women's current or former partners. This means that it is ‘ordinary’ boys and men who are committing sexually violent crimes. The media’s portrayal of women as sex objects also harms girls’ mental and physical health leading to a lack of confidence with their bodies as well as eating disorders (American Psychological Association, 2007). Women and girls are comparing themselves with celebrities who have had plastic surgery and whose photographs have been airbrushed. It is no wonder that in the UK at least 1 million people have eating disorders (approx. 90% of whom are women) and that upwards of £1 billion pounds is spent on plastic surgery annually (approx. 90% of which is spent by women). When women are overwhelmingly valued on the basis of their looks this has an impact on all spheres of life. Is it any wonder that Parliament is 80% male, and that the gender pay gap means that in effect women are only paid until October whilst men are continued to be paid until the end of the year? The one-dimensional representation of women as sex objects also reinforces racism - by sexualising women according to racist and sexist stereotypes of what constitutes 'beauty'.
James Williams
Monday, October 10, 2011 at 08:50 PMThe claim that lap dancing clubs are linked to domestic violence is specious and based on suspect evidence. Since this article was first published, men who visit these places or are just passing by have endured uncalled for abuse from feminists groups intent on exercising their hatred of men. The women who are employed do so of their own free will. They earn good money that comes from the custumers who visit (men and women) They are well protected and to make the assumption that these customers will go on to commit heinous crimes is hugely presumptious and not in touch with reality. In fact, it is an insult. It is time that feminists were stood up to. Normal women have tried arguing with them and gotten nowhere. They cannot be reasoned with and some of them are brainwashed with the idea that all men are rapists and violent.
WTFudge
Monday, September 26, 2011 at 05:23 PMIf these places aren't frequented by the Naval personel, or the locals in sufficient numbers they will go bust pretty quick then. Problem solved. I just wonder how some of our eastern Europeans friends, Uni students, and student nurses will pay their rent in future though!
southsearesidents
Monday, September 26, 2011 at 07:45 AMMikeB foreign Navies visit Portsmouth because it is historic not because it is seedy. I'm with Scourge on this one.
pfcbutton
Sunday, September 25, 2011 at 09:13 PMI am sorry Ms Hall but you are clueless .. To link strip clubs with domestic violence incidents is the brain of an imbacile .. Since when do you pay your partner money in a contolled environment to cause physical abuse ..no resembelance at all is there! I get that she thinks this is degrading for women therefore men look differently on women .. utter nonsense she is living in the uneducated dark ages and scaremongering because she is too out of touch to understand, and it's councillors with her limited mindset that prevent Portsmouth moving with the times, we are a city decades behind many other's in many way's... I can see why now.
Tman
Sunday, September 25, 2011 at 10:02 AMCome on Scourge, you like that endless "they're all corrupt and I know who" postings, so about time you named and shamed for the good of the general public. Write out your allegations properly,put a name to them and we'll all meet up in the police station and hand it over to the authorities. Now that would be the correct thing to do; otherwise you're just ranting on a Net forum.....
Back Seat Driver
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 09:57 PMWell - if the Police really are starting to crack down on the Council, it can only be a matter of time before we see the vacancies advertised: Chief Executive, City Lawyer, Head of Planning, Lord Mayor - and doubtless there will be a few by-elections too.
Scourge
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 09:18 PMThe bottom line is,looks to me like the police are, at last, cracking down on the Council. The people, if they care to look deeply, behind these lap dancing clubs, are local organised criminals, who used to launder their ill gotten drug money through property development. They can't do that now with the property downturn, so they are opening lap dancing clubs for the same purpose. These are the same people who torched the listed Savoy Buildings on the seafront, and twice, unsuccessfully, tried to torch the listed Air Balloon. Who has been the facilitator for these crooks getting their planning permissions for years, and, no doubt the recent licences for the lap dancing clubs. None other than, who has been operating closely with them for years, and no doubt facilitated the recent licences on the lap dancing clubs. A PROMINENT POLITICIAN we all know.
Pedanticpat
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 08:48 PMAt this rate Portsmouth won't be worth visiting, what crazy schemes are the Lib Dems going to look at next - banning snooker clubs and sweet shops?
rickey
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 08:44 PMFrom reading this story it does not seem a done thing. Only one councillor is quoted and she says "I hope a zero cap is set". It looks very much like she is getting some publicity for her campaign. I wonder how much support she actually has.
worldweary
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 08:22 PMPCC has long been trying to turn this city into another sleepy seaside town, such as Bournemouth or Eastbourne. Perhaps they should visit these places where they will find they too have sex, prostitution and adult clubs. Nobody is forced to visit, work or perform at these clubs. The tired old exploitation argument is historically inaccurate. This is the 21st Century, unfortunately the city fathers are more like great grandfathers with no perception of the world we want to live in. As for Cllr Terry, how is dancing related to domestic violence, mistreatment of women or even reflect a negative image. Funny how there is a will to shut down a legally run club, but none to enforce legal behaviour on a private wheel clamping firm who have abused their licence. Shame on you PCC for failing your electorate at every turn. Same old councillors for decades, claiming their expenses from us while lining their pockets.
haggar
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 08:08 PMScourge, even the police refused to enforce the ridiculous 20mph limit. With regards to their well known and acknowledged incompetence, they are also nationally known for corruption, and the councillor and MP behind it all is a figure of national ridicule and disgust.
people dont like the truth trueblue1
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 06:41 PMdear o dear where will you go now mr handcock
Tman
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 06:30 PMMikeB....I think you'll find foreign navies come here for the military port facilities rather than to allow the crew a good run ashore. Incidentally, if there was need for those closed down pubs, wouldn't they still be open?
Scourge
Saturday, September 24, 2011 at 06:26 PMCouncillors drawn from the ranks of the unemployed and unemployable and council officers who would not last one week in the private sector. That is the answer to every ridiculous statement coming out of city hall. Who was it introduced and trumpeted the 20mph unenforceable, and unheeded speed limit in the city? The aforementioned incompetents.
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