Reform lap dancing club licensing

Lapdance clubs are a form of commercial sexual exploitation and promote the sexist view that women are sex objects. Lap dancing clubs are licensed like any ordinary pub or karaoke night and as a result  there are now at least 300 lap dancing clubs UK-wide, and their numbers continue to rise.

Fawcett is campaigning in partnership with OBJECT for lapdancing club licensing to be tightened, giving local authorities more powers to regulate the clubs and local people greater powers to stop them opening. Download the briefing on the right of this page for further campaign information. 

Campaign update: October 2009

Reforms to lap dancing club licensing - contained in the Government's Policing and Crime Bill - are currently being considered by the House of Lords. However, the reforms contain two key flaws:

Flaw 1: Venues hosting lap dancing less than once a month will be exempt from the legislation
Flaw 2: Local authorities won't be required to adopt the legislation, so local people will face a 'postcode lottery' over whether they have a say in lap dancing club licensing

Take action today to strengthen reforms to lap dancing club licensing

1) Attend the OBJECT/Fawcett demonstration on Tuesday 3rd November, 10:00 - 11:00. As the House of Lords debates whether to strengthen licensing reforms, make sure your voice is heard (literally!). To RSVP contact Kat on 020 7253 2598 or kat.banyard@fawcettsociety.org.uk.

2) Write to a member of the House of Lords (A template letter with instructions is on the right of this page)

3) Write to your local newspaper (A template letter with instructions is on the right of this page)

If you have time to - adapt the letters so they are written in your own words. This can make them more powerful. If you don't have time, however, still do send the letters as they are!

Key campaign moments so far:

• 18/6/08: a 10 Minute Rule Bill was introduced by Robert Blackman-Woods MP (City of Durham) calling for lapdance clubs to be licensed as Sex Encounter Establishments. The Bill was unopposed and received cross-party support
• 18/6/08: The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport began a consultation with all local authorities in England and Wales on whether they wanted greater powers to control and regulate lap dancing clubs. 75% of responding local authorities asked for such powers.
• 21/9/08: The Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith announced at the Labour Party Conference that the Government would grant local people a greater say in stopping lap dancing clubs opening
• 3/12/08: Plans to tighten the licensing of lap dancing clubs were announced in the Queen’s Speech
• 18/12/08: Policing and Crime Bill (containing licensing reforms) receives its first reading in the House of Commons
• 20/5/09: Policing and Crime Bill receives its first reading in the House of Lords

To track the progress of the Policing and Crime Bill visit the Parliament website.