| Home | Bookmark | Tell | Active petitions in over 75 countries | Follow GoPetition |
Petition Tag - lap dancing
1. Yes to Lap Dancing - It's a Freedom of Choice 
It is time to speak up! In many instances in local government the lobbying minority influence decision makers and the majority remain silent. We are asking you to speak up and represent the freedom of choice in Medway.
It's your choice if you want to attend Hen party shows or lap dancing as long as events are lawfully regulated. If its not your thing, then its your choice not to visit venues of this nature, but do support the choice of those who wish to do so please.
It's your freedom!
2. 'No' to lap dancing clubs in Bexley
Local councils can now license lap dancing clubs as part of the sex industry rather than as 'leisure venues'. This is a 2-step process. Councils must first adopt the new license policy and then need to decide how to apply it.
Bexley adopted the policy in June 2010 but has not decided how to apply it. At a meeting on 29 March 2011 which took only ten minutes they deferred the decision to set standards for such clubs. But they did not defer the decision to set a licence fee of £8995. This is an over 60% reduction in the previous fee of £22573.
This would make Bexley one of the cheapest boroughs in London to set up a Sex Shop or Lap Dancing Club. This is not the image the residents of Bexley would want. It’s not right that whilst cuts are being made to services across the borough a massive fee cut is being agreed for people who profit from the Sex Industry.
Under the new legislation lap dancing clubs require a Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV) licence in order to operate. Bexley Council have rights under the SEV licensing regime including setting a maximum number of SEV licences that will be granted in a particular area. That maximum number can be zero.
This petition demands that in Bexley, and especially the wards I represent - Belvedere, Erith, Lesnes Abbey, North Heath and Thamesmead East - the maximum number of clubs will be set at zero.
Teresa Pearce MP
3. Reform Sunderland's Lap Dancing Laws
Lap dancing clubs are part of the sex industry and fuel a sexist culture in which it is increasingly acceptable to treat women as sex objects, not people. This has been recognised by the UN Convention on Eliminating All Forms of Discrimination Against Women since 1979 as having clear links to discrimination and violence against women. Areas surrounding lap dancing clubs can become ‘no-go’ areas for women, with many women and girls reporting that they feel unsafe in the vicinity of such venues, and research reveals that individuals performing in the clubs face exploitative working conditions.
However, until now they have been subject to the same licensing regulations as other entertainment establishments (e.g. cafes and restaurants). This has meant that local authorities have been prevented from considering these issues when deliberating license applications from lap dancing clubs, and have been unable to stipulate conditions and controls - such as the maximum number of lap dancing clubs permitted in our community or whether private booths are permitted in the clubs. This is in contradiction of the council’s legal obligation to to consider the impact of their decisions on women and men and to promote gender equality in all they do.
However, as of 6th April 2010, local authorities have been granted new powers and can now license lap dancing clubs as ‘Sexual Entertainment Venues’ under Schedule 3 to the LGMPA 1982, as amended by the Policing and Crime Act 2009. This allows local authorities to license lap dancing clubs in the same way as sex shops and sex cinemas – i.e. to apply relevant and necessary controls.
4. No new 3.00 am dancing club in Whitley Bay
Planning permission is being applied for to extend the Avalon Hotel in Whitley Bay into the old Conservative Club next door. A drinks licence till 3.00am has been obtained with permission for live music, sports and dancing. There is local concern that the venue will be used for lap dancing.
An application has been made for a beer garden at the back, which will create a noise problem in North Terrace and the surrounding streets. The new venue will extend 3.00am licensed venues from the bottom (East) end of South Parade up into the middle, closer to Whitley Bay centre and the residential community.
5. Stirling Against Lap Dancing Clubs
A Lap Dancing Club is proposed for 13 Barnton Street, Stirling, Scotland UK.
This club has been proposed with no consultation with local women's groups, or with the local community.