Strip Club Battles In London

London leaders think there are too many strip clubs and are doing their best to stop new ones from appearing and putting restrictions on the already existing ones.

Back in April we told you that strip clubs would have to apply for licences as sex establishments.

Local councillors are saying, “We’re on the side of residents and don’t want endless sleaze swamping our communities.”

The Lap Dancing Association agrees that is is possible to “reach saturation point” but the concern it that some businesses are being penalized. They want the city government to recognize the important economic contribution of the more than 30,000 young women working in the lap dancing industry.

The concern I have, along with others, is that if strip clubs are blacklisted and not allowed to open legally, they will still continue to operate illegally. This is where the young women will be in danger of being taken advantage of, trafficked, and all kinds of other issues might come up.

The key, according to Laurie Penny, is to have ”a proper investigation into the working practices that take place” in the clubs.

This is a tricky issue. The councils need to monitor the sex clubs, allow some to operate legally up to a capacity, and prevent illegal clubs from causing harm.

But if they work in conjuction with the police, as they claim they are, then hopefully this situation will be managed with the least amount of harm while allowing the legitimate clubs to continue to operate.

There will never be a time when everyone agrees on what’s right and what should be allowed, but if the city can reduce the harm to the strip club workers, and try to stop the community from being overloaded with “sleaze”, then that’s the best we can hope for.