Lap Dancing in Sheffield

Sheffield Council is set to discuss 'hugging breaches' and other issues at Spearmint Rhino lap dancing club.

One of the conditions of its licence is that random samples of CCTV footage will be inspected by officers on at least a monthly basis and a report presented to the licensing committee quarterly.

Recordings from various days over November and December were inspected and footage of 35 dances were viewed. Officers found three occasions of dancers hugging customers at the end of performances, which is against the licence rules that state there must be no physical contact between performer

They also found problems with customers attempting to touch dancers and not keeping their hands by their side, but where this did happen dancers stopped their performance or door staff intervened. Officers also raised issues with dancers brushing customers legs although said it appears to be accidental, and they said it was difficult to see some dances as they were performed at the far side of booths.

In the report, Claire Bower, council officer, said: Officers consider the findings to show minor issues and therefore advice has been provided in writing to the the club. The report will be discussed at a meeting on October 5.

A strip club harassed by feminist campaigners has had its license renewed. Sheffield council's licensing committee had met for eight hours to discuss whether Spearmint Rhino should have its sexual entertainment licence renewed.

Private investigators employed by campaigners had secretly filmed dancers who reportedly sexually touched customers and each other. The dances were filmed without consent of either the dancers or the customers.

Dancers from the club had campaigned to save the licence. Celia Lister, who dances at the club, said:

It's been a huge milestone in breaking the social stigma around sex work and I think much to the displeasure of [anti-strip club campaigners], this scandal has actually helped us gain the publicity we needed to do this.

The council said full reasons for the renewal would be given soon but fter the secret filming council officers inspected the club monthly.

Spearmint Rhino strip club in Sheffield had its licence renewed after the council ruled covertly recorded footage of dancers breaking no-touching rules filmed without consent should not force its closure.

Dancers at Spearmint Rhino celebrated the ruling, made after eight hours of heated testimony from both sides. Dancers had accused campaigners who made the undercover recordings of revenge porn tactics.

A coalition of feminist groups that had sought the club's closure condemned the decision and said they would continue to fight for the venue to be closed.

The feminist campaign group Not Buying It hired investigators to go undercover and make covert recordings in the club in February. The footage led to a council investigation which found that some dancers had been sexually touching customers, themselves and each other.

Despite the breaches, the council said the renewal application would be granted. It said it would publish a full notice explaining its reasons soon.

Strip club dancers have marched through Sheffield to oppose plans to close Spearmint Rhino.

The brightly-dressed protesters stopped traffic in Sheffield city centre, braving driving rain between the Brown Street club and Sheffield Town Hall.

Sheffield's Spearmint Rhino club was targeted by feminist extremists who commissioned private detectives to obtain video evidence and report on anything untoward. They claimed to have filmed inappropriate sexual contact clearly without the consent of the participants. Surely such filming would be illegal so perhaps these may be just claims.

The dancers and supporters, including Sheffield Hallam University women's officer Gabby Willis, told marchers filming of that sort should be classed as revenge porn. Ms Willis said she supported the dancers' right to earn money however they choose. She said:

I think it's really important we stand by women's choice to do that in a safe environment for their job, if they want to.

Club worker Rachael McCoy told protesters:

This is really important to us. This is our livelihoods. I'm a single mother. This job helps me feed my children. This job has actually changed my life for the better.

Spearmint Rhino, which has been on Brown Street in Sheffield for more than 15 years, has applied for its sexual entertainment venue licence to be renewed.

And now the local university, Sheffield Hallam, has decided to initiate a morality campaign against the venue.

A Sheffield Hallam University spokesperson claimed the club could seriously undermine its multimillion-pound masterplan for the area.

However not all university students follow the intolerance extreme and PC that once has come to expect from academia. A female student who wrote to support the application said removing a safe workplace for women is irresponsible. She said:

Removing a safe workplace for a great many women without consulting with them or whether that is what they want and need is irresponsible at best and at worst will cause direct harm.

However the university said students walk past around the clock and are entitled to feel safe and secure. A spokesperson also claimed it undermines equality and diversity.

Councillors are due to consider the club's application on 19 June.

Update: Women protest in support of Spearmint Rhino

20th June 2018. See  article from bbc.com

Campaigners for and against a strip club have demonstrated outside a council meeting to discuss the licence renewal for Spearmint Rhino in Sheffield.

Sheffield Hallam University, leading objections, said a lap dancing club so close to a world class university was ludicrous.

But Charlie Murphy, of Sheffield Students' Union Labour group, said:

Feminism is not about telling other women what to do with their bodies and what jobs to do.

Women should have full autonomy. Shutting down a strip club claiming it is feminism whilst simultaneously putting women out of work is not feminist.

All labour is exploitative. Claiming that women are being exploited by Spearmint Rhino is no different to saying you are being exploited when you work in a supermarket.

Single mother Rachel McCoy who performs at the club, described women in the industry as strong and supportive. She said financially the job had transformed my family's world.

Update: Licence renewed

22nd June 2018. See article from bbc.com

A Sheffield lap dancing club has had its operating licence renewed despite dozens of objections from feminists on morality grounds.

Spearmint Rhino, on Brown Street, has operated for 15 years without trouble and the chair of licensing, councillor David Barker, said there was no evidence of poor practices at the club. Granting the licence, Barker said:

There was a very strong case against sexual entertainment in general from the objectors. However, we could find no strong evidence of poor practices or detrimental impact on the local area arising from the operation of the club.

Offsite article: Trashy Swerfs in Licence Objection Failure

25th June 2018. See  article from strippingtheillusion.blogspot.com

An interesting investigation into the campaigns for and against Spearmint Rhino.

Feminist campaigners have been granted a judicial review against Sheffield's strip club licensing policy.

The review has been brought by a Sheffield resident referred to as Irene. Activists backing her case launched a CrowdJustice crowdfunding campaign on Thursday to cover the legal costs.

A Judicial Review examines whether official bodies followed correct and legal procedures eg when making licensing decisions.

It seems that moralist campaigners feel that the council should consider wider  impact on women and gender equality, rather than just the wellbeing of those specifically affected by the Sheffield club.

The outcome could of course affect clubs and councils nationwide.

In a statement accusing the council of ignoring important evidence, the Time's Up For Strip Clubs Coalition claims:

Sheffield have said they only have to consider the impact on women working in the club, women customers or 'vulnerable people' in the local area. In fact, the council has a legal duty to consider the negative impact on all women when deciding on a policy like this.

Spearmint Rhino, which has been open for 16 years and is the only strip club in Sheffield, is an interested party in the judicial review and so get a chance to air their views in the case.

An anonymous Sheffield feminist is taking the council to court after they said their should be no limit on the number of sexual entertainment venues in the city.

A woman using the fake name of Irene Gladdison has raised nearly £5,000 in order to launch her legal challenge to over turn the policy.

A draft council report published in December 2016 said there would be a a limit of two strip clubs in Sheffield. Sheffield currently has Spearmint Rhino in the city centre and La Chambre swingers club in Attercliffe. It is a bit confusing as only Spearmint Rhino can be considered a strip club. So it is a bit confusing as to whether the limit is based on number of licenses or number of strp clibs.

Anyway after further consultation the two-club limit was deleted.

'Gladdison' said:

I'm a 54 year old grandmother, with five grandchildren. A lifelong feminist and a proud Sheffielder. I refuse to be cowed by the city council and allow them to 'OK' the sexual objectification of our girls. Because we will never have an end to the 'President's Club' attitudes when men can buy women as sexual entertainment at strip clubs.

'Gladdison' is backed by campaign group Not Buying It. She is being represented by lawyer Louise Whitfield who claimed:

The law is very clear that if a particular issue is highly relevant for gender equality, a public body must look very carefully at any negative impact on women.

Unfortunately, the council has taken a very narrow approach and only considered extremely limited evidence about the adverse effect these clubs have on women performers. We hope that as before, the council will recognise their errors and agree to think again. If not, my client has no choice but to pursue her legal challenge.

Sheffield city councillors have voted not to cap the number of sex venues within the city, rejecting proposals to set the limit at two.

\Sheffield is currently home to two sexual entertainment venues: the Spearmint Rhino lap dancing club, in the city centre; and the La Chambre swingers club in Attercliffe.

Plans to set that number as the limit, preventing any more from opening, were dropped following public consultation on the council's sex establishment policy.

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh was among those who had supported a ban on further vanues, as she claimed had been adopted by 10 other local authorities across the country whinged:

This is not only disappointing because of the lack of joined-up thinking it demonstrates, but also because of the current climate wherein sexual harassment and the entrenchment of inequality between men and women is so prevalent.

Liberal Democrat councillors had previously labelled the council prudish and anti-business for proposing to limit the number of sex clubs. A council report had warned limiting employment in lap dancing clubs could lead women to seek work in less-regulated high-risk erotic dance environments. It also stated the council was not permitted to take a moral stance on strip clubs. Councillor Paszek said:

We have developed a policy that is fit for purpose and allows any sex establishment operating in Sheffield to be properly administered and regulated to maintain the high management standards, the safety and safeguarding of staff, performers, patrons and members of the public, as well as ensuring these premises are located appropriately and in accordance with the legislation.

The council received 130 responses to the consultation, which it said included a range of opinions.

The council's new policy states that sex clubs, shops and cinemas are not appropriate in certain locations, including near schools, parks and places of worship, or in the city's cultural hub, which incorporates the Millennium Gallery and theatres.