Move to ban sex establishments in BCP Council area fails

A MOVE to stop any future licensed sex establishments setting up in Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole area has failed to win approval.

BCP Council's licensing committee heard that there had been no complaints about the existing three clubs from the police or public and women working in them had said they felt safe, writes Trevor Bevins of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Several councillors argued that the very presence of the licensed sexual entertainment venue made many women feel uncomfortable and their trade was incompatible with an area promoting itself to families.

The comments were made as councillors discussed the new council’s first sex establishment policy. The final version will need to go to the next council meeting in November for approval.

Cllr Lisa Northover also spoke against the clubs and asked the council to consider a zero cap on premises.

She said many girls and women did not feel safe near the establishments and she had experienced sexual harassment from customers when she was passing by, as had a woman with her seven-year-old daughter.

“While women are fearful of passing by these establishments, and they won’t phone the police about them, we are not meeting our obligations under the Equality Act or our public duty to consider the wider impact on women and girls,” she said.

“Women and girls have the right to feel safe everywhere."

In a statement to the committee, Cllr Lisa Lewis said there was a belief that sexual assaults were driven by the sex industry and that the licensing of sex establishments dehumanised women.

Cllr David Brown said although he understood people’s objections the problem for the committee was the lack of evidence.

He said that with a lack of police concerns or complaints from the public it would be hard to object to the clubs continuing, although he acknowledged that not all incidents are reported and recorded.

The meeting heard that there had only been one recorded assault involving the clubs – when police were asked to investigate a customer slapping a performer’s bottom.

Cllr Toby Johnson warned that it was too easy to get side-tracked into the wider moral debate but said the committee had only one choice – to make a decision based on the evidence it had before it.

“There isn’t any evidence here for us to deny any of the venues in our conurbation,” he said.

There has only been one application for a licensed sexual entertainment venue in the area since 2015.