Staff speak out on ban consultation
BY ELLIE FORBES LAP dancers say they could be forced into more dangerous work if Glasgow becomes the first place in the UK to shut down strip clubs.
Licences for the venues are under scrutiny as Glasgow City Council ask the public if they are happy to have strip clubs in the city.
Dancers say they have seen a rise in the number of pimps and escort agencies targeting them.
The Scottish Government gave local authorities the power to control the number of sexual entertainment venues, if any, they allow.
There are currently an estimated 700 dancers working in the country.
Megara Furie – a former dancer and now a dominatrix – said: “One consequence is that increased incidences of propositioning have been noted and some dancers have been approached inside clubs and online by escorting agencies looking to capitalise on the risk of their jobs being taken away.
“Their line is, ‘Your club might be shutting, why don’t you come and work with me?’
“These people promise job security, that women will earn lots of money if they work for them but the reality is you have no idea where you’ll be sent or who you’ll be working with.
“It is important to emphasise that the lap dancing venues and the wider sex industry are not one and the same.”
But Sandra White, SNP MSP for Glasgow Kelvin and a campaigner against strip clubs, said the fact women are being asked to do sex work only bolstered the case for a venue ban.
She said: “[Lap dancing] isn’t a form of entertainment, it’s a form of exploitation against women, nothing will change my mind on that.
“To say it will push it underground, push people into prostitution or escorting… I think that makes the case about the way people perceive lap dancing.
“They perceive it as the same as full-blown sex work. That is where my objections to the clubs come in. I personally would like to see it banned.”