- Conference
- 2009 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 16 January 2009
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference welcomes the announcement in the Queen’s speech in December that tougher licensing of lap dancing clubs will be included in the Home Office Policing and Crime Reduction Bill. Tougher licensing will allow gender equality to be considered in licensing processes and will protect the rights of women in the industry, by placing clubs under greater scrutiny. Passage of the Bill will however be a lengthy process with no guarantees, and in the meantime the sexual objectification of women continues to be normalised. It is therefore critically important that women in UNISON engage with the Stripping the Illusion campaign to ensure the law is changed in this Parliamentary year.
This Conference is appalled by the UK growth of lap dancing clubs and by the extent to which lap dancing, and the sexual objectification of women that it promotes, has become normalised – with pole dancing kits including pink garters and toy money being sold by leading retailers, and pole dancing lessons being offered to teenage girls in local leisure centres. Lap dancing clubs are part of the commercial sex industry and yet they are licensed in the same way as cafes, restaurants and karaoke venues. This lax licensing has acted as a green light to the industry which has doubled in size over the last four years with a new club opening almost every week since May 2008 – despite mounting local opposition. Conference notes that the objectification of women promoted by lap dancing clubs is an intrinsic part of sexism. Lap dancing clubs promote the idea of women as a sex objects; they are linked to sexual exploitation within the clubs; to gender inequality in the workplace (through corporate use of strip clubs); and to the creation of ‘no-go’ zones in the surrounding areas, with women feeling uncomfortable walking past them at night.
The Conference therefore instructs the Women’s Committee to support the Stripping the Illusion Campaign and to help strip the illusion that lap dancing is a harmless part of the leisure industry by becoming a member of Object (ido@object.org.uk) and encouraging all members to:
1)Lobby their MPs to sign EDM 2481 to ensure that the change to the licensing goes through.
2)Write to local councils to ask them to add their support to the law change and use their powers to the fullest.
3)Use Object materials and guest speakers to raise awareness about the reality of the lap dancing club industry and about the importance of challenging the objectification of women and the mainstreaming of the sex industry.