‘A nil-cap in Bristol would help women reclaim the night’

There is a lot of confusion around the consultation about a nil-cap for sexual entertainment venues (SEVs) in Bristol city centre.

The law requires that councils have a ‘cap’ on the number of SEVs in a city. These caps have to apply to specified localities, and these localities are not pre-set (they are not political wards, or postcodes, for example): they are defined within the cap, and are a subject of debate.

The central area – where the consultation on SEVs is taking place – is already a defined ‘locality’ and its current cap is two. So, no more than two SEVs can operate in the central locality. A nil cap on this locality would mean that no SEVs could operate within this central locality.

Central Chambers on St Stephen’s Street is one of Bristol’s two SEVs which could be banned if a nil-cap is implemented – photo: Martin Booth

I served on the licensing committee and would like to stress the remit of what its members are actually being asked to consider.

The licensing committee’s role is to consider the impact of SEVs on other users of the defined locality.

This is not a judgement on the wider question of SEVs themselves nor on sex workers. Arguments about the rights and wrongs of sex work and sex workers completely miss the point.

This is about whether SEVs are an appropriate feature for the centre of the city. For the record, I have complex, conflicting and nuanced opinions about this issue, having worked in harm reduction with street sex workers and victims of sexual trauma.

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Read more: Haunting vigil highlights violence sex workers face

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The question facing the licensing committee is not one of morality but rather: what impact do these venues have on other users of the space? I am talking here about evidenced harms, not matters of taste.

SEVs do impact women outside the venue. I have had intimidating experiences myself outside Urban Tiger with my 12-year-old daughter. But we shouldn’t base a decision like this on anecdotal accounts alone, we need to look at evidence.

There is substantial and systematic evidence of the harms, this is just one example of the research available:

Objectification of the other sex is associated with “severe psychological aggression and physical assault perpetration” in males, but not in females, wrote Johnson, Murphy and Gidycz in Reliability and validity of the sexual experiences survey- short forms victimization and perpetration. Violence and Victims.

More evidence can be found in Bristol Women’s Voice briefing on how SEVs are linked to male violence against women.

Chloe, a dancer at Urban Tiger, has spoken out against the proposed ‘nil-cap’ which would cause her to lose her job – photo: Chloe

In a previous article in Bristol24/7, a woman who works in one of the venues says she feels a lot less intimidated inside the club than she does outside the club, but this points to the problem with SEVs: the license they give men to be sexually aggressive outside the venue.

We have to ask ourselves: how many women are affected by the presence of these venues in Bristol city centre? How many women avoid the area at night, and miss out on Bristol’s night-time culture – theatre, dance, music, pubs?

From the many academic studies I have seen, as well as my own lived experience, it is clear to me that the impact of SEVs on how women engage with the city at night is significant.

The cumulative harm to thousands of women who spend time in the area (including those who avoid the centre altogether) is greater than the impact on the women who work in the venues, and who will have to find an alternative career, or work outside the city centre, if a nil-cap is imposed.

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Read more: ‘Without safe venues, women will be forced to dance in dangerous situations’

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As a feminist, it is very important to me that Bristol at night feels like a welcoming and safe place for all women, not somewhere we have to run the gauntlet of sexual intimidation just to go and see a show at the Hippodrome.

If a nil-cap on SEVs in the city centre helps us to reclaim the night, then I think that is a price worth paying.

While I reference women in this article, because they are biggest demographic negatively affected by SEVs, I want to emphasise that these harms are experienced many people, including young men, as well as LGBT, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.

If you want to read Bristol Women’s Voice’s responses to frequently asked questions on this issue, visit www.bristolwomensvoice.org.uk/faqs-sexual-entertainment-venues-in-bristol

To fill in the consultation, visit www.bristol.citizenspace.com/bristol-city-council/sex-establishments-policy-consultation-2021

Lucy Whittle is the former Labour councillor for Windmill Hill

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more:

• One25 CEO apologises for previously supporting nil-cap on SEVs
• Open letter demands council ‘honours workers’ rights’ by not banning strip clubs
• ‘Strip clubs promote a harmful sexist culture and stand in the way of equality’

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