"The horror...............the horror......"
Showing posts with label CAPE Tower Hamlets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CAPE Tower Hamlets. Show all posts
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Lets Close Every Club in Tower Hamlets Part 6 - Remarkable Intellects
At a recent council meeting, Mayor Lutfur Rahman was aware that a number of councillors planned to ambush him with a barrage of awkward and embarrassing questions. Mayor Lutfur therefore adopted a radical tactic and decided to refuse to answer any question that was put to him. Instead he delegated the job of responding to his loyal cabinet.
Please have a read of the frame grab below......
Its an interesting question about a £850,000 loan to an arts centre. This is not the key issue, its the 'remarkable intellect' comment that I like so much. You see, the clubs have no chance at all now such intellectual prowess is clearly aligned against them.
Do you remember that Rania Khan had a page on a social networking site called Hi5. The story was covered by Andrew Gilligan in The Daily Telegraph. Since this time Rania has removed all trace of her page, so its lucky that I frame grabbed everything I could....
Its interesting to note that Ranias 'remarkable intellect' cannot 'keep data of tings that r unnecessary'. Rania also asks 'wats the point of reading tings dat aint true'? Well she must have read the Lilith Report and I guess that's how she arrived at that conclusion.
I know that this blog is read by people from all around the world and a number of those readers may well be coming to London for the Olympics. Tower Hamlets is an Olympic Borough and Rania Khan is a cabinet member of Tower Hamlets Council. This is a fact that I find incredibly embarrassing.
Please have a read of the frame grab below......
Do you remember that Rania Khan had a page on a social networking site called Hi5. The story was covered by Andrew Gilligan in The Daily Telegraph. Since this time Rania has removed all trace of her page, so its lucky that I frame grabbed everything I could....
I know that this blog is read by people from all around the world and a number of those readers may well be coming to London for the Olympics. Tower Hamlets is an Olympic Borough and Rania Khan is a cabinet member of Tower Hamlets Council. This is a fact that I find incredibly embarrassing.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Lets Close Every Club in Tower Hamlets Part 4 - Tom Copley
'No one has the right to judge anyone in this world'.
Cllr Rania Kahn on Twitter on 13th November 2011
'Unless the judgement is about strippers'.
Chasmal on 18th March 2012
The focus of StrippingTheIllusion will for a while at least be on Tower Hamlets because we seem to be close to the time when Rania Khan and Lutfur Rahman will try and close every club in the borough.
Once or twice a week I undertake a Google Search to see if there have been any developments about the Tower Hamlets campaign and today I stumbled upon something that I found somewhat upsetting.
It was an article written by Tom Copley (London Assembly candidate and member of LGBT Labour) for Pink News that defends Ken Livingstone against an attack by Ivan Massow over the issue of The White Swan. Read Tom Copleys article here and Ivan Massows here.
I have views about Ken Livingstone that are based upon his alliance with Lutfur Rahman, but what really upset me about Toms article was the way that it attacked the strip and lapdancing scene.
I wonder if Tom has ever heard of the Wolfenden Report and if so, can he quote one of its most striking passages?
‘……It is not, in our view, the function of the law to intervene in the private life of citizens, or to seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour……."
The Wolfenden Report essentially recommended the decriminalisation of homosexual acts and John Wolfenden was later voted 45th in a list of the top 500 lesbian and gay heroes as published in the Pink Paper in September 1997.
Tom may be able to quote the passage, but does he believe it? Apparently not it seems, because his article is full of the usual bigoted rhetoric that we tend associate with Object members.
According to Tom there are problems with lapdancing clubs, particularly….
‘…..Groups of drunk, sexually charged men piling onto the streets does not just intimidate women but can also lead to an increase in rapes and sexual assault in the nearby area….;
Tom is a Camden resident and must have read The Lilith Report, which I discussed in a recent posting. I wonder if Toms view of the clubs extends to The Candy Bar? Anyway, he takes the view that The White Swan is perfectly safe…
‘……..It is simply inaccurate to say that anyone is proposing to close the White Swan. Its closure has never been proposed. What is happening is that Tower Hamlets is bringing forward a plan to deal with lap-dancing clubs. That means putting a framework in place…..’
Tom is being slightly slippery here. It is true that no-one has ever proposed closing The White Swan, but it does seem that someone wants to see and end to the Wednesday night amateur strip night. If this night closes, then the financial viability of the venue is at risk.
‘……The White Swan will be able to apply for an exemption that allows it to continue with its entertainment, but within a framework that means local people will have to put up with less of the sleazy, seedy, anti-social lap-dancing clubs that residents all over the capital are complaining about….’
An exemption Tom? I hope so, I really hope so and I want to see it succeed. And Tom, the people that are complaining all over the capital, do you mean Object activists? Maybe you better read my posting on that issue here and here.
Tom refers to lap dancing clubs as being ‘seedy’. Have you ever been to one? Is that not a value judgement you made then? I hate value judgements because they are the mark of lazy and shallow thought and most of all, I hate value judgements because they are just so Daily Mail territory.
I find it really sad when someone from the LGBT community publicly supports repressive local legislation and denigrates the choices that dancers and customers have made. The Woldenden Report stated that there was no place for legislation in terms of peoples behaviour and choices.
Tom clearly believes this to be the case, unless of course its about strippers because they clearly do not count.
Tom is rightly proud of the fact that he works for a charity that fights racism, fascism and hatred, but he overlooks the kind of things that Object and its allies are saying about strippers. Maybe it’s the wrong kind of hatred…
Tom is member of The Labour Party because he believes that it can bring about ‘major, progressive social change’ country. That must be why he supports the criminalisation of striptease.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Lets Close Every Club in Tower Hamlets Part 3 - Bancroft Library Debate Retrospective
In October 2011, a public entitled 'Lapdancing - Choice or Exploitation' was held in the Bancroft Library in Tower Hamlets. Given that the Tower Hamlets prohibition campaign may be heading towards its climax, I though it would be worthwhile revisiting the event through though the experiences of three participants.
First we have Cllr Rania Kahn, who posted on her blog as follows...
October saw an important debate at the Bancroft Library with journalist and campaigner Bea Campbell; Kat Banyard, author of ‘Equality Illusion’; Anna Van Heeswik of national campaign OBJECT; Cllr Rachel Saunders; Eileen Short, founder of CAPE, and Jennifer Hayashi Danns, author of ‘Stripping the Illusion: The Bare Reality of Lap Dancing.’
Cllr Rania Khan said: “There had been worries that advocates of lapdancing and the sex industry would try to break up the discussion - there had been threats on the internet - but the debate was intense, peaceful, intelligent, and above all democratic. People opposed to lapdancing as sexist exploitation of women were able to air their critique alongside others who supported lapdancing on the grounds of freedom of expression. Though, surprisingly, none of the people running lapdancing clubs took the opportunity to speak up - despite being invited by us to participate.”
Rania, exactly how were these 'advocates of lapdancing' going to 'break up the discussion'. Did you really imagine that a gang lead by Peter Stringfellow were going break in venue and start smashing the place up? What threats had been made on the internet? Please show us the frame grabs, I mean surely you recorded the 'threats' and showed them to the police? I know would have....
But least the debate was 'peaceful, intelligent and above all democratic'. In terms of club owners being invited, I am aware that Secrets were invited along, but were too buys running their business to attend, but I have to say that no other club owner in the borough received an invitation.
Anyway lets see what one of the guest speakers thought, Edie La Mort, ex-stripper and activist delivered a speech to the assembled throng and she wrote down her impressions of the event....
Hi Everyone
I spoke at a 'debate' on Tuesday October 11th (2011), called ‘Lap-dancing - a Choice or Exploitation?
It was sparked by the current Nil Policy consultation in Tower Hamlets but billed as a general debate. The stated aim of the organisers is to close down every SEV in the UK and for stripping to be banned completely as it is in Iceland. (These were the words of Kat Banyard and Object) After being told it was an invitation only, women only, private event; it turned into a very public, very mixed and absolutely not private event. People taking photos and filming - something I hope does not come back to haunt me.
Here's a run down of the speakers and what was said:
Beatrix Campbell - feminist and communist (is what it said on the program)
She set the tone for the evening with high drama and sensationalism. She ad libed her speech. I will paraphrase her so you can get the general idea but do be sure to read this to yourself with a lot of drama, pity, mournful emotion and dramatic pauses.
"Can you imagine what it's like?! Our young women..... surrounded by men....... having to take off........ALL their clothes......... (big dramatic pause as see looks around at the audience, hoping her words are having the desired effect). "Being the only person in the room...... NAKED..... whilst the others remain clothed!!!"
Please note that because about 70% of the women in the were in burkas or niqabs, this did have the desired effect.
She then went on to tackle the subject that dancing is empowering, again with full drama and mournful emotion.
"People say........Lap-dancing......is empowering! Can you believe that?!?! So I could be empowered by it?!?! ....... Me?!...... with my old and skinny body?!?! ...... Are they really saying ..... I could be empowered?!?!"
I thought 'no love you wouldn't get any shifts but you could do Burlesque successfully if you had an ounce of imagination.'
Obviously not.
Kat Banyard and Object - this lot are the hardcore prohibitionists and I find their venom towards another group of women quite disturbing.
Kat Banyard ran the 'you can buy a woman like you can buy a cappuccino' line which I was prepared for in my speech with - 'You do not buy me, you pay for my performance. I am a performer.'
They obsessed about women even though there are male strip pubs and said the areas around strip venues were no-go areas for women. She talked about 'choice' but isn't that what they want to take away from us?
The get themselves all worked up. They are like the shouty, accusing children of Salem. Destroying the lives of adults with accusations. I want to send them all a copy of The Crucible by Arthur Miller!
It will be really hard to get them to listen. They have built their entire career on stripper bashing so there's too much at stake. They have businesses, websites, book deals and funding all dedicated to pushing the idea that stripping is wrong. They make a parasitic living out of us. They cannot afford to be wrong or budge an inch in their hardline stance because it will invalidate their career and earning potential.
Mahera Ruby
I think she was just someone from 'the community' who spoke a lot about being a mother and protecting the children. All quite irrelevant seeing as it's the Adult industry that they were supposed to be discussing.
Me - Stripper
I was conscious when writing my speech to check all my facts, not use inflammatory language and back myself up with studies and statistics. However no one else did this. They were quite happy with vitriol, willful misinformation and blatant lies. I asked them to introduce me as a stripper because technically lap-dancing is not allowed. Lap-dancing involves contact and all SEVs are supposed to have a no touching policy.
I realised later that I should have kept my speech quite simple as I was talking to an audience of mainly simpletons. Unfortunately there was only me with five minutes to put the other side of the argument in a three hour witch trial, .... er ....... I mean 'debate'. It was a general overview but I now realise it's just important to repeat key messages again and again to them. Such as:
'I chose to dance' 'No one forced me'. 'I enjoy my job.' 'I am well looked after'. 'I am a performer not a prostitute.' 'It does not lead to an increase in rape'.
Finer points such as freedom in general, if my freedom is taken from me you will be next etc... The concept of living in a liberal democracy, artistic freedom, freedom of expression etc were just not being received. I also asked, what about Bethnal Green Working Man's Club with it's Burlesque nights? It is stripping after all. Will this also be closed down? How about BJs gay bar that has male strippers, yes men dancing for men. Will this also be closed? My questions were not answered.
Kat Banyard dismissed me and my colleague as propagandists!
Jennifer Hayashi Danns - ex-dancer and author of Stripped - the bare reality of lap-dancing.
She is intelligent and articulate but very anti-stripping. She had worked in a lap-dance club in Liverpool to put herself through university. It made me think, 'Well you paid for your degree, you're alright, but is no one else allowed to do that?' It seems quite unfair.
She related a story from her book about a dancer, who also did all the other things like music video shoots etc, that went from tragedy to tragedy. The two main points of the story were that the dancer had been shot and at some point had gone to a party with some other girls, got off her head and then woke up having sex with someone. Neither of these things happened at work, they happened else where, but she got the effect she wanted. The crowd only heard 'shooting' and 'rape' in association with lap-dancing and all their prejudices were confirmed.
She said the dancer didn't go to the police because she knew she wouldn't get help. She knew the stripper stigma would prevent them for taking her case seriously. In my opinion this is a reason against the nil policy and further criminalization. It just reinforces the divisive and spiteful view about women being 'good' or 'fallen'. Meaning that those women who are 'bad' don't deserve help.
She ended with the rallying cry 'There is no place in our society for lap-dancing!' There was wild applause.
Eileen Short form CAPE (Communities Against People Exploitation)
Apparently she's offended by people pulling up in big black cars outside of Metropolis. Huh?! If she is offended by cars she needs to go and live in the woods.
Anyway, the jist of her argument was that the SEV venues caused a lot of noise and disturbance. Why she specifically thinks strip clubs are more prone to this than any other club, I don't know.
She also did a lot of the 'poor girls, who are drawn into working in these terrible places, we must help them’ routine. With a lot of drama, lamenting and wailing. (Some of these people deserve an Oscar!) She assumes everyone was forced into dancing even though I made sure to say in my speech I had CHOSEN to dance.
We spoke to her afterwards and pointed out that other bars and clubs cause more problems with noise and drunkenness than strip venues. This only served to make her complain about how the whole of Shoreditch and Hoxton were so unpleasant and people were drunk everywhere. She was utterly ridiculous.
Phillipa Boardman - Church of England female priest
I was sitting next to her and she kept turning to me and smiling sweetly. She said things like, 'It's so interesting to meet someone like you' and 'I never looked at it like that'. My impression of her is that she is well meaning but really had no clue.
She spoke about Jesus and how he loved everyone. How he had accepted women in his group, which in those days was unheard of, so Jesus supported women's rights. What about my right to choose? What about me and my friends being free to do the job we want to?
She also spoke about the 'dignity of children' and dignity in general. Again, it's the Adult industry, what do children have to do with it? Children don't go into their parents room and watch them have sex and nor should they go and watch strippers. Parents have sex - that's how families happen - and it's kept from children. Erotic dancing happens in SEVs - and righty it's kept from children. Yes crazy people ... sex exists!
Safia Jama - Somali Integration Team
This woman was intelligent and dynamic but very devout. She was fully veiled and spoke as 'a mother and community organiser' about the plight of the poor dancers. She ran the 'dancers are victims of wicked men' story with a passion.
Dilwara Begum - 'writer'
She rambled incoherently around so many subjects. She was totally unaware of how much she contradicted herself and looked totally stupid! I was looking at her biog of 'writer' and thought 'yeah right! The only thing this woman writes is the weekly shopping list.' I may be a stripper, but next to her, I am an intellectual giant!
She babbled around SEVs, the Iraq war, the war in Afghanistan, class war, corruption in business, unemployment, rape, family break-up, divorce, human trafficking etc. At one point I held my breath as she rambled on about the government cuts. Fortunately, Rania Khan, the organiser and chair asked her to leave the stage.
She said lap-dancing was a violation of human rights and girls were forced into this work. She could not comprehend how anyone could choose it. She said it was exploitation of poor unemployed girls and the governments fault as they were not providing enough jobs.
She ended with the rallying cry, 'our boys and girls are not for sale!!!' People cheered but hello people, unless you've won the lottery or come from riches we are all for sale. We trade our services and labour for wages. It's how it works.
Ruhan Ali - TELCO
I got the impression that she was intelligent and well meaning, just naive. She was one of the many who said, 'Oh I never even knew there were these places in Tower Hamlets!'
She described her work with schools and colleges and said there was no place for the sex industry in our society. She said there are nine churches and five mosques and none of them want this to go on.
Well tough, religion is going to have to co-exist side by side with the liberal secular majority. I would not petition to have churches or mosques closed down. I would not go to them, and I don't feel comfortable with them, but I would respect the freedom of choice of others if they wish to do that.
Rachel Saunders - Labour Councillor
I found this speaker to be one of the worst. As an elected representative she needs to understand the subjects she has decided to speak about. She directly accused stripping of leading to increases in rape and causing human trafficking. There were no caveats and nothing 'allegedly' about her sweeping statements, none of the usual cautionary language that politicians use to cover themselves. I found her astoundingly irresponsible, as an elected official, to be telling blatant lies.
My colleague tried to call her out on the rape issue at the end during the rather chaotic Q&A session. She avoided the subject and would not answer questions directly. The simple reason for this is that she doesn't know what she's talking about. I made sure when I wrote a feedback email to the organisers the next day, to tell them full stripping only began in the 80s, has rape only existed since the 80s?
Recommended reading for her is Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen!
Sarah Castro MBE
This final woman was intelligent, worldly wise and sane. (Thankfully!) She was a friend of Rania's and hadn't really thought about lap-dancing being a problem or had given much time to the subject. She also commented on the low profile of the clubs.
She thanked all the speakers excluding me! She basically said she didn't agree on banning anything.
Conclusion
There was so much ignorance in the room and willful misinformation pedaled by the speakers. One thing I found really offensive is that these people suppose that they can tell me what I can and can't do with my life. I would never dream of interfering in their lives as much as they feel they can with me. I just wouldn't waste my time or be so presumptuous.
Another thing I briefly attempted with one of the women that chatted to me afterwards, was the whole Burka issue. I watched a Kat Banyard interview where she was asked how she felt about the Burka as a feminist. She skipped around the subject dodging the question and then said, 'the problem is, is that women's bodies are being used as a battleground.' Well isn't that what she's doing with strippers? So I tried to talk about how my choice to dance, is the flip side of the same coin, as your choice to wear the burka. It's all about external authorities trying to control what you do as a woman. I wouldn't wear a burka but would never support any law banning an item of clothing. That's because it's about freedom and once you start banning one thing, where does it end? It was impossible to get them to see that the issues were related and about freedom.
Another scary thing about all of this is that the Coalition are pushing a localism agenda. If this is the caliber of our local representatives then we are all in trouble! From what I gather from the Hackney campaign is that there is no right of appeal once the Nil Policy has been passed. This is very scary as the fanatics will win and the people just getting on with things will find themselves out of work. At least when things are decided at national level there are educated advisors and therefore more chance of sanity. (No guarantee though).
Well we knew the panel was heavily bias and calling it a 'debate' was laughable. Debates are supposed to have opposers and proposers and a balance of arguments. There was none of this. If I made only one person change their mind then it was worth it!
Unfortunately these people are not going to go away and will keep on pursuing their goal of shutting down all SEVs in the UK. They are bullies have to be stood up too because if one borough falls the rest will too. I guarantee if they ban dancing in Tower Hamlets, the prohibitionist will try again in Hackney.
We are fortunate that we can also draw upon the experience of a third person, Jean Lane, a Unison activist who went along to the debate purely in an observational capacity. Lets see what she had to say in article that was featured on the Workers Liberty website...
A public meeting was hosted in Tower Hamlets on 11th October by CAPE – the Campaign Against People Exploitation. It was billed as a balanced debate about whether Tower Hamlets council should have a policy of “nil sex establishments” in the Borough. It was nothing of the sort.
I went to the meeting having not entirely worked out what I think about lap dancing clubs. Sympathetic to the concerns of local residents about noise and anti-social behaviour in and around their estates, the idea of women having a job for which the sole function is the sexual arousal or gratification of men also makes me feel uncomfortable.
At the same time, however, I live in Whitechapel. Street prostitution has been a reality here for many decades. The lives of the women on the street are brutal. It is not caused by lap dancing clubs, a relatively new phenomenon to the area. Does the existence of sex clubs represent a driving of more women into sexual exploitation? Or does it provide a haven where women can at least organise and acquire some safety in their lives? I was looking forward to hearing, with a fairly open mind, both sides of the debate.
The arguments in favour of a total ban ranged from “lap dancing does not enhance the power of women” as stated by Bea Campbell journalist and 1970s Stalinist, to “it’s disgusting!” from Ruhan Ali of TELCO (The East London Communities Organisation, often mistakenly but understandably called the east london CHURCHES organisation).
However much the supposedly intellectual speakers attempted to use the language of ‘empowerment’ and ‘emancipation’ of women, it all boiled down to this: lap dancing clubs cause an increase in rape statistics, drug taking, alcoholism, debt, prostitution, the breakdown of the family, the sexual exploitation of children, the loosening of the moral fibre of our menfolk and the loss of dignity of our women. All of which rather begs the question; would all these ills disappear if lap dance clubs were closed down?
One speaker, Dilwara Begum, billed as ‘a writer’, spoke vehemently about the evils of lust, proclaimed that “the boys and girls of England are not for sale!” and begged us to look to China where all such clubs are banned! Are women not prostituted in China then? Is the moral fortitude of Chinese men intact? Another, Safia Jama, of the Somali Integration Team, demanded to know, “how can we allow women to take off their clothes?”
The heavy moralism towards the end of the long list of platform speakers was overwhelming, punctuated by incisive statements from Respect, the organisers of CAPE, “we do not want these clubs next to our schools and places of worship”, the Labour Party, “lap dancing causes the sexual exploitation of children”, the SWP, “what kind of world do we live in?” going on to bemoan the fact that human sexuality is distorted and unfree. This is true. I suspect, however, that the desire to close down lap dancing clubs has more to do with the comrade’s desire to be part of a campaign than to unshackle the chains from around the sexual desires of the working classes. Still at least she did not mention the war.
What was very clear was that most of the speakers in the room were actually against sex, and in particular, sex carried out by women. I had mistakenly wandered into an 1830 meeting of the British Temperance Society.
There were two interventions from the other side. Edie La Mort, former stripper of the Nags Head, considered herself a performer, well paid and better treated than when she worked as a PA in the city. “If anyone treated me badly I could call security and get them thrown out. I wish I could have done that in my office job”. A male sex worker and GMB organiser attempted to speak out about the need to unionise sex workers rather than criminalise them, but was closed down by the chair, Cllr Rania Khan (Independent, ex-Respect) insisting that he ask a question, though no-one else did. Only one speaker from the floor raised the problem of giving governments, local or otherwise, the power to ban things.
I came away from the meeting knowing very well that I was not with the moralists. But I was not entirely happy with the other side either. I cannot believe that all women sex workers are well paid, secure and happy in their work, or that trafficking and coercion do not go on. I also do not go along with the idea that women are raped in supermarket car parks and women are exploited in the office, so what’s the difference? For sure if Tower Hamlets council are concerned about the sexual exploitation of women they would do better to tackle domestic violence. But they can do that and tackle the clubs.
The question is how? Drive them underground and push more women onto the streets of Whitechapel? Or control them through licensing and get the unions in to organise the workers?
The consultation is going on in Tower Hamlets not long after attempts by a radical minority within the muslim community to ban the Gay Pride march and to prevent sex education in local schools. Respect and the SWP have nothing to say about that but champion the shutting down of sex clubs in a way that locks them in with these ultra-right wing elements.
The church, the mosque, the independents, the Labour Party, Respect and the SWP all pronounced themselves on the side of the ban in the interests of either family values or women’s rights.
The council, the great defender of women’s rights, as shown by the cuts they have made in Children’s services, Sure Start, social services and youth clubs, will be given a mandate to shut them down. Domestic violence, street prostituion, drug and alcohol abuse will continue to rise as the cuts take away people’s lifelines. And lap dancing clubs will move to the next Borough over, but we don’t care about them do we?
I am not going to make too many comments, but it is interesting to point out the similarities in viewpoint between Jean and Edie in terms of the speakers. Also interesting to see how Cllr Rania Khan closed down a perfectly reasonable point about unionisation of the venues and dancers...surely anyone with an ounce of concern about dancer welfare would at least acknowledge the idea.
My final point is that the clubs will not move to the next borough, if they close down, the jobs will be lost forever. I will leave it to you to draw your own conclusions...
First we have Cllr Rania Kahn, who posted on her blog as follows...
October saw an important debate at the Bancroft Library with journalist and campaigner Bea Campbell; Kat Banyard, author of ‘Equality Illusion’; Anna Van Heeswik of national campaign OBJECT; Cllr Rachel Saunders; Eileen Short, founder of CAPE, and Jennifer Hayashi Danns, author of ‘Stripping the Illusion: The Bare Reality of Lap Dancing.’
Cllr Rania Khan said: “There had been worries that advocates of lapdancing and the sex industry would try to break up the discussion - there had been threats on the internet - but the debate was intense, peaceful, intelligent, and above all democratic. People opposed to lapdancing as sexist exploitation of women were able to air their critique alongside others who supported lapdancing on the grounds of freedom of expression. Though, surprisingly, none of the people running lapdancing clubs took the opportunity to speak up - despite being invited by us to participate.”
Rania, exactly how were these 'advocates of lapdancing' going to 'break up the discussion'. Did you really imagine that a gang lead by Peter Stringfellow were going break in venue and start smashing the place up? What threats had been made on the internet? Please show us the frame grabs, I mean surely you recorded the 'threats' and showed them to the police? I know would have....
But least the debate was 'peaceful, intelligent and above all democratic'. In terms of club owners being invited, I am aware that Secrets were invited along, but were too buys running their business to attend, but I have to say that no other club owner in the borough received an invitation.
Anyway lets see what one of the guest speakers thought, Edie La Mort, ex-stripper and activist delivered a speech to the assembled throng and she wrote down her impressions of the event....
Hi Everyone
I spoke at a 'debate' on Tuesday October 11th (2011), called ‘Lap-dancing - a Choice or Exploitation?
It was sparked by the current Nil Policy consultation in Tower Hamlets but billed as a general debate. The stated aim of the organisers is to close down every SEV in the UK and for stripping to be banned completely as it is in Iceland. (These were the words of Kat Banyard and Object) After being told it was an invitation only, women only, private event; it turned into a very public, very mixed and absolutely not private event. People taking photos and filming - something I hope does not come back to haunt me.
Here's a run down of the speakers and what was said:
Beatrix Campbell - feminist and communist (is what it said on the program)
She set the tone for the evening with high drama and sensationalism. She ad libed her speech. I will paraphrase her so you can get the general idea but do be sure to read this to yourself with a lot of drama, pity, mournful emotion and dramatic pauses.
"Can you imagine what it's like?! Our young women..... surrounded by men....... having to take off........ALL their clothes......... (big dramatic pause as see looks around at the audience, hoping her words are having the desired effect). "Being the only person in the room...... NAKED..... whilst the others remain clothed!!!"
Please note that because about 70% of the women in the were in burkas or niqabs, this did have the desired effect.
She then went on to tackle the subject that dancing is empowering, again with full drama and mournful emotion.
"People say........Lap-dancing......is empowering! Can you believe that?!?! So I could be empowered by it?!?! ....... Me?!...... with my old and skinny body?!?! ...... Are they really saying ..... I could be empowered?!?!"
I thought 'no love you wouldn't get any shifts but you could do Burlesque successfully if you had an ounce of imagination.'
Obviously not.
Kat Banyard and Object - this lot are the hardcore prohibitionists and I find their venom towards another group of women quite disturbing.
Kat Banyard ran the 'you can buy a woman like you can buy a cappuccino' line which I was prepared for in my speech with - 'You do not buy me, you pay for my performance. I am a performer.'
They obsessed about women even though there are male strip pubs and said the areas around strip venues were no-go areas for women. She talked about 'choice' but isn't that what they want to take away from us?
The get themselves all worked up. They are like the shouty, accusing children of Salem. Destroying the lives of adults with accusations. I want to send them all a copy of The Crucible by Arthur Miller!
It will be really hard to get them to listen. They have built their entire career on stripper bashing so there's too much at stake. They have businesses, websites, book deals and funding all dedicated to pushing the idea that stripping is wrong. They make a parasitic living out of us. They cannot afford to be wrong or budge an inch in their hardline stance because it will invalidate their career and earning potential.
Mahera Ruby
I think she was just someone from 'the community' who spoke a lot about being a mother and protecting the children. All quite irrelevant seeing as it's the Adult industry that they were supposed to be discussing.
Me - Stripper
I was conscious when writing my speech to check all my facts, not use inflammatory language and back myself up with studies and statistics. However no one else did this. They were quite happy with vitriol, willful misinformation and blatant lies. I asked them to introduce me as a stripper because technically lap-dancing is not allowed. Lap-dancing involves contact and all SEVs are supposed to have a no touching policy.
I realised later that I should have kept my speech quite simple as I was talking to an audience of mainly simpletons. Unfortunately there was only me with five minutes to put the other side of the argument in a three hour witch trial, .... er ....... I mean 'debate'. It was a general overview but I now realise it's just important to repeat key messages again and again to them. Such as:
'I chose to dance' 'No one forced me'. 'I enjoy my job.' 'I am well looked after'. 'I am a performer not a prostitute.' 'It does not lead to an increase in rape'.
Finer points such as freedom in general, if my freedom is taken from me you will be next etc... The concept of living in a liberal democracy, artistic freedom, freedom of expression etc were just not being received. I also asked, what about Bethnal Green Working Man's Club with it's Burlesque nights? It is stripping after all. Will this also be closed down? How about BJs gay bar that has male strippers, yes men dancing for men. Will this also be closed? My questions were not answered.
Kat Banyard dismissed me and my colleague as propagandists!
Jennifer Hayashi Danns - ex-dancer and author of Stripped - the bare reality of lap-dancing.
She is intelligent and articulate but very anti-stripping. She had worked in a lap-dance club in Liverpool to put herself through university. It made me think, 'Well you paid for your degree, you're alright, but is no one else allowed to do that?' It seems quite unfair.
She related a story from her book about a dancer, who also did all the other things like music video shoots etc, that went from tragedy to tragedy. The two main points of the story were that the dancer had been shot and at some point had gone to a party with some other girls, got off her head and then woke up having sex with someone. Neither of these things happened at work, they happened else where, but she got the effect she wanted. The crowd only heard 'shooting' and 'rape' in association with lap-dancing and all their prejudices were confirmed.
She said the dancer didn't go to the police because she knew she wouldn't get help. She knew the stripper stigma would prevent them for taking her case seriously. In my opinion this is a reason against the nil policy and further criminalization. It just reinforces the divisive and spiteful view about women being 'good' or 'fallen'. Meaning that those women who are 'bad' don't deserve help.
She ended with the rallying cry 'There is no place in our society for lap-dancing!' There was wild applause.
Eileen Short form CAPE (Communities Against People Exploitation)
Apparently she's offended by people pulling up in big black cars outside of Metropolis. Huh?! If she is offended by cars she needs to go and live in the woods.
Anyway, the jist of her argument was that the SEV venues caused a lot of noise and disturbance. Why she specifically thinks strip clubs are more prone to this than any other club, I don't know.
She also did a lot of the 'poor girls, who are drawn into working in these terrible places, we must help them’ routine. With a lot of drama, lamenting and wailing. (Some of these people deserve an Oscar!) She assumes everyone was forced into dancing even though I made sure to say in my speech I had CHOSEN to dance.
We spoke to her afterwards and pointed out that other bars and clubs cause more problems with noise and drunkenness than strip venues. This only served to make her complain about how the whole of Shoreditch and Hoxton were so unpleasant and people were drunk everywhere. She was utterly ridiculous.
Phillipa Boardman - Church of England female priest
I was sitting next to her and she kept turning to me and smiling sweetly. She said things like, 'It's so interesting to meet someone like you' and 'I never looked at it like that'. My impression of her is that she is well meaning but really had no clue.
She spoke about Jesus and how he loved everyone. How he had accepted women in his group, which in those days was unheard of, so Jesus supported women's rights. What about my right to choose? What about me and my friends being free to do the job we want to?
She also spoke about the 'dignity of children' and dignity in general. Again, it's the Adult industry, what do children have to do with it? Children don't go into their parents room and watch them have sex and nor should they go and watch strippers. Parents have sex - that's how families happen - and it's kept from children. Erotic dancing happens in SEVs - and righty it's kept from children. Yes crazy people ... sex exists!
Safia Jama - Somali Integration Team
This woman was intelligent and dynamic but very devout. She was fully veiled and spoke as 'a mother and community organiser' about the plight of the poor dancers. She ran the 'dancers are victims of wicked men' story with a passion.
Dilwara Begum - 'writer'
She rambled incoherently around so many subjects. She was totally unaware of how much she contradicted herself and looked totally stupid! I was looking at her biog of 'writer' and thought 'yeah right! The only thing this woman writes is the weekly shopping list.' I may be a stripper, but next to her, I am an intellectual giant!
She babbled around SEVs, the Iraq war, the war in Afghanistan, class war, corruption in business, unemployment, rape, family break-up, divorce, human trafficking etc. At one point I held my breath as she rambled on about the government cuts. Fortunately, Rania Khan, the organiser and chair asked her to leave the stage.
She said lap-dancing was a violation of human rights and girls were forced into this work. She could not comprehend how anyone could choose it. She said it was exploitation of poor unemployed girls and the governments fault as they were not providing enough jobs.
She ended with the rallying cry, 'our boys and girls are not for sale!!!' People cheered but hello people, unless you've won the lottery or come from riches we are all for sale. We trade our services and labour for wages. It's how it works.
Ruhan Ali - TELCO
I got the impression that she was intelligent and well meaning, just naive. She was one of the many who said, 'Oh I never even knew there were these places in Tower Hamlets!'
She described her work with schools and colleges and said there was no place for the sex industry in our society. She said there are nine churches and five mosques and none of them want this to go on.
Well tough, religion is going to have to co-exist side by side with the liberal secular majority. I would not petition to have churches or mosques closed down. I would not go to them, and I don't feel comfortable with them, but I would respect the freedom of choice of others if they wish to do that.
Rachel Saunders - Labour Councillor
I found this speaker to be one of the worst. As an elected representative she needs to understand the subjects she has decided to speak about. She directly accused stripping of leading to increases in rape and causing human trafficking. There were no caveats and nothing 'allegedly' about her sweeping statements, none of the usual cautionary language that politicians use to cover themselves. I found her astoundingly irresponsible, as an elected official, to be telling blatant lies.
My colleague tried to call her out on the rape issue at the end during the rather chaotic Q&A session. She avoided the subject and would not answer questions directly. The simple reason for this is that she doesn't know what she's talking about. I made sure when I wrote a feedback email to the organisers the next day, to tell them full stripping only began in the 80s, has rape only existed since the 80s?
Recommended reading for her is Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen!
Sarah Castro MBE
This final woman was intelligent, worldly wise and sane. (Thankfully!) She was a friend of Rania's and hadn't really thought about lap-dancing being a problem or had given much time to the subject. She also commented on the low profile of the clubs.
She thanked all the speakers excluding me! She basically said she didn't agree on banning anything.
Conclusion
There was so much ignorance in the room and willful misinformation pedaled by the speakers. One thing I found really offensive is that these people suppose that they can tell me what I can and can't do with my life. I would never dream of interfering in their lives as much as they feel they can with me. I just wouldn't waste my time or be so presumptuous.
Another thing I briefly attempted with one of the women that chatted to me afterwards, was the whole Burka issue. I watched a Kat Banyard interview where she was asked how she felt about the Burka as a feminist. She skipped around the subject dodging the question and then said, 'the problem is, is that women's bodies are being used as a battleground.' Well isn't that what she's doing with strippers? So I tried to talk about how my choice to dance, is the flip side of the same coin, as your choice to wear the burka. It's all about external authorities trying to control what you do as a woman. I wouldn't wear a burka but would never support any law banning an item of clothing. That's because it's about freedom and once you start banning one thing, where does it end? It was impossible to get them to see that the issues were related and about freedom.
Another scary thing about all of this is that the Coalition are pushing a localism agenda. If this is the caliber of our local representatives then we are all in trouble! From what I gather from the Hackney campaign is that there is no right of appeal once the Nil Policy has been passed. This is very scary as the fanatics will win and the people just getting on with things will find themselves out of work. At least when things are decided at national level there are educated advisors and therefore more chance of sanity. (No guarantee though).
Well we knew the panel was heavily bias and calling it a 'debate' was laughable. Debates are supposed to have opposers and proposers and a balance of arguments. There was none of this. If I made only one person change their mind then it was worth it!
Unfortunately these people are not going to go away and will keep on pursuing their goal of shutting down all SEVs in the UK. They are bullies have to be stood up too because if one borough falls the rest will too. I guarantee if they ban dancing in Tower Hamlets, the prohibitionist will try again in Hackney.
We are fortunate that we can also draw upon the experience of a third person, Jean Lane, a Unison activist who went along to the debate purely in an observational capacity. Lets see what she had to say in article that was featured on the Workers Liberty website...
A public meeting was hosted in Tower Hamlets on 11th October by CAPE – the Campaign Against People Exploitation. It was billed as a balanced debate about whether Tower Hamlets council should have a policy of “nil sex establishments” in the Borough. It was nothing of the sort.
I went to the meeting having not entirely worked out what I think about lap dancing clubs. Sympathetic to the concerns of local residents about noise and anti-social behaviour in and around their estates, the idea of women having a job for which the sole function is the sexual arousal or gratification of men also makes me feel uncomfortable.
At the same time, however, I live in Whitechapel. Street prostitution has been a reality here for many decades. The lives of the women on the street are brutal. It is not caused by lap dancing clubs, a relatively new phenomenon to the area. Does the existence of sex clubs represent a driving of more women into sexual exploitation? Or does it provide a haven where women can at least organise and acquire some safety in their lives? I was looking forward to hearing, with a fairly open mind, both sides of the debate.
The arguments in favour of a total ban ranged from “lap dancing does not enhance the power of women” as stated by Bea Campbell journalist and 1970s Stalinist, to “it’s disgusting!” from Ruhan Ali of TELCO (The East London Communities Organisation, often mistakenly but understandably called the east london CHURCHES organisation).
However much the supposedly intellectual speakers attempted to use the language of ‘empowerment’ and ‘emancipation’ of women, it all boiled down to this: lap dancing clubs cause an increase in rape statistics, drug taking, alcoholism, debt, prostitution, the breakdown of the family, the sexual exploitation of children, the loosening of the moral fibre of our menfolk and the loss of dignity of our women. All of which rather begs the question; would all these ills disappear if lap dance clubs were closed down?
One speaker, Dilwara Begum, billed as ‘a writer’, spoke vehemently about the evils of lust, proclaimed that “the boys and girls of England are not for sale!” and begged us to look to China where all such clubs are banned! Are women not prostituted in China then? Is the moral fortitude of Chinese men intact? Another, Safia Jama, of the Somali Integration Team, demanded to know, “how can we allow women to take off their clothes?”
The heavy moralism towards the end of the long list of platform speakers was overwhelming, punctuated by incisive statements from Respect, the organisers of CAPE, “we do not want these clubs next to our schools and places of worship”, the Labour Party, “lap dancing causes the sexual exploitation of children”, the SWP, “what kind of world do we live in?” going on to bemoan the fact that human sexuality is distorted and unfree. This is true. I suspect, however, that the desire to close down lap dancing clubs has more to do with the comrade’s desire to be part of a campaign than to unshackle the chains from around the sexual desires of the working classes. Still at least she did not mention the war.
What was very clear was that most of the speakers in the room were actually against sex, and in particular, sex carried out by women. I had mistakenly wandered into an 1830 meeting of the British Temperance Society.
There were two interventions from the other side. Edie La Mort, former stripper of the Nags Head, considered herself a performer, well paid and better treated than when she worked as a PA in the city. “If anyone treated me badly I could call security and get them thrown out. I wish I could have done that in my office job”. A male sex worker and GMB organiser attempted to speak out about the need to unionise sex workers rather than criminalise them, but was closed down by the chair, Cllr Rania Khan (Independent, ex-Respect) insisting that he ask a question, though no-one else did. Only one speaker from the floor raised the problem of giving governments, local or otherwise, the power to ban things.
I came away from the meeting knowing very well that I was not with the moralists. But I was not entirely happy with the other side either. I cannot believe that all women sex workers are well paid, secure and happy in their work, or that trafficking and coercion do not go on. I also do not go along with the idea that women are raped in supermarket car parks and women are exploited in the office, so what’s the difference? For sure if Tower Hamlets council are concerned about the sexual exploitation of women they would do better to tackle domestic violence. But they can do that and tackle the clubs.
The question is how? Drive them underground and push more women onto the streets of Whitechapel? Or control them through licensing and get the unions in to organise the workers?
The consultation is going on in Tower Hamlets not long after attempts by a radical minority within the muslim community to ban the Gay Pride march and to prevent sex education in local schools. Respect and the SWP have nothing to say about that but champion the shutting down of sex clubs in a way that locks them in with these ultra-right wing elements.
The church, the mosque, the independents, the Labour Party, Respect and the SWP all pronounced themselves on the side of the ban in the interests of either family values or women’s rights.
The council, the great defender of women’s rights, as shown by the cuts they have made in Children’s services, Sure Start, social services and youth clubs, will be given a mandate to shut them down. Domestic violence, street prostituion, drug and alcohol abuse will continue to rise as the cuts take away people’s lifelines. And lap dancing clubs will move to the next Borough over, but we don’t care about them do we?
I am not going to make too many comments, but it is interesting to point out the similarities in viewpoint between Jean and Edie in terms of the speakers. Also interesting to see how Cllr Rania Khan closed down a perfectly reasonable point about unionisation of the venues and dancers...surely anyone with an ounce of concern about dancer welfare would at least acknowledge the idea.
My final point is that the clubs will not move to the next borough, if they close down, the jobs will be lost forever. I will leave it to you to draw your own conclusions...
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Lets Close Every Club in Tower Hamlets - Part 2
Tower Hamlets Councils attempt to close every club in the borough is finding itself bedevilled by all sorts of complications…
First we had the Public Consultation which closed in early October 2011, the results of which still have not been released and the latest position is that it is ‘hoped’ that the final result will be made known by April 2012.
This blog revealed that Michael Collins (Chair of CAPE) has previously unrevealed property interests that could be affected by the councils decision to adopt to the nil policy.
Now we have The White Swan campaigning to have themselves exempted from the scope of the proposed legislation. In fact Tower Hamlets Council were presented with a 600 signature petition on November 29th 2011 by Daryl Stafford, a DJ at the venue.
What is the background to the issue and why does it make things complicated for the Council?
The White Swn is one of the oldest venues that caters for the LGBT community in the East End and every Wednesday it has a comedy amateur strip night. This alone places it within the scope of the boroughs nil policy and quite rightly many people are fighting on the side of the venue.
Tower Hamlets has something of a reputation for homophobic behaviour. This posting from Andrew Gilligans blog details many disturbing acts of quite frankly appalling behaviour, some which took place within the Council Chamber itself.
Let me make it clear that we support the right of The White Swan to exist, if it loses its Wednesday Comedy Strip Night it will be a disaster for the venue. As Daryl Stafford himself said.,,
"…Wednesday is our only busy weeknight. If they kill off our Wednesday nights, we'll be threatened with closure..."
That said, Daryl Stafford said some other things that show that he is misinformed on the striptease industry.
"The legislation was originally set up to stop women being exploited and coerced into the sex trade”.
This is an unfair point of differentiation. To my knowledge there has never been a case of a stripper in Tower Hamlets being either ‘exploited’ or ‘coerced into the sex trade’.
"But there are no women involved in this. It's a men only night and stripping is voluntary."
Daryl seems not to understand how other strip venues work. Stripping is entirely voluntary because female strippers choose to follow that profession and choose to work in particular club. Also to say that The White Swan runs a ‘men only night’ is also ill judged. Is Daryl saying that women are not allowed to attend, because I think that is against the law or is Daryl saying that the only dancers are men.
Sorry? ..........Run that past me again.
So having naked women dancers is bad thing, but naked men dancers are cool and should be exempt.
Cllr Golds, please explain what is reasonably minded about being concerned about exploitation when there is not a single shred of evidence that it has happened in any Tower Hamlets strip club.
"But consenting adults looking for a laugh, a joke and comedy is not exploitation."
If that is the case, there is no exploitation in Tower Hamlets strip clubs, because the dancers actually get paid for their trouble and the crowd are also consenting adults look for a laugh...
"It's fun. It's introduced by drag artists. It could probably be at any hen night in the country," he added.
So Cllr Golds, on the basis of your comments, if I was to open a pub, that every Wednesday night that featured comedians and volunteer female strippers, would you support my venues exemption from the ‘Nil Policy’? I think Object would go absolutely crazy and I do not think Cllr Rania Khan would be entirely happy with the idea either....
Cllr Golds what are you saying? That women in strip clubs that are licensed and supervised by doormen are at greater risk that the men that turn up at the White Swan and volunteer to strip on stage? Is it because women maybe are naive and need protecting whereas gay men are cool and streetwise and can look after themselves? It is because the women are paid to do what they do and the gay men are not? Is it because that exploitation and coercion into the sex industry is not an issue within the gay community?
It should be clear to any reasonably minded person that if Tower Hamlets Council close every strip club, but let the one venue that feature male performers stay open, then they are asking for what will be an amazingly expensive dose of court action. In fact the idea is so rooted in discriminatory practice that it is laughable...
Finally, a message for Daryl Stafford. I note that when you presented your petition to the council, it was received by Rania Khan. You may wish to follow this link and see what The Daily Telegraph had to say about her last year.
First we had the Public Consultation which closed in early October 2011, the results of which still have not been released and the latest position is that it is ‘hoped’ that the final result will be made known by April 2012.
This blog revealed that Michael Collins (Chair of CAPE) has previously unrevealed property interests that could be affected by the councils decision to adopt to the nil policy.
Now we have The White Swan campaigning to have themselves exempted from the scope of the proposed legislation. In fact Tower Hamlets Council were presented with a 600 signature petition on November 29th 2011 by Daryl Stafford, a DJ at the venue.
What is the background to the issue and why does it make things complicated for the Council?
The White Swn is one of the oldest venues that caters for the LGBT community in the East End and every Wednesday it has a comedy amateur strip night. This alone places it within the scope of the boroughs nil policy and quite rightly many people are fighting on the side of the venue.
Tower Hamlets has something of a reputation for homophobic behaviour. This posting from Andrew Gilligans blog details many disturbing acts of quite frankly appalling behaviour, some which took place within the Council Chamber itself.
Let me make it clear that we support the right of The White Swan to exist, if it loses its Wednesday Comedy Strip Night it will be a disaster for the venue. As Daryl Stafford himself said.,,
"…Wednesday is our only busy weeknight. If they kill off our Wednesday nights, we'll be threatened with closure..."
That said, Daryl Stafford said some other things that show that he is misinformed on the striptease industry.
"The legislation was originally set up to stop women being exploited and coerced into the sex trade”.
This is an unfair point of differentiation. To my knowledge there has never been a case of a stripper in Tower Hamlets being either ‘exploited’ or ‘coerced into the sex trade’.
"But there are no women involved in this. It's a men only night and stripping is voluntary."
Daryl seems not to understand how other strip venues work. Stripping is entirely voluntary because female strippers choose to follow that profession and choose to work in particular club. Also to say that The White Swan runs a ‘men only night’ is also ill judged. Is Daryl saying that women are not allowed to attend, because I think that is against the law or is Daryl saying that the only dancers are men.
Sorry? ..........Run that past me again.
So having naked women dancers is bad thing, but naked men dancers are cool and should be exempt.
Really......don't think so actually......
Cllr Peter Golds has also weighed in with his viewpoint…
"I, like most reasonably minded people, have concerns about scantily clad women being exploited”.
Cllr Golds, please explain what is reasonably minded about being concerned about exploitation when there is not a single shred of evidence that it has happened in any Tower Hamlets strip club.
"But consenting adults looking for a laugh, a joke and comedy is not exploitation."
If that is the case, there is no exploitation in Tower Hamlets strip clubs, because the dancers actually get paid for their trouble and the crowd are also consenting adults look for a laugh...
"It's fun. It's introduced by drag artists. It could probably be at any hen night in the country," he added.
So Cllr Golds, on the basis of your comments, if I was to open a pub, that every Wednesday night that featured comedians and volunteer female strippers, would you support my venues exemption from the ‘Nil Policy’? I think Object would go absolutely crazy and I do not think Cllr Rania Khan would be entirely happy with the idea either....
Cllr Golds what are you saying? That women in strip clubs that are licensed and supervised by doormen are at greater risk that the men that turn up at the White Swan and volunteer to strip on stage? Is it because women maybe are naive and need protecting whereas gay men are cool and streetwise and can look after themselves? It is because the women are paid to do what they do and the gay men are not? Is it because that exploitation and coercion into the sex industry is not an issue within the gay community?
It should be clear to any reasonably minded person that if Tower Hamlets Council close every strip club, but let the one venue that feature male performers stay open, then they are asking for what will be an amazingly expensive dose of court action. In fact the idea is so rooted in discriminatory practice that it is laughable...
Finally, a message for Daryl Stafford. I note that when you presented your petition to the council, it was received by Rania Khan. You may wish to follow this link and see what The Daily Telegraph had to say about her last year.
If you all stick together, you will all survive...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Lets Talk About CAPE - Tower Hamlets
Press release on behalf of C.A.P.E (Campaign Against People Exploitation, Tower Hamlets)
For too long the residents and people who work in Tower Hamlets have found it difficult to object to the nuisance of lap-dancing venues in our community. The recent Policing and Crime Act means that we can finally speak out. Lap-dancing clubs are now licensed as Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEVs) which means that local residents and workers have a greater say, and Tower Hamlets can apply greater restrictions and controls to these clubs, and even apply zero tolerance.
The 11 Lap-Dancing clubs in Tower Hamlets foster a sexist culture in which it is deemed acceptable to treat women as sex objects, not people, and areas surrounding these venues can become ‘no-go’ areas for women, children and students. Lap-dancing clubs may also fuel anti-social behaviour and unacceptable levels of noise.
Many operate during the daytime, and into the night, near to homes and residences, nurseries,schools, universities, playgrounds, parks, art galleries and places of worship. Most are therefore located in totally inappropriate areas.
We urge the people of Tower Hamlets to support the Council’s proposal for a ‘nil policy’ (zero tolerance) on Sexual Entertainment.
Together we can make our community in Tower Hamlets a lap-dancing free zone.
Lap-dancing clubs have no place in the ‘greener cleaner’ Tower Hamlets, and now is the time to say No to Lap-dancing.
The above is the full text of a press release made in September 2011 by CAPE Tower Hamlets. As mentioned in a previous posting, CAPE stands for Campaign Against People Exploitation and the 'Tower Hamlets' part of the name tells us that it operates in the borough and also implies that it has other branches...
Lets find out more about CAPE.
I know, lets go to their website........ How odd, they don't have one.
What about a blog? ......No blog.
I would have thought that a group that campaigns on such a critical issue would be exploiting every opportunity to present their case to the public. The fact is that CAPE keeps quite a low profile, it makes the odd press release, holds meetings here and there and its chair Michael Collins makes some interesting statements....Such as the one below in a blog posting by Rania Khan.
“Our problem has been to run a comprehensive grassroots campaign on few resources. The sex industry is both rich and powerful,” says Michael Collins, chair of CAPE, “and they will stop at nothing to make sure they can carry on their evil trade. We have been campaigning against them for some years after some appalling activities in residential areas around Commercial Street, Hackney Road, Docklands and Wapping involving a stabbing, a murder, abuse, assaults, prostitution and drug offences in and around these clubs.”Wow....powerful stuff from Michael. Lets look at his comments in more detail. I really think that if he explicitly stated which clubs were involved in 'a stabbing, a murder, abuse, assaults, prostitution and drug offences', that his case might carry more weight. Of course Mr Collins will not openly accuse anyone of anything, largely because he has no evidence, only heresay. That said, if anyone from CAPE were to provide me with details of the actual cases that involved the murder, the stabbing, the abuse, the assaults, the prostitution and drug offences, I would be only too happy to publish them.
Now Michael Collins is clearly very much against clubs, in fact he has been running his campaign for some time. Certainly since 2008, when minutes of council meetings show that he was asking all manner of questions about clubs in Tower Hamlets. In fact as we can see above, Mr Collins thinks that clubs are part of an 'evil trade'.
Mr Collins also comments that it is difficult to run 'a comprehensive grassroots campaign on few resources'. Maybe they cannot afford a website or a blog. Sorry, blogs are for free. And websites can be run for next to nothing. Ok I admit they unless they are designed properly they can look like they were coded by a twelve year old, but its the message that's important.
Now I want to ask you a question. Please consider what I have to say before deciding upon your response.
If you thought that clubs were centres of evil, involved in stabbing, murder, abuse, prostitution and drug dealing, would you visit one?
The answer is of course 'No'.
Ok, lets go again...If you thought that clubs were centres of evil, involved in stabbing, murder, abuse, prostitution and drug dealing, would you buy a building close to one?
No of course you wouldn't. It would the insane to tie up valuable capital in a building that was anywhere near one of these places, you would not wish to own anything that could be influenced by the 'evil'. For example, no one that was so opposed to clubs would buy premises close to The Nags Head. Would they?
So we are agreed then. No one that is vehemently opposed to clubs (like The Nags Head), would buy the freehold on premises next door to one (like the premises to the right of The Nags Head in the above photo).
Well if that's the case and you are in agreement with me, please stand by for a shock. Michael Collins, chair of CAPE Tower Hamlets, owns the freehold (since 15th February 2001) of 21 Whitechapel Road, next door to The Nags Head. In fact it is the very building in the photograph above. This is a fact that Mr Collins has yet to mention in his campaign releases.
But wait, it gets better....
Mr Collins has been described as a local resident. I am sure that the fact that he owns the freehold allows him to be described as such. That said, we are given to understand that he is resident in Kingston-upon-Thames. Maybe he views 21 Whitechapel Road as a kind of holiday home.
Publicly available records show that soon after acquiring the property, he embarked on an ambitious programme of building works on 21 Whitechapel Road. On 13th February 2001, he applied for planning permission to revise the ground, first, second and third floors and also create a fourth floor attic space. We understand that people rent flats in the property.
Now I have to admit that I know next to nothing about the rental market in Whitechapel Road and furthermore do not understand what the effect of being situated next door to a strip club may have on rental values. But I would imagine that if the strip club next door was closed down , that it might have a positive affect on the monthly rent that could be charged by the owner of a neighbouring property.
That said, maybe I am being unfair. The fact that Mr Collins owns 21 Whitechapel Road, has absolutely nothing to do with his opposition to clubs. Mr Collins is a deeply moral man and I imagine that he was maybe sitting in his front room in Kingston upon Thames and learned about the clubs in Tower Hamlets, maybe he leapt out of his chair and screamed 'NO....THIS CANNOT GO ON'! That must have been the time when he decided to form CAPE Tower Hamlets.
But if the above is the case, why is there no CAPE Hackney. Hackney has clubs as well and if Mr Collins is fighting against an 'evil' trade, then surely the situation is just as 'evil' in Hackney? But CAPE Hackney does not exist. Neither does CAPE Camden or CAPE Islington. What's difference?
Could it be that Mr Collins has no property investments in Hackney, Camden and Islington? I do not know the answer to that question. But I do know that Mr Collins has a property interest in Tower Hamlets, I do know that it is next door to a strip club and I do know that Mr Collins chairs an organisation that is campaigning to get every club in the borough closed down.
Out of interest, Rania Khan is a member of CAPE Tower Hamlets.
I am choosing this posting to introduce a section, called 'Questions That Need Answers'. This posting will appear at least monthly and will act as a compilation of issues that require responses for specific people. If we get an answer, that answer will be published and if the answer is satisfactory, the question will be withdrawn.
I look forward to the answers...
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