The license of a lap dancing club in Manchester city centre was renewed yesterday despite objections from a member of the public and a men’s feminist group.
Manchester City Council’s Licensing and Appeals Sub Committee Hearing Panel agreed to renew the license of Baby Platinum as a sexual entertainment venue (SEV).
Two objections were raised prior to the meeting, both of which alleged that allowing the club on Princess Street to continue operating ran counter to the council’s commitment to equality by promoting the objectification and commodification of women’s bodies.
One of the objections read: “These premises by their nature (promoting and selling sexual encounters) directly support and promote attitudes which constitute and foster discriminatory behaviour by men and boys towards women and girls, and which are the major causes of men’s violence against women and girls.
“The licensed availability of sex for sale on the high street encourages people with sexist views to think that their views are ‘normal’, acceptable and shared by others.”
Claire Morris, the legal representative of ABA Leisure Ltd which owns Baby Platinum, said that there was no evidence to suggest that this was the case.
She also said that generalised objections to SEVs went beyond the remit of the meeting, calling the decision to raise them when the club’s license was being renewed “opportunistic”.
An objector who gave her name as Sam was present at the meeting. She said: “We’re not paid to present these objections, we’re doing this because we care and we think it’s important.”
Baby Platinum’s license only permits limited physical contact between patrons and performers. This includes patrons placing cash in the hand or “garter” of dancers, and dancers giving patrons a “peck on the cheek” at the end of a performance.
However, a second objection included in the agenda suggested that non-contact regulations are regularly breached in SEVs as performers compete to win clients.
Ms Morris said this was not the case at Baby Platinum. She said: “The performers would be extremely upset and insulted by any insinuation or suggestion that they sold sex or behaved in the way implied.”
She added that the venue had a number of measures in place to ensure that neither clients nor dancers broke its policies including ID scanning, extensive CCTV, lines of sight and the presence of safety alarms and panic buttons inside the booths.
Ms Morris also told the council that women accounted for an increasing proportion of the club’s clientele.
Objectors to the venue’s renewal also referenced Manchester City Council’s White Ribbon Accreditation. White Ribbon is a UK charity which focuses on the role of men in ending violence and discrimination against women and girls.
Ms Morris pointed out that Manchester City Council received its White Ribbon accreditation in 2021, and since then Baby Platinum’s license had been renewed twice without this posing an issue.
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