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Chapter 3. Evidence gathering

The AEWG was an evidence based group. This meant that we were not experts and it was not our own personal views that counted; our role was to obtain evidence, analyse and assess that evidence, and reach conclusions based on that evidence. We note that the Scottish Executive provided the Group with an adequate budget from which to commission a wide range of evidence and opinion.

Public Attitudes Survey - MORI Poll

The AEWG commissioned research to explore public attitudes towards adult entertainment. Noting that MORI have a contract with the Scottish Executive for this type of work, the AEWG asked them to undertake the research, having obtained the approval of the Office of the Chief Researcher.

MORI conducted a multi-client survey among a random sample of adults across Scotland. They interviewed 1,015 adults using a computer-assisted self interviewing method allowing discretion. An opt-out option was available for those uncomfortable with the subject or for those not confident using a computer - 193 respondents opted out leaving a total of 822 respondents taking part in the survey.

The questions looked at:

• general opinions of adult entertainment venues
• the occurrence and frequency of visits to adult entertainment
• attitudes towards the licensing of adult entertainment venues
• attitudes regarding who benefits from or is exploited by adult entertainment.

The key findings of the study were:

• A third of the people asked said they had been to an adult entertainment venue at some time. Men were more likely to have been than women (40% of men compared with 26% of women).
• The main circumstances around visiting an adult entertainment venue were being on a stag night or hen night (46%), being on some other organised night out (36%) and being on holiday (19%).
• Thirty percent of the whole sample said they would consider going to a venue. Of those who would not consider it (63%), the main reasons given were 'not the kind of thing I enjoy' (79%), 'object to that type of entertainment' (35%) and 'I feel it is sexual exploitation' (29%).
• One third of respondents said they were aware of an adult entertainment venue in their Local Authority. Almost half of the sample thought that the presence of these venues had a negative impact (49%) or no impact (43%), compared with 8% who thought they have a positive impact.
• Only 6% of respondents would be in favour of an adult entertainment venue opening in their neighbourhood. More 16-24 year olds would be in favour (16%) than the older age groups. Opposition was greater among women (63% opposed) than men (48%).
• Respondents feel that the group most exploited by adult entertainment is 'women in general'. Older people were more likely than younger people to say all groups are exploited. People who would consider attending an adult entertainment venue were more likely to say no one is exploited.
• There was strong support for specific licences for adult entertainment venues. Older age groups showed more support than younger age groups; more women showed support than men; and those who had not been to a venue were more likely to agree with specific licences than those who had been.
• Regulations that people would be most likely to support mainly involved restrictions on where and how venues operate rather than an outright ban. The options that received the most support were that venues should be restricted to specific streets or areas (41%), touching performers should not be allowed (32%) and there should be stricter rules on how close the performers could be to the customers (24%).

The full findings of the survey can be found at Annex 3.

Economic Impact study - Napier University

The AEWG commissioned research to explore the economic impact of adult entertainment in Scotland. We wanted, amongst other things, to test out the presumption that adult entertainment venues are linked with corporate conference activity and with tourism associated with stag weekends.

After a competitive tendering process, the Group asked The Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh to undertake the work. The study focused on determining the nature and, where possible, scale, of both the positive and negative economic impacts of the Adult Entertainment ( AE) industry on each of the four main city economies - Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. For the purposes of the study the AE industry was taken to be establishments concentrating on lap dancing and strip clubs.

The report ( Annex 5) broadly considers the following aspects of the economic impacts of AE establishments:

• Determine the economic benefits generated to businesses, residents and more widely from the presence of the AE industry at both a city and local (neighbourhood) level
• Determine any negative economic impacts on residents and businesses and the nature of these impacts
• Where possible quantify the economic impacts.

It does this for the present location and three scenarios: zoning; dispersing; or closing down the sites where 'adult entertainment' takes place.

The key findings of the study were:

• The industry in Scotland (4 cities) is worth roughly between £11.8m and £22.2m in terms of gross expenditure.
• The industry has grown rapidly since the mid 1990s, but now appears to have reached a plateau in terms of number of premises, customers and possibly income.
• The overall economic impact of a policy that forced AE establishments to disperse across a city would depend on the size of the proposed area for dispersal.
• Most AE businesses could not survive outside, broadly defined, city centres.
• Concerns in all cities included complaints from potential 'receiving' areas where the AE establishments might move.
• Possible advantages of dispersal include economic diversification within Edinburgh and removing individual establishments from 'inappropriate' areas in Glasgow.
• A tight zoning policy was unpopular with the industry and with most other stakeholders in all cities. It might also lead to property owners in the zoned areas extracting 'monopoly' type rents.
• Some AE businesses resented the stigma attached to zoning, while others raised concerns regarding the economic effects on any area chosen for tight zoning.
• The economic effects, at a national level, of closing the industry down are estimated to be less than current turnover and worker expenditure, as some of the establishments would be converted to other uses ( e.g. public houses or clubs).
• The effects of closure would likely be relatively small on city economies as a whole, although sectors associated with group tourism in Edinburgh, such as hotels and bars, could be affected.
• Closing the industry may lead to an increase in the 'Informal economy' of unofficial, unregulated AE establishments.

Consultation - Scottish Executive

The AEWG conducted a formal public consultation on Adult Entertainment Activity seeking views on adult entertainment activity in Scotland.

The Group notified key players of the consultation and issued a press release to draw it to the attention of interested members of the public. The consultation was also available on the Scottish Executive website and open to all to contribute.

The Group issued the consultation paper to 274 recipients comprising of individuals and a range of groups/organisations and received 52 responses by the time the 3 month consultation period closed on 26 September 2005. A profile of those who responded is as follows:

* Total of 15 individual responses includes 1 identified performer.

The key findings were:

In response to the question What do you think adult entertainment includes? the most commonly mentioned activities were live sexual entertainment activities;

• 30 of 52 (58%) said lap dancing
• 24 of 52 (46%) said strip bars/strippers/striptease
• 23 of 52 (42%) said pole dancing
• 13 of 52 (25%) said table dancing

In response to the question Does the working definition of adult entertainment correspond with your understanding of the subject? A majority of 34 people (65%) did not agree with the working definition . 'Live sexual entertainment services with an intention to sexually titillate, and/or that a reasonable person, acting reasonably, would assume that there was such an intention.'

In response to the question What impacts do these activities have on (1) Performers, (2) Audiences, (3) The public in general?

• 33 of 52 respondents (63%) thought that the impact on the performers was negative and examples of the impacts given were as follows - sex objects, not worthy of respect, degraded, lack of self-esteem, emotional, psychological and physical effects, feeling cheap, demeaned, dehumanised, exploited. It was also felt that these performers were open to and subject to verbal, physical, mental and sexual abuse and that there was an increased threat of rape, sexual assault and harassment.
• 33 of 52 respondents (63%) thought that the impact on the audience was negative. It was perceived that the audiences predominantly consisted of men with women providing the performances for their pleasure. It was thought that this presented a negative and demeaning view of women and that women could be objectified and seen to be there for the sexual gratification of men. Concerns about gender inequality were also expressed and that the activities involved undermined movement toward gender equality.
• A majority of 34 (65%) of the respondents thought that the impact on the public in general was negative. Many in this group gave examples of women feeling unsafe or uneasy in certain areas due to the activities taking place. Example was given of the potential for harassment, verbal abuse, and stalking which put women in fear of being in certain areas at certain times.

In response to the question What controls, if any, do you consider necessary to regulate these activities?

• 42 of the 52 respondents (81%) thought controls were required to regulate the activities.

The Consultation Analysis can be found at Annex 4.

Post-Consultation Interviews

Some respondents to the Consultation took up our invitation to provide additional information. We selected nine groups or individuals to present information in an informal interview with Group members covering a particular area of interest. To ensure a range of perspectives were represented the Group considered issues such as health, religion, age, gender and those involved in the industry - both performer and operator and those with related interests, when considering whom to interview.

We interviewed:

1. Central Scotland Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre ( CSRCC)
2. Scottish Women Against Pornography ( SWAP)
3. For Your Eyes Only - Tableside Dancing Club
4. Violate - Fetish Club
5. Young Women's Christian Association ( YWCA)
6. Performer
7. NHS Sandyford Initiative
8. A male member of the public who had visited a range of AE premises
9. The Scottish Arts Council

The interviewees approved a summary of the interview, and those summaries are at Annex 6

Key findings

In summary, it is fair to say that the general concern of those representing Central Scotland Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre ( CSRCC); Scottish Women Against Pornography ( SWAP); NHS Sandyford Initiative and the Young Women's Christian Association ( YWCA) was around the objectification of women and the potential for exploitation of performers. It was a common concern amongst these groups that performing in the adult entertainment industry may be degrading for women and potentially exploitative. Particular concern was expressed regarding exploitation of performers by staff and management, and the stigma which is attached to women who are seen as 'sex objects'. These groups believed that gender inequality is a main and negative impact for all and that gender equality is undermined as audiences are predominantly male with females providing the entertainment, whilst clubs providing such activities reinforce the image of women as 'sex objects'.

At the other end of the spectrum, the view was put forward by a male member of the public, that people are much more liberal these days in their attitude towards sexual activities, most noticeably through the media. Activities taking place within an adult entertainment venue depend on the individual choice of the performer and how far the performer is willing to go to earn money.

One anonymous performer commented that stag parties' contribution to the weekend economy should not be underestimated and formed the major part of any lap dance establishment's weekend custom. Lap dance clubs form part of a 'ritual' observed by many stag parties. Usually this involves some form of ritual humiliation of the groom-to-be by lap performers. The object of their visit to the clubs is 'for a laugh' and to provide entertainment that is illicit, but due to the 'look don't touch' policy does not carry much (if any) moral dilemma. She thought, however, that the public in general suffers from a large degree of misinformation relating to the sex industry and that a lack of objective research on most areas of the industry rendered it open to manipulation through the media.

Operators, such as For Your Eyes Only ( FYEO) and Violate were generally concerned with appropriate measure of regulation for the adult entertainment industry. They thought that licences should be granted to responsible operators who would run the business legitimately. There was concern about the need for adult entertainment venues to operate on a level playing field, employing reputable security. Some emphasis was also placed on safety measures which should be provided by operators to ensure safety of the venue and of performers.

The Scottish Arts Council representatives were keen to express the view that art is about representation of an act and about being able to highlight all types of representations of society to allow people to think, reflect and challenge thoughts. They were concerned that regulation of the adult entertainment industry might, unwittingly, restrict artistic freedom.

Postcard campaigns

Against: During 2005, the Scottish Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation ( SCASE) ran a postcard campaign with the aim of urging the Scottish Executive not to license what they believed to be exploitative activities such as lap dancing, pole dancing and stripping. The campaign took place at approximately the same time as the AEWG consultation but the postcards were addressed to the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, rather than the AEWG. The Minister received around 300 postcards along with a list of 29 names expressing support for the campaign. The Minister passed them on to the AEWG as it was decided that this matter fell under the remit of the Group.

The AEWG began acknowledging the postcards. However, early on in this process, it became clear that several of the "campaigners" had had their names and addresses falsely used. When advised of this, these individuals let it be known that they were unhappy that their names and addresses had been abused in this way. It also came to light that several people had submitted multiple postcards in their own name, with the intent of falsely increasing the number of those actually campaigning. As a result of this, the acknowledgment process was halted, and the AEWG decided that the campaign was sufficiently discredited such that it should be ignored for our purposes.

For: The Group noted a weblog in which there were samples of posters which invited those who were against any changes in regulation to send postcards to the Scottish Executive. One has been received. The weblog author also wrote to the Minister.

Interviews with Performers

To gain a wider perspective from those involved in the industry, the AEWG attempted to set up interviews with performers, ex-performers and those who had considered becoming a performer. Recognising that that might be a sensitive area, we decided to publish a print media advert in The Scottish Sun, The Daily Record, and the Metro (Edinburgh and Glasgow), inviting people to phone if they wished to let us have their views. We commissioned expert interviewers and set up venues that were discreet and separate from the Scottish Executive.

The response to the paper advertisements was very low with just 6 people responding. Of those who did respond, very few came forward for a face-to-face interview though 5 were willing to take part in a telephone discussion.

We were concerned by the reluctance of performers to come forward to talk about their work. Ministers had asked all group members to agree to a Code of Conduct at the outset, including confidentiality requirements, certain restrictions on external communication and gift and hospitality requirements - a copy of the Code of Conduct can be found at Annex 13. The Group agreed that it was important to prevent media cover that might give the impression that the Group had reached a view before all the research was available. Regrettably, just before these performer interviews, there was media cover which guessed at what our recommendations would be and which gave the impression that we had all been shocked when we visited venues. The Group as a whole was not surprised that performers felt unhappy with what they thought was an attempt to judge them and to put them out of business.

The interviews that did take place were semi-structured and covered:

• Details of dancing activity
• Earnings
• Treatment at work
• Experience of criminal activity/violence and drugs
• Social impact of dancing (family and relationships)
• Psychological impact of dancing
• Physical impact of dancing

The key findings were:

• The amount of money performers are able to earn is extremely variable.
• The commission and fining system is perceived to be unfair
• Some of the benefits of dancing are improved fitness and stamina, and increased self-esteem and confidence.
• Some of the drawbacks are strains and injuries, abuse from customers and the difficulty in earning a living due to high commission and other fines.
• Although some performers are approached by customers to have sex, involvement in prostitution and pornography is rare and is disapproved of by most performers and clubs.
• Overall performers felt safe working in the clubs.
• Asked what performers would improve about their job, most said that the performers need more protection, that commission should be reduced and rudeness from customers should not be tolerated.

Venue Visits

At our first meeting we agreed that we would undertake a programme of site visits. The protocol was;

• No Group member had to undertake visits if they chose not to.
• No visit would be by all male or all female Group members.
• Some venues would know that we were going, and some would not.
• We would visit the widest range possible covering different sizes, times, locations and activities.

We were surprised by how few customers there were in many of the venues. We arranged a further series of visits to cover what we had been told were the busiest times, but even this was very quiet in most places. We saw no signs of the public disorder that some associate with adult entertainment venues.

The planned visits meant that we could meet with the owner or manager, and on occasion with performers. As the discussions often took place in an office, we could also see CCTV coverage of lap dancing in booths and see exactly what goes on. Whilst pole dancing, even fully naked, can have an element of dance, we were told by the operator and recruiter in one club that would-be lap dancing performers did not need to be able to dance and simply had to be taught the moves. We found the various Codes of Conduct issued to performers to be especially helpful in shaping our final recommendations.

The unannounced visits allowed us to see what the ordinary man and woman would experience (though we were aware that middle aged women are probably not normal customers). Performers thought we were on an office outing, and that ties in with the public attitude survey in which 45% of people were on a stag/hen night out, and 37% of people visited as part of some other organised night out and had been to an adult entertainment venue without knowing in advance what it was.

We paid entrance fees on the unannounced visits, and these varied from no charge at all for "the ladies" to what we suspected was a higher than normal fee in an attempt to put us off. It is fair to say that we were always welcomed, once inside.

Working on recommendations that would apply to the whole of the industry throughout Scotland, the visits showed us very clearly that there is a range of venues with very different customer bases. At one corner there is the relatively upmarket club, unashamedly glossy, genuine dancing on the public stage with partly private areas for one-to-one lap dances; at another corner a shabby backstreet venue behind a plain door where performers and customers disappeared into a row of partitioned booths and there was no public dancing display; in a third corner of the market, a raunchy and loud venue with a younger audience and no private booths. We also saw varying degrees of nudity, from the performers wearing long evening gowns before stripping, to total, and very close up, nudity apart from shoes.

The venue visits programme has been one of the most helpful things for the Group because it allowed us to place the research findings in context and we could see for ourselves what we were talking about.

Related activity within the Scottish Executive

We realised early on that there were a number of Working and Expert Groups examining and advising the Executive on issues that were linked in some way with the AEWG's remit. These related Groups were formed on Child Prostitution, Under Age Sex, Violence Against Women, Prostitution and Possession of Extreme Pornography. It is no accident that this work is being undertaken by many different Scottish Executive Departments because sexual behaviour and gender inequality affect so many areas of everyone's life. We made contact with these groups and made sure that they were kept informed of our work by early access to our meeting Minutes. We also met representatives from some of the most relevant groups.

Reading Box

The AEWG set up a Reading Box of related reports and research. All Group members were expected to take an item from the Box, read it and return it at the next meeting. By the end of the year, that meant that members were well grounded in research and comment from a wide variety or sources and perspectives. The items that had most impact were those that classified the customers, and reports that confirmed the nature and scale of the industry.

Method

The literature in the Reading Box was gathered by members of the Working Group and the Secretariat, whilst additional pieces were donated to the Group. We conducted a search of the academic literature using a number of bibliographic databases using key words such as 'adult entertainment', 'lap', 'pole' and 'table dancing', and 'stripping'.

Overview of literature

Much of the literature is North American, with only a limited number relating to the UK (Bindel, 2004; Booker and Clarke, 2005). Most of the academic literature contains empirical, mostly qualitative research based in the disciplines of sociology, psychology, law and economics. However, other papers are theoretical pieces, such as Cameron's article on the evolution of paid sex markets (2004) ²².

Academic interest in this topic appears to have begun in the 1960s within the sociology of deviance, with research exploring experiences and motivations of performers. More recently, the expansion of the adult entertainment industry since the early 1990s has been reflected in the growing attention to the issue within a wider range of disciplines. This includes research exploring the various options for regulating or controlling the adult entertainment industry, such as zoning (Tucker, 1997) ²³, clustering (Ryder, 2004) ²⁴ or banning (Lewis, 2000) ²⁵, and research that has explored the social impact of adult entertainment businesses on neighbourhoods (Linz et al., 2004) ²⁶. In addition several articles explore the experiences of performers (Sweet and Tewksbury, 2000; Bell et al., 1998; Wesely, 2003) and the motivations of customers (Frank, 2003; Booker and Clarke, 2005).

In addition to the academic literature, the Group also sought the experiences of other regions and nations in relation to the issue of adult entertainment. One report was notable in this respect; the Crime and Misconduct Commission of Queensland report (2004) ²⁷. Finally, in order to explore the wider social impact of adult entertainment, the Group explored the literature on the impact of exposure to adult entertainment or pornography on reactions to violence (for example Malamuth et al., 1979 ²⁸; Mullin and Linz, 1995 ²⁹).

As a result of their review of the available literature the Group concludes that despite the timely addition of the research by Bindel (2004) on lap dancing in Glasgow and London, significant gaps in knowledge remain: public attitudes to adult entertainment; an understanding of the economic impact of the industry; and systematic understanding of the experiences of performers and motivations of their customers. Consequently the Group sought to commission research to fill these gaps.

The Annex includes a full list of Reading Box items. ( Annex 12)

Media Survey 2005-2006

The AEWG kept a wider eye on the world by receiving weekly media updates. The articles reviewed were obtained using two news-search databases: Lexis-Nexis and ProQuest Newspapers. A number of search terms were used, including adult entertainment; lap, pole and table dancing; and stripping. The main aim of the review was to identify the range of issues present with the media coverage. As such the core concern has been to identify key themes and issues rather than the number of column inches.

We do appreciate the Secretariat's work in issuing a weekly list of things we might like to read, though we did have problems with internet security systems blocking these updates because of the inclusion of sexually explicit words!

Introduction

The review incorporates an analysis of the content of British and Irish press coverage of adult entertainment (lap dancing; pole dancing, stripping etc.) during 2005-2006. Such coverage has extended to hundreds of stories. What follows is a qualitative summary of the key themes and issues. Six key themes have been identified: 'planning and consent'; 'policy and practice'; 'becoming mainstream'; 'just business'; 'the workers'; and 'the punters'.

Planning and Consent

Many of the news stories relating to adult entertainment concern tales of local objections to proposals for lap dancing venues to open in a number of towns and cities. For example, several news stories relate to plans to open such a venue in Coventry, a move criticised by church leaders as ' lap dancing and pole dancing is degrading, depraved and dehumanises women, making them into objects rather than people' ³⁰. In contrast, other stories, whilst acknowledging the controversial nature of such venues, argue that choice is what is important ³¹. Several articles comment on the increase in the number of venues across the UK, with many cities having several. The venues are also reported as becoming larger, with one venue in Leeds having a capacity of 900 ³².

Various grounds for local objections can be identified, including public safety, women's safety, the reputation of the town or city, concerns about violence, damage to houses and property and increased traffic ³³. Others objected to the opening of such venues on the grounds that they legitimise the exploitation of women and may be linked to prostitution, trafficking and crime ³⁴. Such objections were raised both when venues were planned in city centres and industrial estates with neighbouring residential areas. In contrast others argued that the presence of such venues would bring benefits to areas such as making locations more attractive to businessmen ³⁵.

Whilst objections are made against the siting of adult entertainment venues in particular locales, other entrepreneurs endeavour to offer new locations - such as hot air balloons ³⁶.

Policy and Practice

Aside from issues of consent, a number of news stories reported proposals and codes of conduct relating to the operation of adult entertainment venues. For example, in Scotland it was reported that a Scottish Executive expert group reviewing liquor licensing had proposed nine mandatory licensing conditions, including the installation of CCTV in both public and private areas ³⁷. In Glasgow, a code of practice was approved by the Licensing Board in March 2005 which included the following elements: venues must compile a register of performers; foreign performers must provide passports and work permits; performers must perform only in areas stewarded and covered by CCTV; the venue must provide private and clean changing facilities; nudity is prohibited; no touching is allowed; and performances must not be visible from outside the venue. Failure to comply could result in the withdrawal of the liquor licence ³⁸.

In other areas of the UK and Ireland similar codes of conduct have been introduced. For example, East Lindsey District Council (which includes Skegness) has published a list of conditions relating to lap dancing; pole dancing and striptease. These include no contact between a performer and a customer with the exception of a formal handshake or for payment; no touting for business in the street or distribution of leaflets that may offend the public; and no photographing or video-recording of performers, except CCTV security footage for the police ³⁹. In Dublin, a judge granted a licence to a Stringfellow's strip club despite local objections, with a number of conditions relating to opening hours, admissions, the performers not being allowed to physically touch customers or perform dances away from the stage or table areas, and no signs with naked women allowed to be displayed outside the club ⁴⁰. In Birmingham a lap dancing clubs Commission has been set up, with representatives from the Church of England, Birmingham City Council and the Business Improvement District Organisation ⁴¹. Fourteen regulations were agreed, including that 'nude' performers must wear g-strings until the end of their performance ⁴².

Becoming Mainstream

Pole dancing is no longer the preserve of specialist clubs but is now being marketed as a fitness programme with a 'cardio-pole' fitness video ⁴³ and classes across the UK and Ireland ⁴⁴. Even the Women's Institute offers classes in it ⁴⁵. Several new stories reported that the Ministry of Defence has paid for a former member of the Royal Air Force to retrain as a pole-performer ⁴⁶. The UK also has an annual Pole Dancing Championship with a cash prize of £1,000 ⁴⁷, won, we noted, by a performer from Glasgow.

Pole dancing is also being used as a means of raising money for charity. Female students at the University of Exeter invited male students to watch them pole dance for a donation to a testicular cancer charity ⁴⁸. However, despite appearing to become more mainstream, visiting lap dancing clubs is still considered newsworthy, particularly if it involves a Prime Minister's son ⁴⁹.

Just Business

Several articles report how lap dancing has become part of corporate entertainment, with senior workers in the financial sector regularly entertaining clients at such venues ⁵⁰. However, one company, Morgan Stanley, was reported to have sacked four of its staff after they accompanied clients to an adult entertainment club in the US. This followed the bank paying $50 million to settle an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of women who said it had discriminated against them because of such practices ⁵¹. We also noted that in the UK, Abbott, one of the world's largest drugs companies has been suspended from the pharmaceutical industry's trade association after three employees improperly entertained doctors at a lap dancing club, a greyhound track and at Wimbledon ⁵². Abbott released a statement expressing no explicit regret for the incidents, but stressing that it had a "zero tolerance policy" towards ethical breaches.

The Workers

Several stories seek to shatter the stereotypes that performers are desperate or have limited options by highlighting that many are students ⁵³. A poll in the Yorkshire Evening Post revealed that 15% of female students would work in the sex trade to fund their studies ⁵⁴. Others report performers rejecting their studies for a career as a pole performer ⁵⁵. Routes into dancing include taking pole dancing classes ⁵⁶. Motivations for dancing include the amount of money that can be made ⁵⁷, with some performers reporting making up to £2,000 a night ⁵⁸.

A number of articles report the feelings of women when they first started lap dancing. Several reported feeling uneasy initially. For example, one article reports Jillian as saying, "I was thinking through it whether I was being really immoral. But I soon got used to it and realised it's just a fantasy thing for guys and there's no harm in it." ⁵⁹

"The Punters"

Few articles focus on the customers of adult entertainment venues. One article exploring the links between the corporate sector and lap dancing includes interviews with a number of male clients who talk about going to "titty bars" to do deals and unwind ⁶⁰.

Research conduct by psychologists from the University of the West of England on the customers of lap dancing clubs was reported in several newspapers. This research identified three types of customer: 'the lads' who went for a laugh; 'the gourmets' who went on aesthetic grounds, and 'the philanthropists' who thought they were doing the performers good ⁶¹. The research also reviewed that male customers thought lap dancing was a normal and acceptable form of adult entertainment and did not believe that women performers were being exploited ⁶².

And finally…

The AEWG itself became a news story in 2005-6. Initially coverage reported the membership and remit of the group ⁶³. More recently such coverage has extended to reporting some of the activities of the Group, in particular the site visits made to lap dancing venues by Group members ⁶⁴. Additional coverage has speculated on the possible recommendations of the Group ⁶⁵.

Other adult entertainment activity - outwith specific adult entertainment venues

The Group wanted to assess adult entertainment activity regardless of where it takes place. We undertook a brief sampling survey, although not quantitative, to identify what activities took place outwith licensed premises (in terms of licenses to sell alcohol) in Scotland. We found that at least 20 different mobile adult entertainment services operate in Scotland, mainly in Scotland's cities, as well as the UK and worldwide. These mobile agencies offer a wide range of 'services' - anything from male and female strippers for parties, stag or hen nights; to escort services; masseuses; swingers; dogging; and limousine lap dancing. Nearly all of the mobile adult entertainment services operate via phone, normally a mobile rather than landline number, and via websites and e-mail. It is, therefore, difficult to find out where these 'private' adult entertainment activities take place and as a result, the Group was unable to visit any of them.

Performers who provide mobile services are usually attached to promotional and entertainment agencies and are both male and female. Unlike their counterparts in the lap dance clubs, these entertainers are afforded a level of certainty about earnings, in that they are paid a set fee for each performance. They will normally be booked through their agents who will negotiate the fee for the show. Included within this fee are the agent's 'cut' and the performer's fee. The agent's fee is largely regarded as covering the negotiation stage of the booking. The agent is normally not responsible for security for the performer. Performers will normally safe-guard themselves by employing their own security or driver. For example, this could be a friend who is of an imposing stature who will be paid a small fee for simply attending the function.

From the Economic Impact Report the Group found:

• "There is an 'Informal economy' in the AE industry in the form of unlicensed and often unadvertised strip nights in pubs, clubs and other venues such as stretch limos. Many of these are legal under current licensing arrangements and so are not necessarily 'informal' economy. Under current licensing regulations it is not illegal for pubs to stage any form of AE, as their license does not stipulate this. There are many unlicensed operations taking place in hotels, and combining these with escort services, which affects the business of legitimate licensed AE venues. Specific operations within each city are difficult to quantify, but the characteristics are estimated as follows (care must be taken as some of these comments are anecdotal).
• In Aberdeen the industry estimated that there are four or five times as many unlicensed adult entertainment places as licensed ones. There was felt to be a need for more control over this. In Dundee the police reported that there are social clubs hiring strippers, for example football club function suites hired for private functions. There are also private clubs operating as public houses. It was estimated that there are around 9 premises that provide this type of entertainment on a regular basis. In Edinburgh the police report that there are occasional events such as mobile strippers and troops of male strippers in venues such as private clubs, miners welfare clubs and football supporters clubs in Lothian. These are not licensed premises, and are registered with the Sheriff rather than the licensing board. As a result the police have no powers of inspection. The police also estimated that in Edinburgh the market of pubs doing a lap dancing/striptease night a week is quite large, although were unable to put an exact figure on this. In contrast, in West Lothian it is a condition of an extended hours licence (after 11pm and usually given to most premises) that no AE is allowed. Strathclyde Police reports that there is little unlicensed activity in pubs in Glasgow as licensing regulations are strictly enforced. There are travelling strippers who operate in Scotland performing at one-off shows in private clubs and student unions. The police disapprove of these but they are not illegal. Additionally there are few problems of illegal non- EU foreign labour being used in Glasgow." (Economic Impact Report see Annex 5)

Smaller towns and villages

We gathered that it is fairly common to hire what the AEWG classed as adult entertainment performers for stag or hen nights in local pubs and community halls. The performer is accompanied by a minder, and the stage show often includes audience participation.

What are other countries doing to regulate the adult entertainment industry?

From the Reading Box and media search, it was easy to see that Scotland is not alone in trying to regulate the adult entertainment industry.

Queensland, Australia

In 2003 the Crime and Misconduct Commission ( CMC) were asked to review the adult entertainment industry in Queensland to address specific concerns including:

• Distinguish legitimate live adult entertainment from prostitution, allowing both to be regulated separately.
• Reduce negative impacts of the live adult entertainment industry on local communities.
• Eliminate opportunities for the exploitation of minors in the live adult entertainment industry.

Observation sessions were undertaken at 24 live adult entertainment sites across Queensland; 86 interviews were conducted with people in the industry, 33 of whom were owners/managers and 53 were entertainers. The CMC also consulted with other stakeholders e.g. the police; health; and licensing authorities in order to address the concerns.

The Commission found that the industry was largely unregulated and that a more "exhaustive, coherent and stringent approach" to regulation of the live adult entertainment industry was required to preserve community amenity and to reduce crimes such as illicit drug use or dealing, prostitution, and the sexual exploitation of those under 18 years of age. As a result, the CMC put forward 29 recommendations for government consideration. ⁶⁶

Ontario, Canada

In Ontario, Canada between 1994 and 1997, lap dancing was highlighted as a social problem in need of attention. Media coverage and legal decisions helped raise concerns of some women's groups and public officials who viewed it as harmful to the preservation of the family and others who argued it was harmful to the health and well-being of performers. Observations of strip clubs were made and interviews were undertaken by academics, and on receipt of a police complaint regarding a particular club where "indecent acts" were allegedly taking place, an undercover investigation took place to establish exactly what activity occurred. As a result, there was some debate as to whether lap dancing exceeded "community standards of tolerance in contemporary Canadian society", (the Canadian test for obscenity and indecency) under the Criminal Code of Canada. Whilst the decision from this particular investigation applied to Canada as a whole, and all Canadians are bound by the Code of Canada, it was decided that each municipality would be given the discretion to decide if lap dancing needed a bylaw. ⁶⁷

Birmingham, England

Closer to home, we noted that Birmingham City Council had set up a Lap Dancing Commission in respect of concerns expressed regarding venues in the city offering entertainment containing nudity. Several types of stakeholders were invited to join the Commission to give evidence and take part in the discussion including: Birmingham City Council Licensing Committee members and others from the licensing section; operators of adult entertainment venues; and representatives from the police.

Concerns noted by Birmingham City Council's Licensing Committee included:

• Proliferation, relating to concerns of the lap dancing market becoming saturated, forcing operators to look for alternative ways to raise money.
• Location of lap dancing venues.
• Litter of leaflets advertising lap dancing venues in certain areas of the city.

There was some discussion as to whether lap dancing should continue to be regulated under the public entertainment licensing regime, or whether entertainment containing nudity should be considered as part of the sex industry and licensed in the same way as sex shops and massage parlours. In an attempt to remain as part of the regulated industry not the sex industry, the operators representing the lap dancing industry made proposals for increased "self-regulation", drawing up a "code of practice" - Birmingham City Club Watch - which operators could follow at their discretion. The Code would outline best practice policies for dealing with issues such as advertising controls; underage performers and drinkers; misuse of drugs and alcohol; prostitution or soliciting; theft; and crime and disorder.

Two Group members attended a meeting of the Lap Dancing Commission, and the AEWG met with the Convenor. It was interesting to note the attempts in Birmingham to formulate policy on lap dancing under the Licensing Act 2003, very much as the AEWG is doing in Scotland.

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