NUM’s response to Edinburgh City Council’s decision to implement a nil-cap on sexual entertainment venues
1 April 2022

We are exceptionally disappointed to hear that Edinburgh City Council has agreed to implement a nil-cap policy on sexual entertainment venue licences, which will result in the closure of strip clubs across the city.

This decision will displace hundreds of sex workers from their workplaces into spaces with less regulation, and thereby less safety, as well as poverty.

Evidence presented by United Sex Workers to Edinburgh City Council demonstrated the vital role that sexual entertainment venues play in helping to keep sex workers safer:

“Dancers have repeatedly emphasised their choice, not only to work within the clubs but how strict security & regulations enable them to enforce their consent when working. One dancer says, “we have cameras in every area and our security is paramount.”

This is a decision that has not been made with the interests of sex workers in mind – despite them being the people most affected by this decision. At a time when we are entering a cost of living crisis, it is particularly troublesome that Edinburgh City Council have put hundreds of performers out of a job. There have been no proposals put forward to support the performers who will now lose their income, their ability to work in a safe and regulated environment, to effectively unionise, and to assert their rights as workers. No person’s moral stance on sex work or stripping should be able to remove this. It is, as United Voices of the World have described it, “an act of cruelty.”

The continued dismissal of sex workers in discussions which impact their lives above anyone else constitutes a form of violence. It removes their autonomy, ignores their expertise on their own experiences, and places morality over reality. Sex workers are routinely disempowered across society to shape policy and law that will affect their safety and access to rights and justice.

United Sex Workers, as part of United Voices of the World, have argued that such a decision violates the Equality Act 2010 through its disproportionate impact on women. They intend to launch a judicial review of the decision on these grounds, and we hope that Edinburgh City Council will reconsider this dangerous decision.

We urge Edinburgh City Council to review the wealth of evidence provided by sex workers on harms such a policy will cause and agree to a meaningful dialogue with the community.

If anyone has been affected by this decision, NUM and United Sex Workers are available to provide support.