ONLINE: Whose Stirling is it Anyway?

Women and Strip Clubs

We want to amplify women’s voices so that all policies consider our experiences and needs.

Stirling Council is currently consulting on whether Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEVs), or strip clubs, should be licensed in Stirling. The council is asking whether these venues should be permitted at all and, if so, how many should be allowed.

FiLiA wants to ensure that the voices of women are heard here. Too often women’s experiences and perspectives are missing or ignored in public consultations and policy debates. We want to make sure that women’s views on strip clubs are heard by the policymakers and politicians responsible for deciding on potential licenses in Stirling.

There is a substantial body of local, national and international evidence highlighting the harms of strip clubs and the wider sex trade on women within venues. We also know that women and girls who live, work, study, socialise and move through the surrounding areas are also affected.

Earlier this year, FiLiA published important research confirming women's experiences of living near strip clubs in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Manchester. The report, Life near Strip Clubs: Women's Voices from UK Cities, found that many women reported feeling less safe, less welcome and less able to participate fully in public life when these venues were present in their communities.

Please join us for a women-only focus group to discuss the council's consultation and to share your views on what the licensing of strip clubs could mean for women and girls in Stirling. We want to hear what you think and we want you there.

The discussion will help inform FiLiA's response to the consultation and ensure that decision makers hear directly from women whose lives and communities may be affected. 

You can also submit your own response directly to the consultation at this link: engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/licensing-of-sevs.

The consultation closes at midnight on 20th November.

This focus group will take place on Sunday 1st November online at 4 p.m.

If you would prefer to speak individually rather than in a group to go through the consultation or for support with completing your own response, please contact Julie at womensassembly@filia.org.uk.

This is a FiLiA Women's Assembly Event.

Read more about the #NoMoreStripClubs campaign at filia.org.uk/no-more-strip-clubs.

Join the FiLiA Women's Assembly here for further events like this and to get more involved.