The presence of pop-up strip clubs at Cheltenham is making women feel “threatened and intimidated” at one of Britain’s biggest race festivals, the justice secretary has said.
Alex Chalk, the MP for Cheltenham, challenged the local council to stop granting licences to so-called sexual entertainment venues (SEVs).
Despite opposition from women’s rights groups and others, Cheltenham borough council granted an SEV licence in January for during the festival this week and races in November.
Chalk said he supported the festival, which is not connected to the venues. He pointed to a 2021 survey by the local authority that found 75% of women and girls in the area felt unsafe in the evening and at night in Cheltenham’s town centre during race week.
“I am frustrated because the local council have made clear that they are not persuaded by the arguments that there is a problem here. They refuse to see there is a women’s safety issue here and I think that leaves them very much behind the times,” Chalk said.
“Arguments about the moral aspect may have been relevant 10 years ago but the world has moved on and the key thing now is clearly the need for women to feel safe.
“My argument is simple. Stop granting these licences. The council say they have no choice, but the fact is that if they want to listen to the voices of women who say they feel unsafe then they could.
“Women feel threatened and intimidated and the atmosphere at Cheltenham becomes menacing. This is not the way that half the population should be made to feel.”
During the dates when races take place, the clubs are operated in Cheltenham by Eroticats. The Guardian was told there was no one available to comment when it contacted the company.
Martin Horwood, a cabinet member at Cheltenham borough council, said: “The minister is wrong to suggest the council can ban sexual entertainment venues during race week. A legal loophole allows for ad-hoc pop-up sexual entertainment venues that are entirely unregulated and therefore a much greater public safety risk.
“Until the government deals with that loophole, licensing SEVs is obviously the best way to avoid unregulated SEVs that put more people at risk, including performers.”
Simon Wheeler, a councillor for the Liberal Democrat-controlled authority, said when the licence was approved in January: “While the government consider this an acceptable and legitimate business, I would far sooner see this run on a regulated basis rather than go to an exempt business where we have no control.”
Heather Binning of the Women’s Rights Network said the group had been concerned about the Cheltenham festival for some time. “The fact that women are being provided as a commodity in SEVs during the racing makes life more unsafe for local women and girls.”
Others suggested banning the clubs would not make women any safer in Cheltenham during the festival. Amelie, a representative of the Sex Workers Union and a stripper who has worked in the town, told the Lead that the link between gender-based violence and SEVs should not be confused.
“Criminalisation empowers people who are dangerous, especially dangerous clients,” she said. “It puts all the power back into their hands.”
