Leamington clubs in sex licence decision

A second Leamington Spa venue has applied for the right to provide ‘sexual entertainment’, provoking a mixed response from locals and students.

Amara, an entertainment venue which markets itself as a ‘‘playground for the extravagant’’ situated on Court Street in South Leamington, joins Shades, a ‘‘Gentleman’s Club’’ just south of the river, in seeking a ‘‘sexual entertainment licence”, which would enable it to host lap-dancing and pole-dancing events seven days a week.

Shades, which opened in 2008 and describes itself as ‘‘the first and only club of its kind in the town’’, was last year denied the license, a statutory requirement for sexual entertainment venues under the Policing and Crime Act of 2009. Warwick District Council’s licensing panel, which previously ruled that Shades should not be given such a license, will hear the cases for both Amara and Shades on March 15th.

Currently, both venues may only host events amounting to ‘‘sexual entertainment’’ 11 times a year, and no more than once a month. To be ‘‘sexual’’ the entertainment ‘‘must reasonably be assumed to be provided solely or principally for the purposes of sexually stimulating any member of the audience whether by verbal or other means’’, according to legislation.

Moves to dramatically increase the availability of sexual entertainment in Leamington Spa have been met with a mixed response. Sarah Graham of Warwick Anti-Sexism Society told the _Boar_: “as well as being harmful to society’s view of women as a whole, there is evidence linking lap-dancing clubs with up to 50 percent increases in rates of sexual assault and violence against women in the area surrounding these venues. I hope the council will prioritise gender equality and women’s safety when making their decisions.”

Others, however, support the move. One annonymous student, who has visited Shades on a number of occasions rejected the idea that sexual entertainment in Leamington is necessarily dangerous.

“It’s better for men or women to go a private club where they can be entertained as opposed to causing trouble by trying to get cheap thrills in bars that are just social venues’’, he argued.

A member of Shades management staff, however, told the Boar: ‘‘It’s their opinion, but we’ll have to wait and see.’’

He would not rule out the possibility of applying again in the future if the application is rejected, adding ‘‘we don’t know what we’d do just yet’’.