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Abstracts: March 2003
March 4, 2003
Ministers
defeated on pub rules
According to this article:
The government has been defeated in the House of Lords over new pub laws that critics say will allow unaccompanied children of any age into lap dancing clubs and nightclubs. The Lords voted by 184 to 111 to add a specific clause to the government's Licensing Bill, barring children under-14 from bars, pubs and clubs unless they are with an adult. Existing laws mean that if a licensee agrees, a child aged 14 or over can enter a pub or nightclub as long as they do not consume alcohol. The vote is the latest defeat inflicted over the bill, which has yet to be debated by MPs.
March 5, 2003
Spearmint Rhino could be shut
Evening Standard
Andre Paine
According to this article:
Following surveillance by undercover officers between March 2001 and Feb. 2002, police are claiming that Spearmint Rhino on Tottenham Court Rd. is being used as a front for prostitution. Police say that girls made offers of one-on-one dancing at £1,000 an hour with the "intonation of prostitution" and offers of drugs, including cocaine. Officers claim naked dancers "straddled seated male customers" and "simulated having sex on their groins", touched themselves and fondled men.
Spearmint Rhino is owned by Californian, John Gray. It's licensees are Philip Whitehouse, Simon Warr and Kenny Favel. it was granted a six-month probationary licence in Oct. 2000 and by Feb. 2001 there were already police concerns about the dancers conduct and illegal touching, including grinding their naked groin against customer's laps, nipples placed in customer's mouths etc. In May 2001 the club agreed to draw up its own code of conduct for dancers and clients, which included a strict no-touching rule, however the rule was allegedly ignored. Dancers told police they were forced to offer "extra services" to make money because there were too many girls working in the club. Undercover police recorded illegal activity in Feb. 2002, including drunkenness, offers of prostitution (£500 for half an hour) and drugs.
- http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/londonnews
/articles/3668188?version=1
March 6, 2003
Brothel claim denied by boss of club where dancer was 'groped'
Irish Independent
According to this article:
Gardai are objecting to the license renewal of the Barclay Club in Dublin on the basis of the fitness of the character of the licence holders, Pineton Inns Ltd. Testimony in court on March 5th indicated that during a routine inspection on Oct 26, 2002, officers saw three male customers and three exotic dancers engaging in sexual acts.
"One woman was putting her clothes back on and another was topless and dancing in front of a man sitting on a chair. On another chair, a man was sitting back as a completely naked woman leaned over him, her legs astride his and her knees resting on the seat. He was touching her breasts, buttocks and genital area as she gyrated above him to the beat of loud music. Her back was turned to the gardai at this point, but as one shone his torch she sat down on the seat, covering her breasts and genitals with her hands while also picking up her clothes. ..the third man, Paul Greenhalgh (24), in the room (was) "half lying, half sitting" on the chair as the woman (Lauren Langley) danced above him. One of his hands was moving in a caressing motion along her breasts and buttocks, while the other was 'in her genital area'."
Gerry Harrington, general manager denied he was providing sexual services for customers. club's licences on the basis of the fitness of the character of the licence holders,
Mr Harrington was declared bankrupt in 1994 and could not therefore be a director of the company. It is owned by his brothers Donal and John and another man.
- http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3
?ca=9&si=929712&issue_id=8849&printer=1
March 06, 2003
Lap-dancing club offered sex to undercover police
Times
Lewis Smith
According to this article:
An undercover police operation found Spearmint Rhino dancers stripped naked for customers, performing simulated sex and fondle themselves intimately in spite of a "no touching" rule. Two undercover officers claim they were offered sex with girls at £500 for 30 minutes in a private room.
Another undercover officer who visited other Spearmint Rhino clubs in Uxbridge in West London, Harrogate in Yorkshire, and Birmingham said he had seen girls touching themselves, groping men and simulating oral sex. Chief Inspector Ken Withers, who visited the Tottenham Court Road club told the court that what he saw went far beyond the conditions of its licences.
Testimony included descriptions of dimly lit booths crowded with male customers while girls, most of them naked, danced inches from them or encouraged contact. Officers witnessed a naked white female sitting astride a male customer with her legs open and around his legs as she simulating having sex with him, moving her groin back and forwards against his. "The man was pushing himself up against her. She twisted forward and put her breast into his mouth. The male leant forward and started kissing her breast and she allowed him to continue."
The club's manager, Andy Jones said he had been told by lawyers that as long as there was no intercourse, the girls were not breaking the law.
The case is being prosecuted by Gerald Gouriet for the Metropolitan Police which is applying to revoke the club's drink and late-opening licences. He said that after the visit in 2001 the club promised to improve standards but an undercover operation showed that by February 2002 the situation was even worse. He said two undercover officers were offered sex by a girl who masturbated in front of them and that in another case they were offered private rooms at £500 for half an hour.
Police visited Spearmint Rhino nine times, the first five openly from March 2001 to February 2002, and the next four undercover from February to July 2002. Mr Gouriet argued that the club's licensees, Philip Whitehouse, Simon Warr and Kenny Favel, were "not fit and proper people to hold the licence".
Camden Council has already revoked the public entertainment licence, but the club has appealed.
Original source URL: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4484-601568,00.html
March 6, 2003
Lap-dancing club's licence withdrawn
RTE
According to this article:
The Barclay Club in Dublin has had its licence withdrawn after a court was told that illegal sexual activity had taken place there. Judge Michael Connellan, Dublin District Court, found that this went beyond any definition of dancing.
- http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0306/club.html
March 6, 2003
Dublin lapdancing club licence revoked
U.TV
Press Association
According to this article:
The Barclay Club, Dublin had its licence withdrawn after a judge ruled illegal sexual activity occurred at the club. Judge Michael Connellan accepted the evidence of two police officers who told the court they saw a naked female dancer being groped by a man and that this went beyond any definition of dancing. The judge said the couple was engaged in an illegal sexual act which was against club rules, and that there was inadequate supervision. Club manager Gerry Harrington denied that he was providing sexual services for customers.
His solicitor said that he would appeal the decision. He said the officers had seen a `singular incident` that was `contrary to the rules of the club` and something over which the manager had no control.
March 6, 2003
Lap-dancing club loses licence over illegal sexual acts
unison.ie
According to this article:
Dublin District Court has suspended the licence of the Barclay Club after finding that employees at the premises were engaged in illegal sexual acts.
The court heard that Gardai walked in while a client was fondling a naked dancer in a private room at the club. The customer said the dancer had stumbled and he reached up to catch her, but the judge rejected this excuse. The club's owners, who denied running a brothel during the District Court hearings, said they were disappointed with the ruling and would appeal.
http://www.unisontravel.com/breakingnews/
index.php3?ca=9&si=31608
March 6, 2003
Gardai saw man 'groping' lapdancer
Irish Times (Subscription to archives required.)
March 6, 2003
Lap dancers offered cops ‘prostitution’, court told
Camden New Journal
Richard Osley
According to this article:
Police have applied for the Spearmint Rhino lapdancing club to be stripped of its licence after performers made offers of prostitution to undercover police. According to police, dancers “simulated sex” in private booths, in contravention of a ‘no touching’ rule. They said that the private booths were a “free-for-all” and that they had warned the management in the past against “brothel-keeping”.
Undercover officers told the court they had been handed £1,000 for the investigation observing several lap-dances.
Gerald Gouriet, for the police, gave graphic examples of dancers allowing intimate acts to be performed on them by customers.
John Saunders, for Spearmint Rhino, said that the descriptions of the dancers were very vague.
Camden dropped a separate case in December after health and safety concerns were resolved.
Up to ten days of evidence was expected to be heard before the court decides whether the licences should be revoked.
March 7, 2003
Lapdancing club loses licences over sex act
Irish Times (Subscription to archives required.)
According to this article:
A District Court judge yesterday refused to renew licences for a Dublin lapdancing club after he accepted Garda evidence that they saw a naked performer being groped by a customer. (Note: Barclay Club-see previous articles)
March 7, 2003
Poles apart on Fantasy Bar's move
Edinburgh Evening News Online
Brian Ferguson
According to this article:
The Fantasy Bar lapdancing club in Edinburgh plans to move to new premises. Residents are protesting based on fears the neighborhood will be spoiled.
Iain Ogilvie, club boss wants to move to a higher-profile location following a landlord dispute. About 100 customers a night attend the Fantasy Bar. Dancers are said to earn upwards of £300 a night. Customers pay a £5 entry fee, which includes a private dance. They are charged for additional dances.
John Louden, of solicitors Dundas and Wilson lodged the licensing application on behalf of Mr Ogilvie and Fantasy Bar Scotland Limited.
In 2002, the Evening News revealed that Charlie McKinlay, the owner of the Tollcross building, had been trying to evict the Fantasy Bar over £20,000 in rent arrears he was allegedly owed.
March 7, 2003
Vice link in woman's killing
Irish Independent
Anita Guidera
According to this article:
Lindita Kukaj, a 23 year old Albanian woman, who was brutally strangled to death in Sligo on February 25, 2003 may have been under pressure to become involved in prostitution. Her body was found in a flat close to Dublin town center after a Garda tip-off. Two Albanian men have been questioned by investigators. Forensic tests were conducted and a link between the woman and at least one Albanian involved in the prostitution trade in Dublin was being investigated.
Lindita converted from the Muslim faith to Roman Catholicism as a teenager. She had been suffering anxieties which she would not share with her friends out of fear of endangering their lives.
March 8, 2003
A touch too much
Irish Times (Subscription to archives required.)
The number of lapdancing clubs in Ireland is growing, but when does titillation turn into exploitation?
March 8, 2003
Club's bid for table dancers
Evening Post
Kevin Peachey
According to this article:
Nottingham councillors have fought a costly legal battle against a lap-dancing club, Teasers, planned for The Meadows. They are now faced with an application by the owners (VIP Leisure Nottingham Ltd.) of Isis, to give part of the club over to table-dancing.
David Keetley is the managing director of the firm, based in Peterborough. The application will be heard by the city council's licensing committee on March 17. Former city council leader Graham Chapman has spoken out against the club stating it is something not needed in Nottingham and would be a sign of desperation if it were allowed.
March 8, 2003
Really, it's just innocent fun, says Dublin lapdancer who earns thousands a week
Irish Independent
Gemma O'Doherty
According to this article:
This article describes Eleanna Simoez, a 25 year old Portuguese lapdancer testifying in the Barclay's Club court case, who has "traveled the world and mastered several languages" and who claims to be "relishing every second of her jet-set lifestyle".
Simoez claims to earn several thousand euro a week and to be able to take exotic holidays, purchase designer clothes and to fly back and forth between Dublin and her home in Portugal where she is finishing a university degree. She lives rent-free in a north-Dublin house with eight other dancers, with her own room, a house-mom who tidies up. A driver picks the women up, takes them to work and drives them home.
Eleanna works as a nude lapdancer at the Barclay Club and earns €100 for a 15 minute private dance - half of which she returns to the club. She claims that the Irish men look but never try to touch, unlike other nationalities she has danced for.
The article goes on to describe the Gardai inspection of Barclays in which 3 couples were found to be engaging in sexual activity (see above).
Quote:
'My job is so misunderstood. Nobody's forcing me to do anything. Nobody gropes me or touches me. The women who work here are strong, intelligent women who want to make a living from dancing. There's a hell of a difference between lap-dancing and prostitution, which I think is the worst thing a woman can do. It is an intimate act which involves giving your soul as well as your body. What I do when I dance for a man is the same as what a woman does when she shows her body at the beach, except I get paid for it."
There is an increasing concern in Britain by police and organisations who work with women involved in the sex industry that some lapdancing clubs there are merely a legal front for prostitution and that women are being trafficked in from Eastern Europe.
March 9, 2003
High price of lapping it up
Irish Independent
Opinion
The author states that the refusal to renew the music and dance licences for the Barclay club is a step in the right direction and that lapdancing clubs are places where young women play with fire by making money out of men's lust.
It questions whether anyone would want someone they love to become a lap-dancer. The justification of "sexual liberation and personal freedom" are called "half-baked notions" and the relationship between dancers and punters or dancers and employers is termed "sleazy and unequal." The author suggests that lap-dancers should be pitied for making a living dancing naked for drooling drunks.
The writer points out that many lapdancers are poor and most are foreign. The Barclay Club did not have any Irish dancers because, as it's operations manager pointed out in court "it was policy to accept only foreign girls as most customers wanted the fantasy of seeing exotic dancers from abroad".
The writer believes that those fantasies are racist and sentimental and are as much about power and domination as about sex, adding that there would be "greater public unease if local 'girls' were being publicly degraded by boozy men drooling all over them in lap-dancing clubs, or fondling them for money. It is easier to imagine that these are foreign sluts who are willing to cavort naked for money and for the benefit of living in Ireland."
March 10, 2003
Escort agency to recruit students
According to this article:
A new Lincolnshire escort agency, Sill-o-Ette has been created by a former manager of an Australian escort agency. The company is focusing on recruiting in Universities and believes students make particularly good partners for businessmen and women because they are able to offer "intelligent" conversation. Earnings are a minimum £50 per hour, needed by students due to expensive tuition fees. School officials have warned students to be wary of these jobs.
- Naqvi, Shahid. "Escort agency to recruit students". Birmingham Post. March 10, 2003. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk?objectid
=12718570&method=full&siteid=50002
March 10, 2003
UK Government launches support programme for victims of sex trafficking
Anti-Slavery International
Press Release
"The UK Government launched a pilot project to provide support to victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The six-month pilot project, launched on 10 March, will provide women with short-term shelter, medical and psychological help, translators and advice from the relevant authorities.
"Anti-Slavery International welcomes this move", Anti-Slavery International Director Mary Cunneen said. "However, it is crucial that support is given to all those identified as a victims of trafficking, irrespective of the work they were forced to do or whether they co-operate with the authorities or act as witnesses in trials. Support must be centred on protecting the safety and rights of the person trafficked."
Under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, a stop-gap measure makes trafficking for prostitution illegal with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison for the trafficker. In January, The Sexual Offences Bill was introduced into the House of Lords which will make trafficking for sexual exploitation an offence; it is due to come into force later this year.
At least 700,000 people are trafficked worldwide each year. Through deception, coercion and the threat or use of violence they are forced into slavery as domestic servants, into restaurant work, agriculture, manufacture and sexual exploitation. Under UK law, there is still no penalty for trafficking beyond sexual exploitation, nor are there protection measures."
March 10, 2003
UK offers shelter for prostitutes in bid to catch sex traffickers
Ananova
According to this article:
A six-month pilot Home Office scheme will offer shelter to trafficked women and girls in return for co-operating with officers. The scheme will offer support and counseling, however the women will not automatically be allowed to stay in the United Kingdom. A small number of them would be accommodated in safe houses provided by Eaves Housing.
"We need to strike a fair balance between maintaining effective immigration control and also caring for these women while they are in this country. "With the introduction of these measures we will be able both to deal with them compassionately and assist in convicting the traffickers that brought them here." - Beverley Hughes, Home Office Minister
The Home Office has also published an internet 'toolkit' for agencies who deal with illegal immigrants and trafficking victims. New measures in the government's Sexual Offences Bill include more comprehensive sex trafficking offences, with maximum penalties of 14 years imprisonment.
March 12, 2003
Intervention Raised in the Commons Chamber
Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South): On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
I am sorry to interrupt the flow of the debate, but this is the first opportunity that I have had today to raise the matter, although I advised the Speaker of it this morning.
On 4 March I received an answer from the Northern Ireland Office concerning the granting of work permits for the Movie Star café in Belfast and the contacts that the Department for Employment and Learning had with Work Permits (UK) on the application made for a group work permit. The reply stated:
"When processing work permit applications for Northern Ireland the Department for Employment and Learning applied the same criteria as used in Work Permits (UK). As no guidelines existed in respect of pole dancers, it was only after querying this aspect with Work Permits (UK) that DEL"-
that is, the Department- "treated the application in question on the basis of an entertainment application."
This morning's mail included a response from the Home Office, which states:
"Work Permits (UK) was not consulted by the Department of Education and Learning on the issue of permits for pole dancers. Work Permits (UK) does not issue work permits for overseas nationals to work as pole dancers."
The reply goes on to make it plain that even for dancers, they would have had to be of a very high standard before a work permit would be granted. I therefore believe that, intentionally or unintentionally, someone has been misleading me and, as the matter is now on the record of the House, the House has been misled. I seek your guidance as to what action could be taken.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that this is the first that I have heard of the matters that he raises, which he clearly considers to be very serious. I suggest that in the first instance he has a word with the Table Office and sees what its reaction is to the problems that he is experiencing. He can then decide where and how to pursue the matter from there.
March 13, 2003
Heroin dealer wanted to buy wife's freedom
This Is Hertfordshire
According to this article:
Ahmet Seren was convicted at Croydon Crown Court of conspiracy to supply heroin and sentenced to 10 years. He said that he had turned to drug dealing because he needed money to buy his Romanian wife out of prostitution. He said he owed the Turkish mafia £10,000 as the final installment of a £30,000 payment for his wife whom he claimed to have bought out of a six-month prostitution contract in Cyprus. His wife said she had been kidnapped by human traffickers in Romania and forced into prostitution in a lap dancing club.
- http://www.thisishertfordshire.co.uk/news/barnet/
display.var.706244.index.heroin_dealer_wanted_to
_buy_wifes_freedom.html
March 13, 2003
Clear view for limo lap dancers
Manchester News
Carl Palmer
According to this article:
Councillors in Blackpool are planning to introduce morality laws to stop lap-dancing in stretch limos. They will require the limos to have clear glass and all passengers to wear seatbelts. There are already no touching and no full nudity rules in lap-dancing clubs.
March 14, 2003
Ministers Rocked By Lap Dance Row
The Daily Mirror P. 14
Exclusive by Maurice Fitzmaurice
Clash over 17 work permits
According to this article:
Belfast MP Martin Smyth accused Security Minister Jane Kennedy and Beverly Hughes of telling "two completely different stories" about work permits given to eastern European lap-dancers who worked at Belfast's Movie Star Cafe last summer and then mostly "disappeared" when their 12 week work permits ran out. Immigration officials visited the club in Dec. 2002 and found four women who said they worked for the Movie Star Cafe. Three of the four women have left the country while the fourth is seeking political asylum.
March 14, 2003
Spearmint Rhino makes £1.75m
Evening Standard
Jonathan Prynn and Adrian Gatton
According to this article:
The Spearmint Rhino lap-dancing club is earning millions of pounds from high-earning City traders.
In 2001, the first full year after opening, the club on Tottenham Court Road made a pre-tax profit of more than £1.75 million from sales of £7.8 million. By comparison, a busy City pub could expect to take around £20,000 in a good week.
In 2001, accounts show that the entire company, with smaller clubs in Birmingham and Sheffield, made a pre-tax profit of £2.3 million on turnover of over £10 million.
Legal action has been taken against Spearmint Rhino and it is under threat of closure. It is paying huge legal fees to fight council challenges and the police. Plans to enter the London stock market are said to have been shelved.
It became the venue of choice because it offers full nudity rather than topless dancers. Lap-dancers pay the club £80 a night "rent" after which all their takings are their own. With up to 300 dancers on a busy night that can mean £24,000 for Spearmint Rhino before it even opens its doors.
March 14, 2003
Contradictory Responses from Ministers
Joint Press Statement from Rev Martin Smyth MP and Esmond Birnie MLA
Lead to Calls for Independent Inquiry
After Rev Martin Smyth MP received contradictory written answers from NIO Minister Jane Kennedy, and Home Office Minister, Beverly Hughes, regarding a work permit issued to the Movie Star Cafe, Botanic Avenue, Belfast, the South Belfast MP, and South Belfast MLA, Esmond Birnie, have issued the following statement:
"What started out as legitimate concerns about introducing an immoral and degrading activity to Belfast, have evolved into a much more major issue which brings into question the conduct of Government Departments. The work permit which was originally issued in July 2002 to bring in foreign girls from some of the most disadvantaged parts of Europe and the world to work at the Movie Star Cafe, clearly should not have been issued. In fact, a recent letter to Belfast City Council from Work Permits UK clearly states that 'any such permits issued by this Department would have to be obtained fraudulently.' However, instead of the Government acknowledging how this happened, we are now witnessing a public squabble between the Department of Employment and Learning and the Home Office."20
"The replies which have been given by Jane Kennedy from the Department of Employment and Learning, and by Beverly Hughes from the Home Office, are in blatant contradiction. They cannot both be right and one is therefore giving false information. This is all the more serious given that both Ministers have done this through written answers which have been published in Hansard, and one has obviously therefore misled the Commons on the official record. Someone has been economical with the truth."
"We have run out of patience and have lost all confidence that the Government itself will resolve this issue. We know that he has other pressing matters on his plate at the moment, but it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to sort out which of the Departments of his Government is giving a bogus account to public representatives. If he cannot or will not, the only other means of reaching a satisfactory conclusion will be through an outside body conducting an independent inquiry."20
"At this juncture, it is also time that all those who can offer any information regarding this debacle come forward. That includes Carmel Hanna who was the SDLP Minister for the Department of Employment and Learning when the original permit was issued. We have not wished to personalise this issue but prevarication and a refusal to answer questions has only succeeded in further muddying this issue. If the then Minister knew nothing about this, then she has nothing to fear."20
"This affair has dragged on for too long and needs clarity. People in Northern Ireland deserve to know the truth of what the Department of Employment and Learning was doing. A dubious club has been assisted in its operation by Government guidelines being breached. This is a scandal and it has threatened the reputation of the UK Government with respect to international obligations to oppose trafficking of vulnerable women. Only by finding out the truth of what happened can we learn the lessons necessary to prevent something similar happening again."
For more information contact Robin Ramsey (for Rev Martin Smyth) on 07740 461604 or Esmond Birnie on 07703 184459
The contradictory written answers are as follows:
4 March 2003
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions the Department of Employment and Learning had with Work Permits UK on the application made for a group work permit for lap dancers for the Movie Star Cafe in summer 2002. [98036]20
Jane Kennedy, NIO Minister for Department of Employment and Learning:20
When processing work permit applications for Northern Ireland the Department for Employment and Learning applied the same criteria as used in Work Permits (UK). As no guidelines existed in respect of pole dancers, it was only after querying this aspect with Work Permits (UK) that DEL treated the application in question on the basis of an entertainment application.20
12 March 2003
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Work Permits UK were consulted by the Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning regarding work permit applications in respect of pole dancers; whether Work Permits UK make a distinction between applications for (a) pole dancers and (b) lap dancers; and whether an application for pole dancers should be treated on the basis of an entertainment application. [102432]20
Beverley Hughes, Home Office Minister for Citizenship and Immigration:20
Work Permits (UK) was not consulted by the Department of Education and Learning on the issue of permits for pole dancers. Work Permits (UK) does not issue work permits for overseas nationals to work as pole dancers.
All work permit applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the work permit criteria. In order to qualify for a work permit under the business and commercial arrangements the job is expected to require an individual to have either a UK equivalent degree level qualification, a Higher National Diploma (HND) level qualification which is relevant to the post on offer, a HMD level qualification, which is not relevant to the post on offer plus one year of relevant work experience or three years experience of using specialist skills acquired through doing the type of job for which the permit is sought. This should be at National/Scottish Vocational Qualification level 3 or above.
In order to qualify for work permit under the arrangements for entertainers the individual must have performed at the highest level and have established a reputation in their profession or be engaged to perform or do work which only they can do. An application for a pole dancer or lap dancer would not qualify under either of the above categories, and would be refused on the grounds that the skills criteria had not been met.
March 14, 2003
Lapdancers' permits questioned
U.tv / Press Association
Two senior Ulster Unionists have called for an independent inquiry into the issue of work permits to lap-dancers at a south Belfast club.
According to this article:
Rev Martin Smyth MP and Esmond Birnie MLA have called for an independent inquiry into the issue of work permits to lap-dancers at a the Movie Star Cafe in Belfast after receiving contradicting answers from government ministers in response to written questions in the House of Commons.
They claim Jane Kennedy, NIO Minister for Employment and Learning, said she had consulted with the Home Office's Work Permits UK, while Beverley Hughes, said the Citizenship and Immigration Department was not consulted by DEL on the issue.
Rev Smyth said "The work permit which was originally issued in July 2002 to bring in foreign girls from some of the most disadvantaged parts of Europe and the world to work at the Movie Star Cafe, clearly should not have been issued...In fact, a recent letter to Belfast City Council from Work Permits UK clearly states that `any such permits issued by the department would have to be obtained fraudulently'."
March 14, 2003
Unionists Call for Inquiry Over Lap-Dancer Permits
ic.Derry.com
According to this article:
Rev Martin Smyth MP and Esmond Birnie MLA have called for an independent inquiry into the issue of work permits to lap-dancers at a the Movie Star Cafe in Belfast after receiving contradicting answers from government ministers in response to written questions in the House of Commons.
They claim Jane Kennedy, NIO Minister for Employment and Learning, said she had consulted with the Home Office's Work Permits UK, while Beverley Hughes, said the Citizenship and Immigration Department was not consulted by DEL on the issue.
Rev Smyth said "The work permit which was originally issued in July 2002 to bring in foreign girls from some of the most disadvantaged parts of Europe and the world to work at the Movie Star Cafe, clearly should not have been issued...In fact, a recent letter to Belfast City Council from Work Permits UK clearly states that `any such permits issued by the department would have to be obtained fraudulently'."
- http://icderry.icnetwork.co.uk?objectid=
12736809&method=full&siteid=66002
March 15, 2003
Mobsters rule in the European capital of vice trade
Gangs of Scotland: the Kosovo connection
Daily Record
According to this article:
Europe's main distribution centre for vice girls is Kosovo and some victims of human trafficking are being brought by organised criminals to Scotland. Sources told the Daily Record that many are brought first to London and then distributed elsewhere in the UK.
Daily Record reporters travelled to Kosovo in 2002 to investigate the vice trade and went on patrol with the UN police force vice squad, based in Pristina. It was immediately clear that the Albanian mafia controlled the trade. The reporters accompanied police as they checked lap-dancing bars. In one club they found Russian girls who had "proper documentation."
- http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk?objectid=
12737756&method=full&siteid=89488
March 15, 2003
UUP Politicians Blast Movie Star Cafe 'Cover-Up'
South Belfast News (P. 2)
According to this article:
Ulster Unionist Esmond Birnie accused the Department of Employment and Learning of a 'cover-up' regarding work permits issued to lapdancers at the Movie Star Cafe in Belfast.
Birnie and MP for South Belfast Rev Martin Smyth spent nine months trying to establish who was responsible for issuing a controversial block permit to 17 Eastern European 'pole dancers' last July. Birnie says he believes DEL are involved in a 'cover-up'; that they have been 'economical' with the truth and that direct rule minister Jane Kennedy has 'covered' for her department.
"Party colleagues and I are losing patience with the ministerial and department stance of the Department of Employment and Learning," blasted Esmond. "It appears they made a serious mistake in agreeing the work permits for the 17 lap dancers back in July."
"Having dug themselves into a hole, that department which is now run by Jane Kennedy rather than Carmel Hanna, has been digging itself further into a mess.
"A simple admission of error at the start of this process would have satisfied me but now I fear a departmental cover-up."
The DEL and the Home Office have issued contradictory statements regarding the issue. In a written answer to a parliamentary question set down by Rev Martin Smyth, Home Office Minister Beverly Hughes confirmed that her department was not consulted by DEL about the permit.
Last week DEL Minister Jane Kennedy, again in a written answer to Rev Martin Smyth, claimed the Home Office had been consulted.
"This is a clear and unequivocal case of two government departments contradicting each other," said Rev Smyth.
March 15, 2003
Top garda orders lap dancing crackdown
Irish Examiner
Cormac O’Keeffe
According to this article:
Garda
Assistant Commissioner, Kevin Carty, has ordered a crackdown on lapdancing clubs abusing the licensing laws and a team of detectives is being formed to clean up the trade. The team is believed to include members of the National Immigration Bureau. The team will investigate links between the clubs and prostitution and other exploitation of lap-dancers by employers. A ruling earlier in the month denied the renewal of Barclay Club's music and dance license after it ruled that an illegal sex act took place at the club. The Barclay club is appealing the ruling.
Gardai have been concerned for some time about the operation and management of lap-dancing clubs in Dublin. In Dec. 2002, an indefinite suspension of work permits for lap-dancers was issued after investigations of complaints by the dancers. A number of lap-dancing clubs have been targeted by Garda Special Branch due to suspected links with the INLA and the Real IRA.
The Ruhama Women’s Project, which works with prostitutes, want lap-dancing clubs closed.
March 15, 2003
Albanian and Russian mafia involved in prostitution
The Daily Record
According to this article:
Scottish police have discovered a dozen eastern European women working as prostitutes in private Edinburgh flats. Detectives are concerned that Albanian and Russian mafia are involved. A series of raids on Glasgow saunas revealed a number of foreign nationals working, although police said there was no evidence there were illegal immigrants. A police source said the girls are from Albania, the Czech Republic and Russia and are not coming to work for themselves, but that they are brought by crime gangs luring them with the promise of paid work and then forcing them into prostitution. Trying to establish their true identities has been difficult because they are on visitor visas and often use false names.
Many girls work in private flats with links to owners of saunas or lap-dancing clubs. A police source said that they knew of at least one Edinburgh man who travelled to Romania to recruit girls for his lap-dancing club.
In 2002, Daily Record reporters travelled to Kosovo to investigate the Albanian mafia gangs involved in human trafficking. They allegedly are now interested in Edinburgh's sex industry, which is apparently seen as an international center.
Options to police Edinburgh's sex trade are currently under consideration. They include setting up Scotland's first dedicated vice squad.
- http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/?objectid=12737753&
method=full&siteid=89488/
March 17, 2003
Setback for lap-dancing club after indecency rap
Glasgow Evening Times
Gerry Braiden
According to this article:
Spearmint Rhino, who have plans to open one of their lap-dancing clubs in Glasgow, were in court on indecency charges following an investigation by Scotland Yard's vice squad of their club in west London. Chief Inspector Ken Withers expressed 'grave concerns' because lapdancers appeared to allow clients to touch them, sometimes intimately. They were ordered to put one responsible person in charge of its licence instead of the three current licensees.
Sandra White, MSP, said the case backed up what they have been saying about lapdancing clubs all along.
Mairead Tagg, Women's Aid, said there was "no way in the world" they wanted these people coming to Glasgow.
March 17, 2003
IT professionals make the 'sauciest' networkers
HR Gateway Editorial
According to this article:
Research commissioned by Pizza Hut of 500 employees in different sectors indicates that IT professionals are most likely to have talked sex over a business lunch. 11% admit networking in lap-dancing clubs. Lawyers tend to network on the golf course and employees in the financial sector favor networking at sporting events.
March 18, 2003
IRELAND CALLING; Gentlemen Prefer Lapdancers!
According to this article:
The objection by Gardai to the renewal of the Barclay Club (lapdancing) licence prompted this article. Judge Connellan was determined that two experienced Gardai had witness an illegal sexual act in the club and he refused to renew the club's licenses for music or dancing. The club is appealing the decision and remains open for business.
The Barclay Club was the 7th lapdancing club to open in Dublin (the first Irish lapdancing club was "Lapland" which opened up to six years prior.) The author visited the Barclay Club in 2002 and the article describes his experience at the gala opening. He contrasts the "gentlemen's clubs" of 10 years ago to the lapdancing clubs today. The dancers are foreign - "If you have a beautiful girl dancing for you, then she opens her mouth and you hear a broad Dublin accent it might take away from the fantasy" -Barclay club owner.
Quote from article: "if exclusivity and voyeurism is what being a gentlemen is all about, let's just be glad that chivalry is dead."
Quote from article:
"What is lap-dancing? Girls in loosely fitting clothes dance around a vertical pole. The girls will tell you they are entertainers - primarily erotic dancers - and the dance is a really the first half of a strip show. Stripping isn't mandatory but experienced entertainers find that audience members - almost exclusively male - are more inclined to tip topless performers. Is a vertical pole required for every lap-dance? No. A vertical pole helps but it is not an essential piece of equipment. Individual audience members may seek individual attention from a lapdancer by engaging the performer for a one-on-one dance. A fee is agreed. The dancer straddles the customer whose hapless lap gives the ritual its name...
She dances on or around the customer. She may remove her garments for ease of movement and may occasionally brush against the customer. The customer is requested to remain seated and maintain his hands in a static position under his thighs...
In the event that the customer becomes aroused by the close proximity of a gyrating semi-clad female body, he is advised to maintain gentlemanly comportment at all times. Owners of lapdancing clubs assert that no contact is allowed between either party. Occasional contact between the lapdancer and customer is, they insist, purely accidental."
The Barclay Club includes the "Clarendon Suite" upstairs where customers pay 400 for a special 30-minute one-to-one dance.
- Shouldice, Frank "IRELAND CALLING; Gentlemen Prefer Lapdancers!" Irish Voice. Mar 18, 2003. Vol.17, Iss. 11; pg. 16. Source: ProQuest document ID:469552061
March 25, 2003
SA sex trafficking widespread
BBC
According to this article:
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reports that South Africa is the regional centre of a sex trafficking ring of women and children and that local syndicates, global Chinese triads and Russian mafia are involved. They are calling on governments to make human trafficking a criminal offence and provide training for officials. The report was based on 232 interviews with victims and traffickers from 11 countries, gov. officials, police and media. Malaiwian businesswomen play a major role in selling women and girls. Some are taken to the Netherlands where they are sold to Nigerian traffickers for $10,000 each.
Eastern European and Thai women are also being trafficked by international criminals to work in brothels in South Africa. In Malawi European sex tourists recruit girls and boys from holiday resorts. "In Europe, the children are sexually exploited in private homes, and are sold to paedophile rings."
March 26, 2003
Slaves in Soho
The Guardian
Ros Coward
OPINION
According to this article:
Violent gangs have taken over the UK sex trade - an unacknowledged result of intervention in the Balkans.
Human trafficking and violence dominate the UK's sex industry. Scotland Yard's vice squad estimates that 70% of off-street sex services in Soho are run by foreigners, including gang members from countries like Albania who have infiltrated the £12m a year industry using impoverished women mainly from eastern Europe to undercut going rates. Police say trafficked women are now a "predominant feature" of Soho's off-street trade. Estimates suggest several thousand may enter the UK each year. Simon Humphreys, head of Scotland Yard's vice squad fears this will increase. "So long as men in the UK think it's acceptable to use these women, the criminals will supply them."
Quote:
"This is a shocking subjugation of human rights akin to slavery." Although new sexual offences legislation will make prosecutions for trafficking easier, the punishments won't reflect the seriousness of the crime. Anti-slavery International says: "Human trafficking for the sex industry is not the same as pimping, nor is it the same as people smuggling. This is enslavement, subjugation, people kept in captivity and abused in extreme ways." -Simon Humphreys, head of Scotland Yard's vice squad
The article goes on to give details of recent press articles regarding trafficked women. They include information about "Natasha", a 15 year old Romanian girl who gave evidence against a pimp and the recent prosecution of two Albanians for trafficking, rape, indecent assault and drug possession involving 16 year old Romanian, "Anna" who was sold at the age of 12 and trafficked to London.
The complexity of prosecuting people trafficking is explored. Difficulties include transnational networks, and the disparities of poverty and wealth between western and eastern European countries.
The writer expresses incredulity with society's complacency about sex trafficking and indifference to the lives of prostitutes and proposes the theory that political indifference may be due to the intervention in the Balkans.
March 30, 2003
Cops Block Dirty Dancing
Sunday Mail
Brendan Mcginty
According to this article:
A bid to reopen the Fantasy Bar in Edinburgh is expected to be blocked by police. The Fantasy bar moved from its original location after landlord problems and is attempting to relocate to the former Walker's nightclub. Police have issued a damning report asking that the license application is thrown out. Less than a month ago Adrian McPherson resigned as director of Fantasy Bar (Scotland) Limited. A charge of assault against him was dropped after Crown witnesses failed to appear. Another lapdancing club, the Liquorice Club is due to open this week and will be opened by "glamour model Jordan".
March 30, 2003
Crackdown on Ulster's sex industry
The Sunday People
According to this article:
A crackdown by the Assets Recovery Agency will target Northern Ireland's multi-million pound sex industry.
Agency chief Alan McQuillan has made the offensive against loyalist and republican terrorists his number one priority. The Organised Crime Task Force identified
prostitution and pornography
as a priority in 2001. Another was the growing number of escort agencies advertising on websites. An example was given of one site listing more than 40 escort services in Belfast, complete with phone numbers. Police intend to go after porn barons and pimps. One figure is known to be running a sex ring - flying in English prostitutes and using the profits to generate money for major drug deals.
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