XX CLOSED S1 2BS Spearmint Rhino, Sheffield

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

An article by the UVW union regarding the undercover filming of dancers:

Women's Equality Party covertly filmed strippers to protest legal clubs (United Voices of the World, 23/04/19):


"UVW members, including a growing number of strippers, are appalled by the latest tactic of the Women’s Equality Party (WEP) in their misguided campaign to abolish strip clubs for the imagined benefit of the women involved. In Sheffield and Manchester, men hired by the WEP covertly filmed nude and semi-nude dancers in legal strip clubs.

In their self-appointed mission to ‘save’ dancers, the WEP continues to put women’s livelihoods at risk, while ignoring the explicit wishes of the women involved. As a feminist trade union, UVW is extremely alarmed by this practice. We will be seeking legal remedies for our members, and offer solidarity to all dancers affected by this harmful behaviour.

Filming people undercover, without explicit and direct consent and in clear violation of their right to privacy, is not just immoral — it is unlawful. Sharing what could amount to ‘revenge porn’ of naked women, obtained with the explicit aim to undermine and harm them, constitutes harassment and misuse of private information under UK law."

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

The campaign organised by the dancers to defend Spearmint Rhino from attempts by the 'antis' to get it closed has a Facebook page:

SOS Sheffield Solidarity (@saveourstripclubsheffield)

"Mission

To amplify the voices of Sheffield Strippers and keep Sheffield's sole remaining strip club open!


About

Show solidarity and help keep Sheffield's only licensed stripclub open! It's closure would lead to a loss of many jobs, for predominantly women but also door, dj, bar, management and cleaning staff. Many of whom have children and dependants."


Campaign website: https://sites.google.com/view/sossheffield/home


I'm pleased to confirm that the petition in defence of the dancers at the club which I linked to in an earlier post has managed to obtain over 800 signatures!

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

Dancers from Spearmint Rhino in Sheffield and their supporters will be gathering outside Sheffield City Hall at 11:30 am today, to protest about the unauthorised filming organised by 'feminist' groups (see previous posts) which took place in the club:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2256837614579493/


The SEV licence renewal hearing was originally scheduled for today, but has apparently been postponed.

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

The following article published in the Sheffield Telegraph last Friday gives a little more background to this morning's protest:

Spearmint Rhino strippers to continue with protest (Sheffield Telegraph, 07/06/19)


From the article:

"[S]trippers recently spoke out about the abuse they faced online, the impact of the precariousness of their jobs and how their license had gradually become stricter.

Heather Watson, 23, is a student and stripper at the club. She said without her job she fears she may have to quit her masters degree and leave Sheffield.

'The precariousness is really taking its toll on everyone. Every single year there is this feeling of "maybe we’re going to be shut down" but this year it’s felt more likely.

'I think people are becoming more understanding of the industry but the campaigns against us are becoming more vicious.'"

[TonyN]

Not Buying it and their proxies NBI sheffield and a Gemma Aitchison are busy throwing the dancers under the bus. Gemma is busy with the violence is attributed to objectifcation but she does not cite any research. Unfortunately she has blocked the strip the illusion twitter feed so I cannot challenge her from that. Starting to notice more that the antis are blocking me. Unless I have made a ban list? Almost excited at this.

[Victor23]

BBC News article


YouTube clip

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

Starting to notice more that the antis are blocking me.

That's because they know that their claims don't stand up to scrutiny, and that their 'evidence', based as it is on doctored data and mere anecdote, has already been debunked in the public realm. With the tactics, rhetoric and behaviour they employ, the 'antis' (in particular, the SWERFs) remind me increasingly of 'hard' Brexiteers!

[TonyN]

They seem more than willing to attack the dancers and supporters but the moment a credible factual discussion starts they gaslight and they either deflect the discussion or block it. Not buying it were busy retweeting an ultra right wing christian group in the last couple of days. As some point need to find out if they have been funding anything.

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

Not buying it were busy retweeting an ultra right wing christian group in the last couple of days. As some point need to find out if they have been funding anything.

"My enemy's enemy is my friend"*

*Especially if they provide generous funding.

[TonyN]

Had the same discussion with Dr Gemma Ahearne who is an ex dancer. The feeling is the right are funding this just hard to prove.

[pleasure_seeker]

Some good news. Licence renewed.

Reported in various news outlets including the Guardian:
Sheffield strip club keeps licence despite opposition by 'feminist' coalition

[Victor23]

Various quotes from the article that caught my eye:

'Kulkarni emphasised the objection was never against individual workers. “We recognise that a number of dancers in clubs such as Spearmint Rhino are survivors of sexual abuse and sexual violence. We support and will always support clients who identify themselves as sex workers.”'

Over the past ten years, I've met many dancers and only one said that she had experienced sexual abuse in her younger days.

'Heather Watson ... said it had been a difficult year for dancers across the country, who had been “subject to objectification, dismissal, revenge porn tactics” and “ignored by feminists claiming to rescue us”.'

'The dancers said being secretly filmed had affected their mental health, and could not be described as a feminist act.'

' One objector spoke of the ageism she had faced and said campaigners had been described as “ugly” and called “anti-feminist and old hags”.'

'Not Buying It was criticised by some of the dancers during the hearing for refusing to meet and talk to them.'

[TonyN]

Been tweeting with Heather this morning. The meeting was to run for 4 hrs and 3 of those were taken up by the antis. Certainly everything on Twitter reads like not buying t shot themselves in the foot with the entrapment video. The experience gained in Sheffield needs to be replicated in Scotland and Bristol. Lessons learned need to be in a tool kit that is easy to replicate. My brain is running in 15 different directions at the moment but when the battle dies down will certainly engage with dancers who have been at the centre of this.

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

'Kulkarni emphasised the objection was never against individual workers. “We recognise that a number of dancers in clubs such as Spearmint Rhino are survivors of sexual abuse and sexual violence. We support and will always support clients who identify themselves as sex workers.”'

Meera Kulkarni (Chief Executive of the Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre) ought to be thoroughly ashamed of herself, for attempting to leverage the experiences of individual dancers without their consent and to publicly make assumptions about their personal histories, in order to advance her own narrow ideological agenda.

'Not Buying It was criticised by some of the dancers during the hearing for refusing to meet and talk to them.'

Standard modus operandi for the radfems, for whom strippers are not autonomous adult human beings, but rather mere grist to their ideological mill.

' One objector spoke of the ageism she had faced and said campaigners had been described as “ugly” and called “anti-feminist and old hags”.'

Boo hoo!

I saw a post about this one on Sasha Rakoff's timeline, which made me chuckle.

[Victor23]

The names of nine Spearmint Rhino strip-club performers filmed by private investigators should be revealed, a judge has ruled.

Guardian article

[Victor23]

Details of the judgment

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

The clarify, the above PDF is just the ruling on the request for anonymity by the claimants, not the outcome of the case itself.

[TonyN]

Interesting to read how the whole business has affected the mind set of a councillor in a positive way. Fact based decision making? Could this be the future?

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics ... ed-2444336

[Victor23]

Sheffield Spearmint Rhino dancers drop secret filming case

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

That's disappointing news, but the fact that the case was brought against Not Buying It at all has brought their underhand activities into the open.

Of course, the question of where the money came from to pay for the undercover filming still hasn't been answered...

[cockedHat]

Apparently, Spearmint Rhino has given up in Sheffield, and surrendered its SEV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-s ... e-54527355
https://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/ssnews.h ... ecies_6928

[Victor23]

The article under the Spearmint Rhino one is about La Chambre Swingers Club whose operators has "taken a long hard look at La Chambre and like most clubs it make financial sense to remain closed as we lose less money than we would if we opened. We don't see the point in paying for something that we are not using, so have decided not to renew our lease on our current building while we are unable to open, which will continue for the next 6 months under the current government guide lines."

I fear that SEVs will follow suit. And what's the point of renewing an expensive licence if it's not going to be exercised for so long.

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

Well, well - the radfems have managed to gain leverage in Sheffield from COVID-19! It's not like they could possibly hope to win on the basis of relevant facts alone, is it?

Another demonstration that their gender hate ideology is essentially parasitic...

[The Great Smell Of Brute]

Thinking about it, perhaps they should include a close-up of SARS-CoV-2 on their publicity materials in future - it's certainly proven more effective than any radfem over the last 10 years!

[Victor23]

I've only just come across this September 2020 article

"Officers found three occasions of dancers hugging customers at the end of performances, which is against the licence rules that state there must be no physical contact between performer and viewer except for placing money in clothes and a customary kiss on the cheek or a brief handshake ... They also found problems with customers attempting to touch dancers and not keeping their hands by their side, but where this did happen dancers stopped their performance or door staff intervened.

Officers also raised issues with dancers brushing customers legs although said it appears to be accidental, and they said it was difficult to see some dances as they were performed at the far side of booths."