Editing Lap dance (section)

====Scotland====
In 2005 [[Tom McCabe]] [[Member of the Scottish Parliament|MSP]] set up the Adult Entertainment Working Group, an advisory body within the [[Scottish Government]], to investigate the legislative issues involved in a proposed lap dancing ban in Scotland. At that time, lap dancing clubs in Scotland were licensed under Section 41 of the [[Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982]], which covers general entertainment licenses, and licences in Scotland could not be refused on the basis of the nature of the entertainment in itself.<ref name=WSP>{{cite web|title="Adult entertainment" / Lap Dancing|url=http://www.womenssupportproject.co.uk/content/lapdancing/204,172/ |publisher=Women's Support Project|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> The working group, headed by [[Linda Costelloe Baker]], consisted of academics, lawyers and politicians, and had a working period from April 2005 until April 2006. It commissioned the [[market research]] organisation [[Ipsos MORI]] to examine the public's attitudes towards adult entertainment,<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Attitudes Towards Adult Entertainment|url=https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/553/Public-Attitudes-Towards-Adult-Entertainment.aspx|publisher=Ipsos MORI|date=1 June 2006|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> completed site visits and took evidence from a variety of witnesses. Respondents to the group's consultation included the [[Church of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Adult Entertainment Consultation: Official Response|url=http://www.actsparl.org/media/71708/or%20cos%20-%202005%20adult%20entertainment%20-%20sep%2005.pdf|publisher=Church Of Scotland Church And Society Council|date=28 September 2005|author=Morag Mylne|access-date=8 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308213805/http://www.actsparl.org/media/71708/or%20cos%20-%202005%20adult%20entertainment%20-%20sep%2005.pdf|archive-date=8 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The group reported to Scottish ministers on 25 April 2006.

The group concluded that lap dancing venues are a form of "commercial sexual exploitation...which encompasses [[pornography]], [[Cybersex|internet sex chat rooms]], [[Phone sex|sex phone lines]], [[Escort agency|escort services]], prostitution, [[Sexual slavery|trafficking for prostitution]], [[peep show]]s, lap dancing, [[Pole dance|pole dancing]], [[Table dance|table dancing]] and [[Striptease|stripping]]".<ref name=Hubbard>{{cite report|title=Encouraging sexual exploitation? Regulating striptease and "adult entertainment" in the UK|url=https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/3777|first=Phil|last=Hubbard|date=2008|publisher=Loughborough University|pages=22&26|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> It recommended reviewing the licensing of lap dancing venues and proposed national guidelines to prevent performers from touching or being touched by customers, ensuring that activities are visible at all times, and introducing a minimum age of 18 for everyone involved.<ref name=BBC/><ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2006/04/24135036/0|title=Adult Entertainment Working Group - Report and Recommendations: Volume 1|author=Linda Costelloe Baker|date=25 April 2006|publisher=The Scottish Government|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> A prominent voice of opposition to a lap dancing ban was [[exotic dancer]] [[Veronica Deneuve]] who set out to try to involve the stripping community in the discussion to inform such legislation.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Report seeks sex industry 'rules'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4942096.stm|work=BBC News|date=25 April 2006|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> The [[International Union of Sex Workers]] said that the "recommendations are flawed and would be extremely detrimental to workers and operators in the industry".<ref>{{cite press release|title=Trade Union Members Reaction To Scotland's Adult Entertainment Working Group Report|url=http://www.iusw.org/gmb/press-releases/10-may-06/|publisher=International Union of Sex Workers|date=10 May 2006|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>

The Scottish Government accepted a number of the recommendations, but it rejected the idea that licensing boards should be able to determine whether full nudity is appropriate in given locales. It also rejected the idea of a compulsory one-metre no-touching zone between dancer and customer, suggesting that this would be unenforceable. It did, however, propose to enable licensing boards to consider nude dance venues as a separate class of venue.<ref name=Hubbard/> No legislation directly followed the group's report. However, the report informed the statement of licensing policy of many licensing boards across Scotland on the introduction of the [[Alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom#Licensing law in Scotland|Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= Licensed to thrill|author=Stephen McGowan|url=http://www.journalonline.co.uk/Magazine/58-8/1012938.aspx|date=19 August 2013|journal=Journal of the Law Society of Scotland|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>

In 2013 the Scottish Government and carried out a consultation on the regulation of "[[sexual entertainment venues]]".<ref name=WSP/> This, in combination with the AEWG's 2006 report, paved the way for the [[Scottish Parliament]] to introduce licensing reform for lap dancing<ref name=Hubbard/> as part of the [[Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015]]. This came into effect in 2016 and requires local authorities in Scotland to set out individual policies with regard to the licensing of lap dancing clubs.<ref>{{cite news|title=New air weapon licensing laws to be introduced next year|url=http://www.thenational.scot/news/new-air-weapon-licensing-laws-to-be-introduced-next-year.6077 |date=7 August 2015|author=Martin Hannan|newspaper=The National|access-date=9 March 2016|quote=New rules on the licensing of “sexual entertainment venues” such as lapdancing clubs are also introduced in the Act, with local authorities required to set out their individual policies.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|at=Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2015/10/part/3/crossheading/sexual-entertainment-venues/enacted |title=Sexual entertainment venues|website=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>