The Two Pigs in Cheltenham, which hosts Eroticats lap dancing during race events, will ban the entry of lone women when they turn into a sexual entertainment venue.
When the Two Pigs submitted an application for the renewal of their Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence in October, licensing officer Phil Cooper outlined all incidents that had taken place on the premises since the previous licence was granted. One of these incidents was a report of prostitution.
Following an investigation, this was found to be a malicious complaint from someone who had been thrown out of the venue. But this hasn’t stopped Eroticats from banning women who turn up alone.
The Two Pigs’ solicitor confirmed that “lone women were not allowed on the premises unless they were performers.” He claimed that this was to mitigate “any risk of came and disorder”, in essence, to reduce the risk of prostitution on the premises.
At a borough council meeting last week, Cabinet Member for Development and Safety, Andrew Mckinlay, was asked if the Licensing Committee and council agreed with this alleged risk and the conflict of this decision with the council’s public sector equality duty.
He said, “the Licensing Committee did not concur with the supposition that unaccompanied women are likely to be prostitutes when entering the establishment of Two Pigs… the committee reminded the representatives of the Equality Duty and not displaying any discriminatory practices or treatment towards women.”
Chelt Fems, a Cheltenham based feminist group, said “we were shocked to hear that the Two Pigs had proposed to bar single women from the pub because they through they were likely to be prostitutes. So it is a relief to hear from the council that they will not condone such discriminatory practices.”
The Two Pigs declined to comment on the ban.
