Sex club blasted for ‘exploiting the worst aspects of human nature’

A newly reopened sex club in Edinburgh is under fire for promoting “the same dehumanising trade” as brothels and lap-dancing venues.

The After Dark Swing & Kink Club is using former office space on Bankhead Industrial Estate for “multiple playrooms, a cinema, kink and BDSM areas”.

Although the club claims it does not involve prostitutes, the Institute’s Simon Calvert said: “Calling it a swingers’ club doesn’t alter the fact that they are commercially exploiting some of the worst aspects of human nature and putting women at risk”.

Prostitution

Dr Sasha Rakoff, Chief Executive of Not Buying It, argued that the club would “be full of prostituted women because not enough non-prostituted women are going to go”.

The club’s planning application, which has not yet been approved despite already operating, claimed it would “diversify and vitalise” the employment zone.

A decision on the building’s use is set to be made in the beginning of December, on the same day a court reviews the City of Edinburgh Council’s ban on strip clubs.

Leeds

Last year, it was announced that the UK’s first legal red light district would be scrapped, following years of complaints from local residents.

A ‘Managed Approach’ to prostitution was introduced in Holbeck, Leeds in 2014, allowing prostitutes to operate without fear of arrest between 8pm and 6am.

The zone was paused in March 2020 due to the pandemic, and Leeds Council said the decision to retire the scheme followed a “significant” reduction in the number of prostitutes working in the area.