As Sex and Censorship’s Jerry Barnett has noted, “sex is an early warning signal for liberty.”
Responses to a Freedom of Information request show sex establishment licenses issued by councils dropped from 386 in 2013 to 256 in 2018.
A rise in internet pornography and changes in social attitudes are blamed.
One sex shop owner claims the internet has “killed” his business while the anti-male/anti-biology Women’s Equality Party said more needs to be done to change ‘attitudes’ of which feminists disapprove.
‘Demand for products’
The BBC England Data Unit sent Freedom of Information requests to all local councils responsible for issuing sex establishment licenses with 281 out of 327 responding to how many they had issued.
An adult magazine and DVD shop owner of 16 years has seen a decline in his business and said he serves no more than three or four customers “on a very good day”.
Huddersfield-based Michael Bray, 70, said: “The internet has killed my business. A couple of years ago business was ok.
“Some men came into the shop in disguise because they didn’t want to be recognised”.
Mr Bray said social attitudes may be changing but believes there is still a demand for his products.
“Men come in because they don’t want their wives to know what they are up to, or they don’t want to view this material on their computers at home because they have children.
“But people will always want to watch porn.”
READ: E-commerce, free online porn send German sex shop chain Beate Uhse into bankruptcy
Catherine Mayer, co-founder of the authoritarian feminist Women’s Equality Party,
saidlied: “Sexual entertainment businesses are built on the basis of exploiting young vulnerable women.“Big business has become squeamish about taking clients to a strip club because they understand the potential reputational damage.
“But we’ve still got a lot of work to do to change the wider attitude that women are somehow a commodity. And councils should consider whether its appropriate to grant licences that give men a safe space to act out their power over women.”
Instead, the Women’s Equality Party believes that the WEP and other hardline feminists should have power, including state power, over women and their permissible viewpoints on social issues. The party will punish those who transgress and intimidate dissenting voices.
