How does approval of strip club help Eastbourne’s women?

I fully endorse Jane Schulze’s letter that appeared on this page on October 18.

I am a member of Eastbourne and District Soroptimists and we were appalled to learn about the granting of the licence for a full nudity strip club in Eastbourne.

As Soroptimists, we aim to help transform the lives and status of women and girls by advocating for equity and equality and creating safe and healthy environments.How does a strip club in the centre of Eastbourne help us to achieve our goals?

It is difficult to understand the rationale behind the granting of such a licence and the proposed strip club does little to promote Eastbourne as a desirable place to live, work and visit.

In fact, it is likely to help create an unfavourable, seedy reputation for the town.

It also goes against Eastbourne Borough Council’s Equality and Fairness Policy that states that: “All individuals living within our boundaries should have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and all those who live, work and visit our areas should feel welcome, valued, safe, respected and included.”

How “valued, safe and respected” do performers in a strip club feel?

With a growing concern, both nationally and locally, about the exploitation of vulnerable people this approval does little to support the work being undertaken by local agencies to help individuals including the police’s Discovery project and Stop the Trafik.

Seemingly more focused on financial gain rather than the well-being of our residents and the people who work here, this new approval by the Council is a totally retrograde step and should be overturned.