Seventh Heaven raided by cops and immigration in Glasgow

Seventh Heaven on Elmbank Street was visited by law enforcement officers on Thursday night at around 11pm.

The Evening Times understands that immigration officers and cops swooped in on the property as part of Licensed Premises and Welfare visit.

Gia, a dancer who was present during the raid, said: “It was chaos, the girls were terrified. As soon as police entered the floor was cleared, dancers were kicked off of stage and out of dance booths, treated like naughty children rather than workers in their own workplace.

“No information regarding what was happening was given. We were required to stay put, and then individually interviewed by the police. “

She added: “They demanded personal information, including travel details. They begun databasing tattoos and piercings, keeping records of each one. We were not allowed to work while the police were there, which spanned the majority of the night, but were still required to pay House Fees. The support of the union enabled me to know my rights and the power it holds, to feel supported and to help guide others through the experience. We are workers, and we have rights. These fear tactics are unacceptable.”

United Voices of the World, an independent trade union organising strippers in London and Scotland, and sex worker charity SCOTPEP condemned the police raid. They say the raid intimidated workers, who were misinformed of their legal rights, and resulted in significant loss of earnings as dancers still had to pay the house fee.

Lydia, an organiser with United Voices of the World, said: “We were horrified to hear of this raid as it happened from a concerned Union member, and were able to provide advice and support as it happened. Sadly, many of the dancers did not have the same resources and many were pressured into interviews without being made aware of their legal rights. It is perfectly legal to work as a dancer in a strip club like Seventh Heaven, but it is the stigmatisation of sex work that has caused an invasive and ultimately useless raid, a raid that resulted in no arrests and significant loss of earnings for the workers. We know that the police think workers will not stand up to actions like this, that dancers are vulnerable. This is why, now more than ever, dancers need to unionise and realise their power as a workforce.”

Nadine Stott, chairwoman of SCOTPEP, said: “We have previously had assurances from Police Scotland that they were not conducting these types of raids on sex industry businesses as they could not guarantee it would not become an immigration raid. Those reassurances are now clearly out the window. Many migrants work in strip clubs and other areas of the sex industry in Scotland and these raids are frightening for them. It is not unknown for the police to threaten Romanian women in the UK sex industry with deportation, despite the fact that Romanian women have a right to be living and working in the UK. More generally, these raids inspire fear, and mean that if dancers ever needed to report abuse, they would hesitate to go to the police. SCOTPEP and UVW are calling on Police Scotland to halt these raids immediately. No dancer is illegal.”

Police Scotland said no offences were detected during the raid.