A dispute over “pole fitness” has pushed a support group for women suffering abuse to withdraw from an event aimed at ending violence against women.

The London Abused Women’s Centre will not take part in this week’s Take Back The Night event, as the committee organizing it is considering a performance from The Pole House, a fitness studio that offers pole fitness classes, at the event.

“We are concerned about this. We feel it ignores violence against women,” said Heather Wharram, program manager, London Abused Women’s Centre.

“We feel that in the vast majority of cases, in strip clubs, women are objectified and exploited. Women in the sex trade are victims of abuse.”

Pole fitness is an activity with origins in pole dancing, common in strip bars. The Pole House also offers other fitness classes, such as aerial circus, yoga and chair dancing, according to its website.

The debate at the committee centred around whether pole fitness is body and sex positive and empowering to women, she added.

“We have an alternate view. It cannot be divorced from its context, its history,” said Wharram.

“This is a feminist event and pole dancing is not an act of feminism, it is opposing feminism. We will not solve women’s suppression by dancing on a pole, it will not happen.”

The purpose of Take Back the Night is to raise awareness and end sexual violence against women. It takes place Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Victoria Park.

A final decision has not been made on whether to allow the pole fitness demonstration, said Jane McGregor, executive director of Sexual Assault Centre London, who called the London Abused Women’s Centre’s exit premature.

But if it does, it may demonstrate women taking what has been an activity linked to adult entertainment, and reclaiming it as empowering, she added.

“It is sad this is taking away from Take Back the Night. We are sister agencies, we all do great work, valuable work. Women go back and forth between our services,” said McGregor.

Annalise Trudell, manager of education with the sexual assault centre, worries the rhetoric around opposing pole fitness has become “dogmatic,” cutting off important community debate, she said.

“This has become entrenched in politics and that is not what this is about. No decision has been made but they took a firm stance and it is creating divisions,” she said of the London Abused Women’s Centre withdrawing support.

“We can have a different perspective. We should come together for Take Back The Night and show our support for all women.”

London Abused Women’s Centre and Sexual Assault Centre London both sit on the Women’s Event Committee that organizes Take Back The Night.

“This is about a woman’s choice, a woman’s decision. They may feel empowered,” by pole fitness, said McGregor.

This debate mirrors a larger one ongoing among feminists, about women and the sex trade, said Barb McQuarrie, community director at the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University.

“We have to ask who is in control,” when discussing women in the sex trade, she said.

“We have to respect women’s choices and if a woman chooses to earn her living through sex work, we need to respect that and understand the context in which it is taking place.”

McQuarrie acknowledged that many sex trade workers may be exploited and objectified, meaning it is not truly their choice, but feminism must ultimately be about support for women.

“This is a difficult, important debate. This divide runs through the women’s movement. It is very current, very polarizing.”

ndebono@postmedia.com

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IF YOU GO

What:Take Back the Night

When:Sept. 15

Where:Victoria Park

Time:Gathering starts at 5:30 p.m., rally at 6:45 p.m. and march begins at 7:30 p.m.

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ONLINE DISCUSSION

Check out the Facebook post about the pole-fitness demonstration, and the subsequent discussion:

https://www.facebook.com/events/196927227388673/permalink/211628895918506/