Oct 15 • Jo Cox-Brown

Best Practice Guidance for Emerging Spiritual & Conscious Spaces & Sexual Entertainment Venues on Safety, Consent and Vulnerability

Spiritual spaces, can they go wrong?

There is a noticeable growth of spiritual or conscious spaces within nightlife, characterised by events that prioritise communal experience, self-expression, and unity over traditional consumption and excess.

This trend is driven by a desire for transformation, self-awareness, and connection, often incorporating elements of ritual, such as symbolic preparations and communal dancing, to create a modern spiritual experience within club and rave settings. Events like "conscious clubbing" aim to provide safer, more accepting environments that foster a sense of togetherness and liberation, appealing to those seeking more profound meaning and community in their nightlife experiences.

Key Characteristics of Spiritual Nightlife Spaces

  • Ritualistic Practices: Events are often framed as modern rituals, with symbolic preparations and ceremonies that aim to connect participants to a deeper sense of purpose and unity.
  • Communal Experience: There is a strong emphasis on moving from individual experiences to collective unity, fostering a sense of interconnectedness on the dancefloor through synchronised and unchoreographed movement.
  • Ritualistic Practices: Events are often framed as modern rituals, with symbolic preparations and ceremonies that aim to connect participants to a deeper sense of purpose and unity.
  • Safer Spaces: These events actively create environments that are perceived as safer and more accepting than mainstream clubs, reducing emphasis on excessive consumption and promoting self-expression.
  • Transformation and Liberation: Participants seek experiences that lead to self-awareness, a sense of liberation, and personal transformation, viewing the nightlife experience as a form of spiritual awakening.
  • Symbolic Elements: Costumes and staging can be highly symbolic, reflecting the collective identification with the event's spiritual or conscious ethos.

Where It Can Go Wrong

Last night, I was invited to one of these types of events. It was called Tantric Art Gallery: immersive, moving & sacred performance. As a nightlife expert, I often find myself in unexpected spaces, and I usually come with curiosity, openness and no judgment. I’ve studied Tantra before, so I was intrigued.

For those who don’t know, Tantra is an ancient South Asian spiritual tradition meaning “to weave,” integrating body, mind, spirit and even sexuality as pathways to growth. Done well, it’s about presence, weaving the sacred into the everyday.

But last night was badly run.

There were no consent practices. No trauma-informed facilitation. Women were treated as objects. Predatory behaviour was left unchecked. One moment, people were being challenged with triggering behaviours of actors; the next, artists were stripped bare performing sex acts with no warning, and in the next, the audience was told to “drop into their heart space.”  

It wasn’t Tantra. It was mismanagement dressed in spiritual clothing. And yes, I was triggered.

But it made me pause and ask: Is all triggering bad?

Because here’s the thing, triggers can become teachers. We can choose to recoil and walk away, or we can face the discomfort and ask: What is this showing me, and what can I build from here?

For me, that uncomfortable night became the seed of this blog. As we discussed this as a team this morning, we realised that this was becoming standard practice, and I was not alone in experiencing poor, unregulated practices in these types of venues. Whether it’s a poorly facilitated “sacred” space or a licensed Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV), everyone deserves to feel safe, respected, and able to choose.

Boundaries matter. Safety matters. Consent matters.

Best Practice Guidance

1. Consent at the Core
  • Consent must be the guiding principle of all operations. It should be explicit, ongoing, and non-negotiable.
  • Performers and customers must have the right to refuse touch, interaction or participation at any time without penalty.
  • Everyone should be informed of boundaries on entry, with clear signage and pre-event information.
  • Breaches of consent — verbal, physical, or otherwise — should result in immediate action, a warning and then removal if the warning isn’t adhered to.
  • Staff, from bar staff to cleaners, floor walkers, performers, and security, need training in consent culture and trauma-informed practice.

2. Safeguarding Performers and Staff
  • Performers and organisers are professionals, not commodities. Their dignity, safety, and rights must be protected.
  • All staff should be paid fairly, with transparent pay and no hidden fees or expectations of tipping.
  • Secure, private changing and rest areas should be provided for staff and performers.
  • Access to welfare officers or peer-support networks during and after the event.
  • Safe, anonymous channels for reporting harassment or exploitation.

Research insight: Occupational Safety in SEVs. Studies show many SEVs lack clear reporting systems or post-event support for performers, leaving them vulnerable to harm. Building in rest areas, safeguarding leads, and well-being check-ins reduces risk dramatically.

Consumers may be vulnerable or become vulnerable at any point in time and must be treated with care and compassion.

3. Protecting Customers and Reducing Vulnerability
  • Customers can be vulnerable too, especially in nightlife environments that blend intimacy, emotion, and performance.
  • Clear trigger warnings on all invitations, instructions and pre- and post-event information.
  • Responsible alcohol and drug service (where legal), with staff trained in vulnerability, consumption and aftercare awareness.
  • Clear conduct policies that are enforced consistently.
  • Safe transport links and information for getting home securely.
  • Trained welfare staff onsite to support anyone in distress or unsafe situations.
  • Venues should post their Safe Space Policy openly, stating that staff should intervene in harassment, all physical contact requires enthusiastic consent, and disrespectful behaviour will result in removal. Making these expectations visible works as it prevents harm and builds trust.

4. Building Partnership with Licensing Authorities
  • Trust and transparency between venues, regulators, and communities are vital.
  • Regular audits of safety and welfare policies.
  • Joint training on consent, welfare, vulnerability, anti-sexual harassment, VAWG, and domestic abuse.
  • Working with police, licensing teams, and safeguarding boards to ensure your event is legal and safe.
  • Community engagement to build understanding and reduce stigma.

Reference: Safer Clubbing Guide (Home Office). This national guidance shows how design, stewarding, and partnership planning reduce harm. Design choices, such as good lighting, queue layouts, sightlines, and crowd flow, have been proven to reduce harassment and assaults. These should be applied to SEVs and new conscious spaces. 

5. Creating a Culture of Respect
  • Policies are important, but culture is what people feel in the moment.
  • Managers must model respect and accountability.
  • Performers should be celebrated as professionals.
  • Customers should be educated through signage and messaging that reinforce boundaries.

Insight: Conscious Clubbing Study (Oxford Brookes, 2022)Research found that conscious clubbers felt safer when events included opening circles, orientation on boundaries, and post-event reflection spaces. This echoes what many trauma-informed practices recommend — prepare people before, and debrief after.
Jo cox-brown

How to Implement This in Practice?

The SAFE Framework. A simple model for organisers to follow:

S – Safeguarding: welfare staff, secure spaces, fair contracts, clear trigger warnings

A – Accountability: consent policies, clear conduct rules, reporting channels

F – Facilitation: trained, trauma-informed facilitators and performers

E – Environment: lighting, layout, signage, quiet zones, safe transport routes

10-Point Self-Audit Checklist

Before your next event, ask yourself:
  • Do we have trained welfare staff onsite?
  • Are quiet or rest spaces available?

  • Are consent rules and boundaries clear to all?
  • Is there a safeguarding lead present?

  • Have we provided trigger warnings and access info?

  • Are reporting mechanisms anonymous and safe?
  • Are staff trained in vulnerability and aftercare?
  • Are performer/staff contracts transparent and fair?

Write your awesome label here.

Why it matters

Newly emerging conscious venues that combine sexuality with spirituality, and SEV's, often sit at the intersection of nightlife, gender politics, and public debate.

But the truth is simple: whether it’s yoga, pilates, conscious ceremonies, Tantra, striptease, or cabaret, these spaces must be safe spaces.Spaces where boundaries are upheld, performers and leaders are respected, and customers know the rules. Spaces that prove nightlife can be curious, sensual, and liberating, without being exploitative.

Let’s unlock culture after dark, together.