Regulating Strip-Based Entertainment: Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy and the Ex/Inclusion of Dancers’ Perspectives and Needs

Abstract

This article showcases a research, dissemination and impact study on the striptease industry that explores why key stakeholders (dancers) are excluded, and ways that inclusion in policy development is achievable. This form of erotic work has undergone increased attention from policy and regulatory officials in recent years with the introduction of a new licensing process as venues are categorised as Sexual EntertainmentVenues. The article will demonstrate how community and campaign group voices were heard over that of the dancers themselves, who were not consulted in the process of the legislative change. However, the article shows how small but significant interventions into policy development by direct work with stakeholders (here Licensing Committees and officers) can make steps towards an inclusion of dancer welfare and safety issues. Finally, we propose a set of principles that can ensure dancer and sex worker voices are included in policy consultation and decision making to ensure evidence-based policy making.

Men Who Pay for Sex and the Sex Work Movement? Client Responses to Stigma and Increased Regulation of Commercial Sex Policy

“…However, protest plays only a marginal role in movements orientated toward cultural change (1992: 12). The stigma attached to sex work constrains sex workers from becoming political actors (Lopes, 2006; Hardy, 2010a; Sanders et al , 2014). Similarly, men in this study discussed the barriers to participating in sex work policy debates in terms of stigma and lack of legitimacy: No punter's in a position to put his head up and say hold on a minute, this is not .…”

Reimagining Sex Work Venues: Occupational Health, Safety, and Rights in Indoor Workplaces

“…Sex workers are too often left out of the discussions that impact their lives. Yet, as seen in the innovative work of Empower Thailand, sex workers are strategic partners to improve health and rights and are the experts in their own work and needs [81,82]. Including sex workers should be an integral part of all phases of research and intervention, including design, planning, implementation, and evaluation.…”

Exploring the relationship between strip clubs and rates of sexual violence and violent crime

“…Logically, strip clubs—in which women, primarily, perform for the sexual pleasure of male customers—represent an extreme form of sexually objectifying workplace environment. Media reports and qualitative research with strip‐club performers suggest that sexual violence—particularly, unwanted touching by patrons, sexual coercion and harassment by patrons or other employees, and pressure by management to engage in paid sex acts—are common experiences among strip‐club performers (Baker, 2012; Joyner, 2017; Maticka‐Tyndale, Lewis, Clark, Zubick, & Young, 2000; Sanders, Hardy, & Campbell, 2015; Sweet & Tewksbury, 2000; Wesely, 2002).…”

“…Additionally, research with, and anecdotal accounts from, strip‐club performers provide insight into unique club characteristics that may increase risk for violence. For example, research with strip‐club performers in England and media reports from Atlanta, Georgia, suggest that private rooms may provide opportunities for patrons to assault performers (Joyner, 2017; Sanders et al, 2015). Performers in England expressed safety concerns when alone with patrons in private rooms or booths intended for lap dances, and they have called for the removal of doors or curtains that limit ability for others to see and intervene when assaults occur (Sanders et al, 2015).…”