SEATTLE — You might think basic protections are a given at work but if you talk to licensed strippers in Washington you will hear a very different story.
They’re fighting to change the law and to pass a “strippers bill of rights” that would include new safety training, panic buttons to be installed and maintained, mandated security personnel and repealing a law that currently restricts adult entertainment establishments from having liquor licenses and full or partial nudity.
We continue our conversation with a college professor, a single mom, a campaign manager and an activist. These women went on the record to discuss what’s wrong in their industry and why they believe the state needs to make things right.
Kasey: There’s a perception that frankly strippers are stupid, that strippers are incapable.
Peach: When people hear the word sex work. They're just like, 'Oh, you're a prostitute?'
Recluse: I came away at the end of the night, looked at the money in my hands. I was like I should have done this a long time ago.
Madison: One of the fundamental flaws of the Washington industry is that we are treated as a commodity.
Joyce Taylor: Let's start with the fact that you're all licensed. This is a legal profession in Washington. So what are the conditions you currently work under that you are trying to change?
Madison: There is no policy, no regulation, no law, telling clubs, what sort of rights we have as contractors. We’re alienated and we're cut off from resources. And we're cut off from like basic human rights, like security and fair wage, and equitable treatment by management. And that's what makes the work hard.
Taylor: All of these dance clubs, the 11 that exist in Washington are fully supported by dancers, yes, they do not sell alcohol, it's not legal in Washington, so their full income is supported by dancers by the fees that we pay.
Kasey: So I paid $185 every night to work, I could show up whenever I wanted. But that fee was so different across different dancers, and especially dancers of color, the fees seemed so unpredictable. The club would register what you didn’t pay as back rent. I saw over many years how clubs would use that debt to control girls – to force them to work shifts they didn’t want to work – to force them to work with customers they didn’t want to work with.
Madison: There's a lot of room for racism, discrimination, playing favorites. And so our policy not only caps, house fees at $150, it also prevents dancers from paying more than they're taking home.
Taylor: What part of the legislation would increase your safety in terms of your health and the risks that you face now in the workplace?
Madison: So much. Even financial stability is a huge factor for safety. When we think about the risk for trafficking and the risks for physical assault and violence, those things are often linked and predicted by financial instability.
Kasey: There is accountability for clubs to show up. There are panic buttons in the VIP rooms (tighten) that we can actually reach. That the customer blacklist means something. We have more options and who we dance with, and that's going to inherently make us safer.
Madison: We are also decriminalizing portions of dancer conduct because, from the get pretty much as soon as we start working, we are criminalized and that's really disempowering.
Taylor: What parts of dancing are being criminalized?
Kasey: Even as simply as being unclothed, right? We are only allowed to be unclothed on the stage.
Recluse: Some clubs, when you're hired, they will say you have to get naked on stage. And so you are so you can get into trouble with the club for not getting naked, that then you have customers approaching you and trying to do things that they don't even know are against the law because this isn't common knowledge to people. So you're risking breaking the law constantly at every little turn.
Madison: When you're dancing on stage, you are welcome to take off your outfit completely. But then the moment that a customer comes up to throw money on the stage, you've broken the law.
Peach: Law enforcement in this town can hold that over our heads… we don't even know when we're breaking the law and when we're not because it's written so vague….
Taylor: How would alcohol be a game changer for dance clubs, which currently cannot sell alcohol?
Madison: It means that dancers are not the only source of revenue, it means that there's more agency oversight and making sure that things are safe, it means a more broader and more general population is attending.
Taylor: In your mind, alcohol changes everything, doesn’t it?
Peach: Yeah, absolutely. I think most dancers feel that way. It's often said that alcohol is prohibited in clubs in order to keep dancers safe. But I have never met a dancer that said that they prefer to work in a club that doesn't serve alcohol. Certainly not.
Recluse: It’s why you see so many of us go to Oregon.. because it’s general knowledge it is safer there…
Kasey: Every state does. Even Utah does. The reality is there is alcohol in clubs now. It’s just not regulated. They’re drinking outside and coming in.
Madison: With alcohol service, there is money for safety controls, and there's actual motivation to install those safety controls because it they could potentially lose their liquor license.
Taylor: What is the one thing that you want people to understand about what you do as a dancer that they do not get?
Recluse: No matter what people think there is a fact that certain women just can't get other jobs. That this is a last resort. And then the resort after that is working on the street. You put them in a strip club, you put them in a controlled environment where there are safety precautions, and we want better safety precautions.
Kasey: It is an avenue of self-expression and empowerment that could exist in a truly safe and inclusive manner. And the only reason it does not is because of the regulations and the laws and the stigma around.
Many of the strippers in Washington travel to Oregon, where they said they feel safer. Strip clubs sell alcohol and security is a given. We traveled to Oregon, to hear from club owners and dancers who said the laws there protect them in the workplace.
But the clock is ticking for a bill they're fighting for here in Washington. The proposal will die this week if it doesn’t come to the House floor for debate and pass by Friday.
Language around liquor was removed, leaving the bill vague even if it passed. Clubs would be allowed to apply for a liquor license.