Washington State Considers Protections for Adult Dancers

Lawmakers in Washington state are considering legislation that would provide the most comprehensive protection for strippers in the US. Known as the "strippers' bill of rights," proposals being considered in the Legislature would require a security guard at each club, keypad codes to enter dressing rooms, training for employees on preventing sexual harassment, and procedures if a customer is violent, per the AP. They would also require training on how to de-escalate conflict between dancers, employees and customers, and signs stating that dancers are not required to hand over tips to bartenders and others. The bill already has cleared the state Senate and is now before the House.

• The campaign: The bills are the culmination of six years of advocacy work by Strippers Are Workers, a dancer-led organization in Washington, in response to wide regulation gaps for strippers at the 11 clubs across the state, said Madison Zack-Wu, its campaign manager.
• One example: Most dancers in Washington are independent contractors, and they can be blacklisted if they report abuse or exploitation by managers, said Zack-Wu. Customers pay the dancers, who then have to pay club fees every shift, which could be as much as $200. The proposed measures would cap club fees at $150 or 30% of the amount they made during their shift—whichever is less—while barring clubs from carrying over unpaid fees from previous shifts as part of dancers accessing the space.
• Both parties: Stripping "is a legal, licensed business operation in the state of Washington, so the people who work there deserve our attention and our respect and the protections that every other Washington worker gets," said Democratic Rep. Amy Walen. But "we also want to make sure that we're doing this correctly and striking the right balance for, not just the workers, but communities and neighborhoods as well," said House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, a Republican.

(More Washington state stories.)