Legal status of striptease
Striptease is considered a form of public nudity and subject to changing legal and cultural attitudes on moral and decency grounds.
[1] In addition to Canada, the Irish and Japanese governments had at one time special visa categories for 'entertainers' which enabled the trafficking of women for strip clubs and prostitution.
[6] At that time nude dancing was regulated and stripping was generally considered to be illegal, although a small number of clubs had been given a legal exemption to feature striptease.
[9] In the 1930s, when the Windmill Theatre, London, began to present nude shows, British law prohibited performers moving whilst in a state of nudity.
The Lord Chamberlain's rules prohibiting moving nude dancers did not apply to private members club, a loophole exploited by the “Raymond Revuebar” in Soho, London at the start of the 1960s.
[14] Changes in the law in that decade brought about a boom of strip clubs in Soho, with "fully nude" dancing and audience participation.
[15] A 2003 United Kingdom study reported statistics which said that in the London Borough of Camden the number of rapes increased by 50% and indecent assaults by 57% after four lap dancing venues opened.
According to the Lilith Report on Lap Dancing and Striptease in the Borough of Camden, these statistics were calculated from information published by the Metropolitan police relating to the years 1998-99 and 2001–02.
[20] During the 21st century the legislative trend in the UK has been toward a more conservative treatment of striptease, in contrast to many areas in Europe and the US which have more liberal sexual attitudes.
In 2009, the United Kingdom passed the Policing and Crime Act following government concerns about an increase in the number of striptease venues in the country.
In some parts of the United States, laws forbid exposure of female nipples, but does not apply if a stripper wears pasties.
[27][28] A relatively liberal social climate keeps many jurisdictions in the United States from passing stricter legislation against strip clubs, or from enforcing it fully.
[27] In early 2010, the city of Detroit banned fully exposed breasts in its strip clubs, following the example of Houston which began enforcing a similar ordinance of 2008.
Topless dancers typically perform in a G-string and, depending on local laws, may be required to wear pasties covering their nipples.
Fully nude clubs may be subject to additional requirements such as restrictions on alcohol sales or no-touch rules between customers and dancers.
While a few smaller strip clubs may pay a weekly wage, for the most part all of a dancer's income is derived from tips and other fees they collect from customers.
Among its provisions is the "six foot rule", copied by other municipalities, which requires that dancers maintain a six-foot (1.8 m) distance from customers while performing topless or nude.
In 2000, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its finding in Erie v. Pap's A. M. ruling that nude dancing was expressive conduct "marginally" protected by the First Amendment, but that it could be regulated to limit the "secondary effects", such as crime.
[39] Rules governing strip clubs and the overall adult entertainment industry vary around the world, and formats sometimes are combined under a single roof or complex.
[40] The Zona Norte red light district in Tijuana, Mexico has a number of legal brothels which are modeled on strip clubs and feature U.S.-style striptease performed by its prostitutes.
Both the U.S. municipalities of Detroit, Michigan and Houston, Texas were reputed to have rampant occurrences of illicit activity including prostitution linked to its striptease establishments [47][48] within their city limits.
