Adult dancers in Washington state want a strippers’ bill of rights. Here’s how it could help them.

SEATTLE– For months, Andrea studied for her master’s degree in library science in between dancing naked in Seattle clubs. But then she was sexually assaulted at work and beaten by a customer – and no one stepped in to help.

Now she and hundreds of other strippers in Washington state are fighting for statewide protections that advocates say would be the most comprehensive in the US.

“We shouldn’t be scolded for just doing our job and existing,” says Andrea, who has seen a DJ in a club harass dancers if they don’t tip him enough. She avoids the club when he’s there, said the 24-year-old, who would use only her first name. The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

Known as the “strippers’ bill of rights,” proposals being considered in the Legislature would require a security guard at every club, keypad codes to enter locker rooms, training for employees on preventing sexual harassment and procedures if a customer is violent. It would also require training on how to de-escalate conflict between dancers, employees and customers, and signage stating that dancers are not required to hand over tips.

“It’s a legal, licensed business operation in Washington state, so the people who work there deserve our attention and respect and the protections that every other worker in Washington gets,” the Democratic Rep. said. Amy Walen, who sponsored the House bill. . The Senate is considering a similar bill.

The bills are the culmination of six years of lobbying by Strippers Are Workers, a dancer-led organization in Washington, in response to major regulatory gaps for strippers at the state’s 11 clubs, said campaign manager Madison Zack-Wu.

But these regulatory gaps extend beyond Washington. And during Strippers Are Workers’ six years of work, only one other state has added worker protections for adult entertainers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2019, Illinois began requiring adult entertainment companies, along with other businesses, to have written sexual harassment policies. That same year, Washington added some initial rules, including panic buttons and customer blacklists.

NCSL’s list does not include bills targeting minimum age limits or human trafficking, a criminal industry whose victims are often recruited to work in U.S. strip clubs, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. These bills rarely address workplace protections like the one in Washington, said Landon Jacquinot, a policy fellow at NCSL.

There have also been efforts at the local level, including a bar in Los Angeles and a strip club in Portland, Oregon, where dancers voted to unionize. And in a 2014 decision with statewide implications, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that dancers at a Las Vegas club are employees and entitled to minimum wage and other protections.

But Zack-Wu said many strippers don’t want to become full-time employees. “This job is all about flexibility and trying to make it your own,” she said. Washington’s laws would apply to all strippers, regardless of employment status.

A similar bill in Washington stalled last year after concerns were raised about allowing alcohol in strip clubs. The bills being considered in both chambers do not include that component and, with more than two dozen sponsors combined, have a better chance of reaching the governor’s desk in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Most dancers in Washington are independent contractors and can be blacklisted if they report abuse or exploitation by managers, Zack-Wu said. Customers pay the dancers, who then have to pay club fees each shift, which can be up to $200.

The proposed House measure would cap club fees at $150 or 30% of the amount they earned during their service — whichever is less — while barring clubs from carrying over unpaid fees from prior service.

In late 2022, Eva Bhagwandin had just given a man three lap dances at a Seattle club, but his card was declined, the 28-year-old said. He became aggressive and shouted that he had already paid. The manager didn’t intervene and there was no security guard, so she and a waitress had to get him and his screaming friends out of the club. She was never paid the $140 she was owed, but still had to pay $200 to the club.

Afterwards she learned that another dancer had experienced something similar with the same men two days earlier.

“The lack of security and training and the lack of support between management and the dancers creates a culture where customers know they can come in without paying, that they can come in and attack dancers, and that they can come in and pretty much do whatever they want,” she said.

But Zack-Wu said there are concerns that adding these protections without also adding revenue from alcohol sales could cause businesses, which have struggled since the pandemic, to close.

“We don’t want clubs to close now or in the future because that will put everyone out of work and then put them in even riskier or more dire situations,” she said.

Republican lawmakers said they support protecting workers in this industry, but knowing the best way to regulate it is challenging.

“We also want to make sure we do this the right way and strike the right balance, not just for workers, but for communities and neighborhoods,” House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary said. a Republican.

Andrea, the dancer from Seattle, graduated in November and plans to work in a library while continuing to dance. But she hopes extra protection will come soon.

“It’s not the easiest place for us sometimes, but a lot of people persevere because we love the work,” she said. “But with all these protections in place, it would really help a lot.”