Monday, August 08, 2005

Sun-Times excellent series on sex slaves in Chicago suggests licensing or liability for strip clubs

The Sun-Times is running a series on sex slaves -- many of them in Chicago plucked from a foreign land, forced to dance in strip clubs, under total control by a pimp.

This is appalling.

The series is here.

There are a few remedies that come to mind.

One is to target the deep-pocketed strip clubs that host the dancers. It should be their responsibility to ensure that all of their employees/independent contractors that are stripping are totally independent, there of their own free will and able to leave whenever they wish. They are in a position (better than the police of the U.S. Attorney's office) to enforce the status of the dancers. And if they are liable (criminally or civilly), they will take responsibility for the dancers. The clubs are not now at all responsible, and since they are making all this money from the women, they should be.

Perhaps all women in strip clubs should be licensed. That might help stamp out some of the sex slave traffic as well.

The state and municipalities should take the lead on solving this problem.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That article was really appalling. I definetely think the owners need to be made liable -- which should force them to make more of an effort to insure their workers are "legit". I bet a lot of owners and other workers turn a blind eye. I wonder how much male sex trafficking there is??

Anonymous said...

How is this for a hypothesis\idea:

Allow no cash of any kind in a strip-club bar. Any time someone wants to tip a dancer or bartender it has to be done via RFID or technology. All payments of any kind would be done with credit cards or debit cards or similar. It would all be traced and taxed. No cash tips. No paying in cash. All payments by credit cards or similar technology. All taxed.

Currently these places are "cash" businesses. I would bet a lot there is a lot of unreported income and other lost opportunities for govt regulation due to cash transactions.

Dan Johnson said...

Banning cash in these businesses -- that would certainly raise tax revenue. I think I like the idea. You could buy an anonymous debit card if you wanted to remain in the shadows -- but no cash.

Anonymous said...

out-of-state people pay a premium for the debit cards-

Anonymous said...

maybe we should watch the old movie "flashdance" for insight. i tried to watch an edited version on regular tv recently and lost interest a little ways into it. maybe i should try again.

Anonymous said...

I, too, am appalled by this. If a girl is "working her way through college" and is doing it willingly, ok. But the idea that people are abducted, brainwashed with threats and violence, and forced into this totally sickens me. I wish there was something the average person could do??? Ideas???