OLYMPIA, Wash. — Lawmakers from Washington state’s House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee heard testimony this week from several feature dancers and club managers about workplace safety issues and sexual harassment at gentlemen’s clubs in the state.
Long-standing issues about job expectations and the work environment were articulated by exotic dancers Aubrey Watkins and Aaliyah Topps at the 30-minute hearing at the state capitol on Monday.
Watkins and Topps both said that they run the risk of getting shut out of their independent-contractor jobs if they complain too hard about problem customers who end up coming night after night and aren’t bounced.
“There's no list, there's no blacklist,” Topps said. “Managers aren't making a phone call, like ‘Look out for this guy that's coming over there.’ There's nothing like that."
Watkins noted that in the past 20 years, she’s seen clubs in Washington state decline dramatically in terms of safety in working conditions.
“Management needs to make some changes and needs to make our safety a priority,” Watkins said. “One change that needs to be made is that management staff need to be trained to handle sexual assaults and assaults including giving us the option to call 911 and not discouraging us from reporting these types of issues.”
Watkins also cited abuse by some club managers. She said she was told by one manager that “I don't do enough during a dance for the prices that we charge.”
“We're all workers,” she said. “We deserve the same rights as others."
Another complaint lawmakers should focus on, Topps said, was the money aspect of the job.
Topps said that performers oftentimes lose money while working because many clubs require a payout each night, pressuring some to do what they can to make up the difference “because you feel like you have to pay that at the end of the night, or it's going to be coming out of pocket for yourself.”
“I love what I do and all the opportunities dancing allows me to have, [but] I just feel like all workers should have a clean and safe working environment despite the stigma against dancing.”
Meanwhile, Winter Fink and Eric Forbes, who both represent several adult clubs in Washington state, said that their venues have sufficient numbers of staff, safety protocols and advanced camera monitoring equipment to thwart any customer harassment.
The hearing could prove fruitful for additional regulation for gentlemen’s clubs. Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, said she may introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session to address many of the concerns raised by Watkins and Topps.
Some ideas Orwall is reportedly chewing on include increased training standards, the introduction of unannounced site visits by inspectors and a change on how identification checks are done on customers trying to get in.
Check out a video account of the “Workplace Safety in Exotic Dancing” session here.
