In March, AVN.com reported on a proposed new law in Washington state that would strengthen on-the-job protections for strippers, after the federal FOSTA/SESTA “sex trafficking” law made working conditions for dancers in adult nightclubs more perilous.
Seattle activist and sex worker Savannah Sly testified to a state legislative committee that clients who previously would have gone online looking to “connect” with sex workers have since shown up in clubs with “mismatched expectations,” after FOSTA/SESTA clamped down on internet sex advertising. As a result, Washington state has seen “an uptick in violence” against sex workers.
On Wednesday, the proposed legislation became law in Washington, when Governor Jay Inslee, who is also a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, signed the bill, according to a report by The Spokane Spokesman-Review.
"We want all workers in the state to be safe," Inslee said at the bill’s signing ceremony on Wednesday.
The bill also received a boost when AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels joined the lobbying effort in support of the legislation. Daniels alerted legislators to the need for “panic buttons” in private rooms at strip clubs, allowing dancers to summon help if a customer behaves violently or in an otherwise inappropriate fashion.
The bill, Senate Bill 5724, also hits strip club customers with a three-year ban if they are found to have the the subject of legitimate complaints of violence or harassment, and creates a “blacklist” of customers who behave in dangerous or threatening ways.
The bill also includes provisions for safety and workplace rights training for strippers.
"I think we’re treading new territory and we’re going to tread carefully in a way that empowers the women," said Washington state Representative Tina Orwall, an original sponsor of the stripper-rights bill. "It’s something that’s needed."
Photo By Gogirl18/Wikimedia Commons
