Oh sorry, I understand what you were saying now. That the tone of the article is sympathetic to the plight of this asshole. Apologies!

I’d also like to thank you for writing this! The upside to the job is what we most often focus on when we share our experience with non-sex workers so we don’t get the unwanted pity and moralising, however this can lead to our jobs being disrespected and not taken seriously for other reasons… Just because I can pick my own hours and drink at work does not mean it is easy, by any means!
Thank you for acknowledging that.

In regards to “the negotiation/denial of sexual labour”, in the UK the expectation of explicit sexual services in VIP rooms is actively squashed by management and is completely unacceptable in every club I’ve worked at. The thin line between club and brothel is legally very clear, however some girls push this distinction and perform illegal extras on site when they’re behind closed curtains… this makes it a really uncomfortable environment for the girls who don’t, as they get asked constantly for sexual favours and have to put up with having their boundaries pushed all night because ‘other girls do it’. It also makes it harder for the girls who just dance to earn money legally when customers are being given happy endings in booths for the same price as a regular no contact dance, and so this pushes girls to start being more lenient with things they aren’t really comfortable with… I don’t think this is fair at all, and certainly shouldn’t just be treated like an ‘occupational hazard’.

I have no problem at all with anyone ecxchanging sex for money, just not in a lap dancing club!

I have worked in clubs in the UK where an hour of our time is £300. $350 is £230… so that amount is actually a fair price for a long private dance. Customers should not expect sex from strippers, unless it has been agreed upon and carried out off the premises.

Seriously! I’ve had fingers shoved into my vagina twice in the last three months doing hot seats because it’s tough to watch my back and balance at the same time, and tonight a guy shoved a dollar bill up my asshole as my hair was in my face and I wasn’t being vigilant enough. They’re shocked when I angrily inform them they just sexually assaulted me. I refuse to play nice after that bullshit.

True, a bogus call to 911 is a misdemeanor in itself, and any unwanted bodily contact with a person is a form of battery, degree depending on the code where they live. More so if there’s a sexual context, in one state I lived in, going by the strict letter of the law it would be “lascivious battery” (a felony) for someone to shove his hand down a dancer’s thong without her permission.

I suppose that in this case the report goes with the more obvious charge. Also it may be the parties involved may not wish to go into specific details for an assault allegation, when they’ve got an ironclad solicitation case in hand.

I would say that no matter what kind of sex work one does, or how often, or to what degree, in the eyes of mainstream society one is still a dirty whore, full stop :/

I’ve talked to several sex workers, one of whom is an activist, who consider rape simply to be theft of services.

I kind of have seen this, once. On a ladies only part of a message board, a sex worker mentioned that clients at a Bachelor’s party did more than what was agreed to without paying. When I suggested that this was assault and offered local community resources, the sex worker in question resisted this interpretation, preferring to see it in more commercial terms. I backed off. I never asked about the details and I don’t remember the exact words she used. But I remember reflecting on it and thinking that to me, the description was clearly that of a sexual assault, yet she was more comfortable with a different interpretation, perhaps, due to the gravity that the connotation of assault/rape carries.