Bill Calls for Stripper Permits

ALBANY — The state may soon be keeping a closer eye on its exotic dancers.

A Brooklyn lawmaker says New York strippers should have to get special employment permits from the state before being allowed to dance naked at clubs.

A Democratic assemblyman and former candidate for comptroller, Felix Ortiz, introduced a bill this week that would require the Labor Department to develop a "dance performer" permit and registry. Under the bill, exotic dancers would need to apply for employment permits using their real names every three years.

The bill memo says the purpose of the bill is to monitor "places where commercial sexual exploitation occurs" and to ensure that dance performers are of legal age, legally documented, and not victims of sex trafficking.

"Un-permitted dancers" would face fines of up to $20 for a first-time violation and $50 for subsequent violations. The bill memo does not specify whether a single act onstage, an entire performance, or a day's work would constitute one violation.

Exotic dancers who are found to be victims of human trafficking would not be fined for performing without a permit.

Strip clubs that employ un-permitted dancers would face fines up to $2,000 for repeated violations. The bill would take effect on January 1.

The sponsor's bill memo says the purpose of the legislation is to prevent exotic dancers from being exploited.

"Victims of sex trafficking are often found in the streets or working in establishments that offer commercial sex acts, such as strip clubs and pornography production companies," the memo says. "Most trafficking victims will not volunteer information about their status because of fear and abuse they have suffered at the hands of their trafficker."

The bill memo says that out of the estimated tens or hundreds of thousands of trafficking victims in America, only 0.1% have been identified since human trafficking became a federal crime in 2000.