scienceguy, thank you so much for posting this -- and for stating the painfully obvious so well. You just made a bad day a lot better. :) Like you said, I think the most disturbing thing, for me, is that these guys can just sit there and gawk knowing so many strippers -- and therefore, likely the ones in front of them -- were raped or molested as little girls. I mean, how sick can you get?
And here's some more research:
http://www.towardsfreedom.com/253.html
Adding to the demands from club owners, strippers are subjected to abuse in both upscale and lower-class nude clubs. The protection that bouncers are said to provide is minimal due to the fact that bouncers are essentially paid by the customers; so the best interest of the stripper is not always in mind. Strippers are propositioned for prostitution often and harassed when they don't do what is demanded of them... When someone commits a crime without getting caught or having consequences, they are more likely to perpetrate again. Individuals who endure physical, verbal, or sexual abuse most commonly feel worthless and used. Once a stripper has been lured into this depreciating means of making a living, many of them turn to alcohol and drugs to escape reality...
There is no question as to the importance of entertainment for the human race. As far as history shows, we have never existed without some form of it. It is sadistic when we allow one's idea of entertainment to humiliate and degrade the life of another. Strippers are not just exotically dancing on poles a good distance from others -- as some might say. To keep the acts fresh, club owners have invented many different ways to entice their customers. Lap dances are customary to most nude bars and depending on the bar, the dances are either monitored by a bouncer, or they aren't. Behind the walls of the V.I.P. rooms or even out in open areas, strippers are pressured to do so much more than dance. Some states in the U.S. regulate how many feet away a stripper must be to perform a lap dance, while some don't. This leaves a large window of opportunity for club owners to encourage illegal behavior in order to satisfy the paying customer. Due to the safety issues within the walls of these erotic environments, there is no justification for there existence.
While some may argue that it is our human right to be sexually enticed or to be the sexual enticer as a form of enjoyment, there is no place for these acts in the career world. The laws are too negligent, and the effects are too drastic on individuals turning to this career. People that defend the importance of strip clubs are only defending their right to sit back and watch as another human being is degraded."
http://m.catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=1078
"Among strippers, eating disorders are rampant. Many of the women starve, vomit, abuse exercise or laxatives to become the unnatural shape that is demanded of them. Plastic surgery is almost invariably required especially artificial breasts to produce unnaturally large breasts. This surgery is considered a necessity despite the evidence that artificial breasts interfere with mammograms, and are implicated in autoimmune deficiency disorders in the women, and digestive disorders in the babies of the women who have had the surgery.
Strippers are often substance abusers as well; one study found the number to be 40%. Sometimes this is-because they have to numb themselves to be able to do the work they do. Often the consumption of alcohol is required on the job. Strippers who refuse to drink or who refuse to accept drinks from customers can be fired, coerced or threatened by bosses. Even strippers who have told their superiors that they are alcoholics who attend AA meetings are told that they have to drink on the job. Sometimes customers tip the strippers with illegal drug..."
"The job that they do is fraught with dangers and unpleasantry. In one study 100% of the strippers reported some kind of physical or verbal abuse on their jobs. Verbal abuse by customers is extremely common with 91% reporting incidents. They were routinely called degrading names like c--t (52%), w---e (61%), and b---h (85%). Besides the verbal abuse...some type of physical abuse on the job. Despite the fact that it is illegal to touch a stripper, strippers reported that customers grabbed them by the arm (88%), grabbed their breast (73%), or their buttock (91%). Customers at strip clubs often assault the women. Customers pulled their hair (27%), pinched them (58%), slapped them (24%), or bite them (36%). They are often attacked in the strip club in front of bodyguards and other audience members.
If they would do this to women in public, what would they do to women in private? Strippers are often raped. Strippers have reported that they have been followed home (70%) and have been stalked (42%)..."
"Damage to the society in general which comes from the sex industry
The level of sexual violence in the society is at epidemic proportions. We are experiencing a sexual holocaust. One in 8 women are raped, 50% of females will be sexually harassed on their jobs. By the time a female in this country is 18 years old, 38% have been sexually molested. We are the most sexually violent nation on earth.
Studies have shown a connection with rape both stranger rape and acquaintance rape. When normal college mates are shown pornography, 50-65% of them then say they would be willing to rape a women if they thought they wouldn't get caught. Those who have committed acquaintance rape are more likely to be frequent readers of sex magazines like Playboy and Hustler. The more sex magazines sold within a state the higher the rape rate.
Studies have found significant changes in beliefs when subjects have been shown pornography. They come to believe that unusual sex behavior even psychiatrically disordered behavior is more common than they thought it was before. This includes behaviors such as having sex with animals and mixing sex with violence. They come to find damaging behavior as more acceptable such as showing pornography to children. They become less negative in their attitudes toward rape and believe that rapists should receive lighter sentences. They have a 50% reduction in their belief that women should be liberated. In one study done in Pennsylvania, Chiefs of Police were polled about the impact of strip clubs on their communities. A majority of police chiefs believed that strip clubs cause crime, that the community does not want them and that the quality of life would be better if they were illegal. In fact, when Oklahoma City closed down 150 porn shops, they had a 26% reduction in rapes.
In the last 12 years I have specialized in the treatment of sexual violence victims and perpetrators. I have not treated one case of sexual violence that did not include pornography. In every case of sibling incest that I have treated, the pornography involved has been sex magazines most often Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler.
Erotica USA wants to continue the cycle of violence and damage. They depend on our silence to continue to make money by hurting people. All of us need to stand up and tell them that they will never have the comfort of our silence again."
http://www.victoriasfriends.com/statistics
"89% of women in the sex industry said they wanted to escape, but had no other means for survival.
Strippers are often substance abusers: one study found the number to be around 40%.
Women who work in the sex industry have only a 25% chance of making a marriage last for at least three years."