Legal status of striptease

The legal status of striptease varies considerably among different countries and the various jurisdictions of the United States. Striptease is considered a form of public nudity and subject to changing legal and cultural attitudes on moral and decency grounds. Some countries do not have any restrictions on performances of striptease. In some countries, public nudity is outlawed directly, while in other countries it may be suppressed or regulated indirectly through devices such as restrictions on venues through planning laws, or licensing regulations, or liquor licensing and other restrictions.

There have been annual attempts to amend the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), passed in 2001. The 2009 version of the bill (Bill C-45: An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act) had specific provisions related to tightening the issuance of Exotic Dancer Visas as a means to combat human trafficking. In addition to Canada, the Irish and Japanese governments had at one time special visa categories for 'entertainers' which enabled the trafficking of women for strip clubs and prostitution.

The former immigration chief in Cyprus was found guilty in 2001 of accepting bribes to issue work permits to foreign women (from Ukraine) who worked as strippers in clubs, some of whom were forced into prostitution.

In March 2010, Iceland outlawed striptease under a law made by the Icelandic Parliament (Alþingi). It is now an offence for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees. No other European country has subsequently implemented a strip club ban. Strip clubs and nudity among their employees remains legal in most of Europe.

Around 15 strip clubs had been operating in Iceland in the late 1990s and early 2000s, mostly in and around Reykjavík, and stripping was a multimillion-dollar business. At that time nude dancing was regulated and stripping was generally considered to be illegal, although a small number of clubs had been given a legal exemption to feature striptease. Those exemptions were rescinded when the ban officially took effect on 31 July 2010 and Iceland's strip clubs all closed. A few "champagne clubs" subsequently opened in an old strip club district, providing a private area in the back where clients could purchase private time with a female worker. In 2015, a women's crisis center, Stígamót, campaigned against these clubs and accused them of trafficking and prostitution. The clubs were subsequently raided by the police and closed.

...
Wikipedia