By Tanya O’Callaghan
Local strippers are welcoming a proposal by Somerset regional Coun. Diane Holmes to make health care services more accessible to exotic dancers.
“Right now, we have nothing (in terms of health services), but the health dangers in our jobs are more serious than others,” says a dancer who goes by the name Lily at Barbarella’s Diamond Cabaret on Queen Street.
At a meeting of the community services committee on March 2, Holmes proposed that the regional health department implement a program catering to the specific needs of exotic dancers.
Since then, regional health officials say the department has received calls from exotic dancers wanting to know more about the services that will be offered.
Using a program just starting up in Mississauga as an example, Holmes says the region could offer Hepatitis A and B shots to the dancers, and help them set up a network of support groups.
“We also want to send our regional health inspectors (to strip clubs) to make sure their working environment is clean and free of diseases,” says Holmes. “Basically, we want to give them a working environment as safe as any other Ontario worker.”
The community services committee has given the health department six months to consult strippers and come up with a program outline.
According to Deirdre Lusby, spokersperson for the regional health department, the deadline won’t be a problem because many proposed services, like STD prevention and treatment already exist.
“We already have inspectors going into strip clubs and we already have an STD clinic,” says Lusby. “Now our inspectors will just look more closely at the working conditions in the clubs, and we’ll adapt our other services.”
Lusby says that creating support groups for the strippers might be a little trickier.
“Keep in mind these are all things we’re going to offer, but we can’t force anyone to take part in them,” she says.
Lily says all the talk about STD prevention and treatment is fine, but adds that strippers are also exposed to a number of other health risks. She says loud music and screaming, constant cigarette smoke and the odd unhygienic customer can also endanger their health.
“We are nude and we touch things. We might catch something; not just STDs but skin diseases and stuff,” says Lily.
As for support groups, she says they might be a good idea in some clubs, but the dancers at Barbarella’s already form an unofficial family to help each other through the difficult part of their job.