Editing Lap dance (section)

==History and legal issues==
[[File:Main Room.jpg|thumb|upright|Typical area where lap dances are performed in semi-privacy]]

Lap dancing clubs are a later development of earlier [[strip clubs]], where [[stripper]]s danced on stage and were paid a wage. In the 1970s, New York's Melody Theater introduced [[audience participation]] and called it "Mardi Gras".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/news/14002_0_1_0_C/ |title=Harem Theatre in NYC?|work=cinematreasures.org|access-date=11 September 2015}}</ref> The Melody Theater became the Harmony Theater and operated in two locations in [[Manhattan]] for over 20 years until it was closed down in 1998.

Also during the 1970s, adult film makers [[Mitchell brothers|Jim and Artie Mitchell]] had been running an adult movie house, called the [[O'Farrell Theatre]], in San Francisco to feature their films.<ref name="SFW-Steinberg">{{cite web |last=Steinberg |first=David |title=Lap Victory |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/2004-09-08/news/lap-victory/ |work=[[SF Weekly]] |publisher=SF Weekly, LP |access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> But in the second half of the 1970s, with the invention of the [[videocassette recorder]] and a proliferation of [[video rental shop|video cassette rental stores]], the demand for adult movie theaters began to plummet.<ref name="McCumber1992, p. 78">McCumber(1992), p. 78.</ref> Realizing that they needed a new business model for their building, the Mitchell brothers sent manager Vince Stanich around the country to explore customer-contact shows in [[sex club]]s.<ref name="McCumber1992, p. 78"/> After Stanich reported back, the Mitchell brothers responded in 1977 by opening three new rooms at their O'Farrell Theatre featuring customer-contact shows: The Ultra Room, The Kopenhagen, and New York Live.<ref>McCumber(1992), p. 79.</ref> The Kopenhagen's shows were performed by a pair of naked women in a small room with about twenty men. However the club's most profitable new venue was New York Live, which was a cabaret-style strip club act with women dancing three song sets upon a stage, while usually being totally nude for the final song.<ref>McCumber(1992), p. 79, 155.</ref>

Most of the strippers who were not dancing were sitting naked on customers' laps for tips. The amount of tipping rapidly increased and was then marketed as a "lap dance", and its popularity caused lines of men to regularly appear outside the theater's doors.<ref>McCumber(1992), p. 81, 155</ref> The Mitchells hired new dancers as fast as they could to keep up with demand, and had created another sex-show innovation which gained them international notoriety and generated more money than their film business.<ref>McCumber(1992), p. 80.</ref>

Later in 2004, a San Francisco [[District Attorney]]'s decision to drop prostitution charges against lap dancers in the city changed the sexual culture of San Francisco and "has the potential to influence the policies of other cities".{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

In some areas of the U.S. and Canada, local authorities began cracking down on lap dancing after reports that some clubs allowed customers to engage in [[sexual intercourse]] or other [[Human sexual activity|sexual activity]] with dancers during lap dance sessions.<ref name="Ross2009">{{cite book|last=Ross|first=Becki|title=Burlesque West: showgirls, sex, and sin in postwar Vancouver|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plgceSLzsgAC&pg=PA78 |access-date=24 March 2011|date=October 2009|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-9646-3|page=78}}</ref> Various strip clubs have wide-ranging rules on how customers should interact with strippers.<ref name="Lap Dance Etiquette">{{cite web|url=http://www.askmen.com/dating/curtsmith_200/230_dating_advice.html |title=Lap Dance Etiquette|access-date=5 March 2013}}</ref>

===Canada===
In 1973, an upmarket [[Vancouver]] bar called "Gary Taylor's Show Lounge" employed [[showgirl]]s and strippers as [[waitress]]es who gave a free dance with every drink. The club was raided by the police under the guise of obscenity legislation, but, in 1974, Judge Jack McGivern ruled that dancer nudity was not [[obscene]], which started a trend of nude dancing in bars. No contact between dancers and patrons was allowed at the club, but Gary Taylor's had a [[boxing ring]] where the girls performed revealing [[acrobatics]] after stripping off and then earned tips. Americans from [[Washington (state)|Washington state]] made the trip to the club from the United States, which at the time had stricter laws.<ref name="Lifestyles: Canada’s Multi-Million Dollar Addiction To Lap-Dancing">{{cite web|url=http://www.pittmeadowstoday.ca/lifestyles-canadas-multi-million-dollar-addiction-to-lap-dancing |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410032410/http://www.pittmeadowstoday.ca/lifestyles-canadas-multi-million-dollar-addiction-to-lap-dancing |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 April 2013 |title=Lifestyles: Canada's Multi-Million Dollar Addiction To Lap-Dancing|date=21 September 2012|access-date=5 March 2013}}</ref>

In a landmark ruling regarding the 1994 case of Pat Mara and Allan East (the owner and manager of Cheaters Tavern), Judge E. Gordon Hachborn legally defined lap dancing and ruled that it did not contravene Canadian [[Indecent exposure|public decency]] statutes. A number of conflicting judgements were issued in the years that followed, including decisions to close certain bars in which sex acts took place on the floor of the club and other rulings in which patrons were allowed to touch the dancers, as long as an actual sex act did not take place.<ref name="Lifestyles: Canada’s Multi-Million Dollar Addiction To Lap-Dancing" />

In 1999, the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] ruled that a typical lap dance did not constitute an "obscene" act within the meaning of the [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]. [[The Crown]] did not argue that lap dances constituted "prostitution", and therefore the court did not address the possible issue that the typical lap dance may contravene one or more anti-prostitution laws.<ref>{{citation |url=http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1999/1999rcs3-863/1999rcs3-863.html |title=Judgement of the Supreme Court of Canada – Decisions – R. v. Pelletier |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325070325/http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1999/1999rcs3-863/1999rcs3-863.html |date=13 December 1999 |archive-date=25 March 2007 |access-date=20 November 2016 }}</ref> This led to the displacement of strip clubs and [[Table dance|table dancing]] clubs in Canada by lap dancing clubs.

In 2005, two Supreme Court of Canada rulings ([[R. v. Labaye]] and [[R. v. Kouri]]) decriminalized private sex clubs in Canada.

On 20 December 2013, (in [[Bedford v. Canada]]) the Supreme Court of Canada found the laws prohibiting [[brothels]], public communication for the purpose of prostitution, and living on the profits of prostitution to be unconstitutional. The ruling gave the [[Parliament of Canada|Canadian parliament]] twelve months to rewrite Canada's prostitution laws; in the meantime, existing anti-prostitution laws continued to be enforced.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25468587 |title=Canada Supreme Court strikes down prostitution laws|publisher=BBC|date=20 December 2013|access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref> Current laws on [[prostitution in Canada]], introduced in 2014, make it illegal to purchase sexual services (including lap dancing) but legal to sell them.<ref name=GCDJ>{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/protect/p1.html |title=Technical Paper: Bill C-36, Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date= December 2014|website=justice.gc.ca|publisher=Government of Canada: Department of Justice|access-date=13 September 2015|quote=Bill C-36 criminalizes, for the first time in Canadian criminal law, the purchase of sexual services… The following activities have been found to constitute a sexual service or an act of prostitution, if provided in return for some form of consideration: lap-dancing, which involves sitting in the client’s lap and simulating sexual intercourse… Bill C-36 does not prevent those who sell their own sexual services from entering into legitimate family and business relationships…}}</ref>

===Ireland===
In the early 2000s, lap dancing expanded rapidly in the [[Republic of Ireland]], building on an existing [[strip pub]] industry. A number of lap-dancing clubs were opened in Dublin, including one by the English nightclub owner [[Peter Stringfellow]]. Lap-dancing clubs were also opened across the country.  Many of Ireland's lap-dancing clubs have subsequently closed as a result of the worsened economic climate and changes to Ireland's licensing laws in 2008. Reputational issues have also played a part in the decline of Ireland's lap-dancing clubs.

Police raids took place on Irish lap-dancing clubs in 2003 in search of criminal activity as part of [[Operation Quest]]. Efforts to distance Irish lap dancing from the [[sex industry]] were hampered by the UK's decision in 2010 to classify its lap dancing clubs as sex establishments. Ireland's lap-dancing clubs became viewed as more expensive than their rivals overseas and more restricted in terms of the entertainment on offer. By 2012 there were five or six clubs operating in Dublin, one in Galway and one in Cork. Most lap-dancing clubs in Ireland operate a no-touching rule, and typically do not charge dancers a "house fee" to perform, instead taking a proportion of the dancer's earnings.<ref>{{cite news|title=Life as a lap dancer|url=https://www.independent.ie/style/sex-relationships/life-as-a-lap-dancer-28891041.html|newspaper=Independent.ie|location=Ireland|date=7 October 2012|author=Catherine Murphy|access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
The first lap dancing club in the UK was opened in 1995.<ref name=Memo>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmcumeds/492/8112507.htm |title=Memorandum submitted by The Lap Dancing Association (LDA): The Real Body of Evidence |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=November 2008 |website=www.parliament.uk |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=21 September 2015 }}</ref> During the 2000s the lap dancing industry grew quickly,<ref name=Cooke>{{cite news|last=Cooke|first=Rachel|date=8 March 2009|title=Should lap dancing be run out of town?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/mar/08/sex-industry-lap-dancing |newspaper=The Observer|access-date=10 September 2015}}</ref> with the [[Licensing Act 2003]] as the only legislation in England and Wales regulating lap dancing clubs.<ref name=Memo/> The [[Lap Dancing Association]] (LDA), a [[trade association]] for the UK lap dancing industry, was formed in 2006<ref>{{cite web|title=Who We Are|url=http://www.ldauk.org.uk:80/Who-We-Are_pg2.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409061408/http://www.ldauk.org.uk/Who-We-Are_pg2.aspx|archive-date=9 April 2010|website=Lap Dancing Association|url-status=dead}}</ref> and officially launched in 2008.<ref name=regulation>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/apr/28/3|date=28 April 2008| title=Lap dance firms call for tighter regulation|author=Paul Lewis|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref> It operated a code of practice for its members.<ref>{{cite web|title=Code of Practice|url=http://www.ldauk.org.uk:80/Code-of-Practice_pg11.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410205528/http://www.ldauk.org.uk/Code-of-Practice_pg11.aspx|archive-date=10 April 2010|website=Lap Dancing Association|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Ewan|last=Turney|date=21 April 2008|publisher=Morning Advertiser|url=http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/60338?Ntt=lap+dancing&Ntk=All&PagingData=Po_0~Ps_10~Psd_Asc|title=New lap-dancing body launched|access-date=1 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721154449/http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/60338?Ntt=lap+dancing&Ntk=All&PagingData=Po_0~Ps_10~Psd_Asc|archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref> According to a BBC report, as of November 2008, the association represented roughly one-third of the industry's clubs.<ref name=label>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7709202.stm|title=Lap dancers object to 'sex' label|work=BBC News|date=4 November 2008|access-date=1 September 2015}}</ref> Members included ''For Your Eyes Only'', ''[[Spearmint Rhino]]'', ''Bandit Queen'' and ''Candy Bar''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reviews|url=http://www.ldauk.org.uk:80/reviews.aspx?section=102|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410205359/http://www.ldauk.org.uk/reviews.aspx?section=102|archive-date=10 April 2010|website=LapDancing Association|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2008, clubs were being opened at a rate of about one per week.<ref name=Cooke/>

In April 2008 the LDA proposed that its code of conduct should become legally enforceable by local authorities as part of their licensing function.<ref name=regulation/> The association submitted a memorandum to the [[Culture, Media and Sport Committee]] in November 2008 when the latter was reviewing the Licensing Act 2003.<ref name=Memo/> The association said that there was no sexual activity offered for sale in their clubs, and that to classify them as part of the sex industry would stigmatise performers.<ref name=label/> Simon Warr, who ran the clubs Platinum Lace<ref>{{cite news|title=Would you ever take your girlfriend to watch a lapdancer?|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/would-you-ever-take-your-girlfriend-to-watch-a-lapdancer-6565773.html|newspaper=London Evening Standard|date=10 February 2011|access-date=16 June 2016}}</ref> and For Your Eyes Only<ref>{{cite news|title=Lap dancing boss who invited MP John Whittingdale for strip club tour has club investigated over 'no touching rule breach'|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lap-dancing-boss-who-invited-7810359|date=22 April 2016|newspaper=The Mirror|author1=John Shammas|author2=Stian Alexander|access-date=16 June 2016}}</ref> and who was the president of the LDA In 2009,<ref name=Cooke/> gave oral evidence to the committee, describing lap dancing as "not sexually stimulating".<ref>{{cite news|title=Lap dancing 'not sexual act' claims head of club organisation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/nov/25/lap-dancing-parliament|newspaper=The Guardian|author=Andrew Sparrow|date=25 November 2008}}</ref> Three MPs undertook a fact-finding visit to a London lap dancing club at the invitation of the LDA.<ref>{{cite news|title=John Whittingdale visited lapdancing club as part of MPs' inquiry|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/19/john-whittingdale-mps-free-dinner-lap-dancing-club-licensing-inquiry|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 April 2016|author=Robert Booth}}</ref> The association opposed the provisions of the subsequent [[Policing and Crime Act 2009]] which reclassified lap-dancing clubs in England and Wales as "[[sexual entertainment venues]]" instead of "entertainment venues", introduced a licensing system for clubs and allowed local authorities to decide the number and location of lap-dancing clubs in their area.<ref name="bbc1">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=New powers to crack down on lap-dancing clubs |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8511883.stm |newspaper=BBC News |date=12 February 2010 |access-date=22 September 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Leeds lap dancing clubs face new threat">{{cite news|title=Leeds lap dancing clubs face new threat|url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/leeds-lap-dancing-clubs-face-new-threat-1-5476582 |work=[[Yorkshire Evening Post]]|date=7 March 2013|access-date=7 March 2013}}</ref> Chris Knight, vice-chairman of the LDA, said that the cost of the additional licence required to run a lap dancing club from 2010 could affect many businesses<ref>{{cite news|title=Lap-dancing club rules change comes into force|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8604246.stm|date=6 April 2010|work=BBC News}}</ref> and questioned the right of local authorities to make licensing decisions on "emotive and moralistic grounds".<ref name="bbc1" />

In 2009, the total number of clubs had reached its peak of 310 (approximately twice the number in 2003), and the number of lap-dancers was estimated at 10,000. Lap-dancing clubs had opened in big cities, small towns, and out-of-town business parks.<ref name=Cooke/> The figures plateaued during the subsequent weaker economic climate and had hardly changed by 2012. At that point, the amount of money a lap-dancer earned in an average shift was £230 (down from around £280 in 2011), and the industry was valued at around £300 million. However, some clubs, particularly in London, charged a house fee for the dancers to perform and had an increased number of dancers, which reduced an individual dancer's earnings.<ref>{{cite news|first2=Jerome|first1=Kieran|last2=Taylor|last1=Corcoran|date=12 April 2012|title=The human cost of UK's £300m addiction to lap-dancing|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-human-cost-of-uks-300m-addiction-to-lapdancing-7637488.html |work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=10 September 2015}}</ref>

Between 2010 and 2015, there were approximately forty-five refusals of licences for sexual entertainment venues in England and Wales, mainly on the grounds that the locality was unsuitable.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hubbard|first=Philip|title=Law, sex and the city: regulating sexual entertainment venues in England and Wales|journal=International Journal of Law in the Built Environment|volume= 7 |issue= 1 |pages=5–20|doi= 10.1108/IJLBE-01-2014-0001 |year=2015|doi-access=free}} [https://kar.kent.ac.uk/48043/1/IJLBE-01-2014-0001.pdf Pdf]</ref> The legislation provides for no right of appeal against such refusals, except on the grounds that committees have not followed correct procedure. The number of refusals, together with the costs of licence application, means that there have been few new businesses opened since 2010, with the overall number of clubs declining over time as a number of local authorities implemented a "nil limit" for new clubs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sevlicensing.wordpress.com |title=SEV licensing|work=SEV licensing (a blog reviewing licensing news relating to Sexual Entertainment Venue license applications)|access-date=25 September 2015}}</ref>

In February 2014, [[Fiona Mactaggart]] ([[Member of Parliament (UK)|MP]] for [[Slough (UK Parliament constituency)|Slough]]) asked the [[Secretary of State for Work and Pensions]], [[Iain Duncan Smith]], if he would "make it his policy not to offer job subsidies for employing teenagers as auxiliary workers in adult entertainment establishments".<ref name="McVey">{{cite hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom|title=Employment: Sex Establishments (written question)|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140211/text/140211w0002.htm#140211101000116 |house=[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] |date=11 February 2014|column_start= 583W |column_end= 584W |speaker= [[Fiona Mactaggart]] ''([[Member of Parliament (UK)|MP]] for [[Slough (UK Parliament constituency)|Slough]])'' & [[Esther McVey]] ''([[Department for Work and Pensions|Minister of State for Employment]])'' }}</ref> Her question related to employers in the adult entertainment industry being offered an incentive of over £2,000 from the [[Department for Work and Pensions]] for every unemployed young person (aged 18–24) that they hired.<ref>{{cite news|last=Piggott|first=Mark|title=UK Government pays sex clubs to employ teenage girls|work=[[International Business Times]]|publisher=[[IBT Media]]|date=16 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{citation|author=Department for Work and Pensions|author-link=Department for Work and Pensions|contribution= Chapter 20: Youth Contract - Wage Incentive Scheme |title=Work Programme provider guidance (Work Choice only): treatment of different types of employment|pages=4–5|publisher=[[Government of the United Kingdom|HM Government]] |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462504/wp-pg-chapter-20.pdf |year=2010}}</ref> [[Esther McVey]], the [[Department for Work and Pensions|Minister of State for Employment]], stated that: "The [[Welfare Reform Act 2012]] ensured that vacancies which involve performing sexual activities were banned from being advertised on Government websites and a distinction was made in law to differentiate between performers and ancillary workers."<ref name="McVey" />

====Scotland====
In 2005 [[Tom McCabe]] [[Member of the Scottish Parliament|MSP]] set up the Adult Entertainment Working Group, an advisory body within the [[Scottish Government]], to investigate the legislative issues involved in a proposed lap dancing ban in Scotland. At that time, lap dancing clubs in Scotland were licensed under Section 41 of the [[Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982]], which covers general entertainment licenses, and licences in Scotland could not be refused on the basis of the nature of the entertainment in itself.<ref name=WSP>{{cite web|title="Adult entertainment" / Lap Dancing|url=http://www.womenssupportproject.co.uk/content/lapdancing/204,172/ |publisher=Women's Support Project|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> The working group, headed by [[Linda Costelloe Baker]], consisted of academics, lawyers and politicians, and had a working period from April 2005 until April 2006. It commissioned the [[market research]] organisation [[Ipsos MORI]] to examine the public's attitudes towards adult entertainment,<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Attitudes Towards Adult Entertainment|url=https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/553/Public-Attitudes-Towards-Adult-Entertainment.aspx|publisher=Ipsos MORI|date=1 June 2006|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> completed site visits and took evidence from a variety of witnesses. Respondents to the group's consultation included the [[Church of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Adult Entertainment Consultation: Official Response|url=http://www.actsparl.org/media/71708/or%20cos%20-%202005%20adult%20entertainment%20-%20sep%2005.pdf|publisher=Church Of Scotland Church And Society Council|date=28 September 2005|author=Morag Mylne|access-date=8 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308213805/http://www.actsparl.org/media/71708/or%20cos%20-%202005%20adult%20entertainment%20-%20sep%2005.pdf|archive-date=8 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The group reported to Scottish ministers on 25 April 2006.

The group concluded that lap dancing venues are a form of "commercial sexual exploitation...which encompasses [[pornography]], [[Cybersex|internet sex chat rooms]], [[Phone sex|sex phone lines]], [[Escort agency|escort services]], prostitution, [[Sexual slavery|trafficking for prostitution]], [[peep show]]s, lap dancing, [[Pole dance|pole dancing]], [[Table dance|table dancing]] and [[Striptease|stripping]]".<ref name=Hubbard>{{cite report|title=Encouraging sexual exploitation? Regulating striptease and "adult entertainment" in the UK|url=https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/3777|first=Phil|last=Hubbard|date=2008|publisher=Loughborough University|pages=22&26|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> It recommended reviewing the licensing of lap dancing venues and proposed national guidelines to prevent performers from touching or being touched by customers, ensuring that activities are visible at all times, and introducing a minimum age of 18 for everyone involved.<ref name=BBC/><ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2006/04/24135036/0|title=Adult Entertainment Working Group - Report and Recommendations: Volume 1|author=Linda Costelloe Baker|date=25 April 2006|publisher=The Scottish Government|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> A prominent voice of opposition to a lap dancing ban was [[exotic dancer]] [[Veronica Deneuve]] who set out to try to involve the stripping community in the discussion to inform such legislation.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Report seeks sex industry 'rules'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4942096.stm|work=BBC News|date=25 April 2006|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref> The [[International Union of Sex Workers]] said that the "recommendations are flawed and would be extremely detrimental to workers and operators in the industry".<ref>{{cite press release|title=Trade Union Members Reaction To Scotland's Adult Entertainment Working Group Report|url=http://www.iusw.org/gmb/press-releases/10-may-06/|publisher=International Union of Sex Workers|date=10 May 2006|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>

The Scottish Government accepted a number of the recommendations, but it rejected the idea that licensing boards should be able to determine whether full nudity is appropriate in given locales. It also rejected the idea of a compulsory one-metre no-touching zone between dancer and customer, suggesting that this would be unenforceable. It did, however, propose to enable licensing boards to consider nude dance venues as a separate class of venue.<ref name=Hubbard/> No legislation directly followed the group's report. However, the report informed the statement of licensing policy of many licensing boards across Scotland on the introduction of the [[Alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom#Licensing law in Scotland|Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= Licensed to thrill|author=Stephen McGowan|url=http://www.journalonline.co.uk/Magazine/58-8/1012938.aspx|date=19 August 2013|journal=Journal of the Law Society of Scotland|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>

In 2013 the Scottish Government and carried out a consultation on the regulation of "[[sexual entertainment venues]]".<ref name=WSP/> This, in combination with the AEWG's 2006 report, paved the way for the [[Scottish Parliament]] to introduce licensing reform for lap dancing<ref name=Hubbard/> as part of the [[Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015]]. This came into effect in 2016 and requires local authorities in Scotland to set out individual policies with regard to the licensing of lap dancing clubs.<ref>{{cite news|title=New air weapon licensing laws to be introduced next year|url=http://www.thenational.scot/news/new-air-weapon-licensing-laws-to-be-introduced-next-year.6077 |date=7 August 2015|author=Martin Hannan|newspaper=The National|access-date=9 March 2016|quote=New rules on the licensing of “sexual entertainment venues” such as lapdancing clubs are also introduced in the Act, with local authorities required to set out their individual policies.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|at=Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2015/10/part/3/crossheading/sexual-entertainment-venues/enacted |title=Sexual entertainment venues|website=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>

====Northern Ireland====
Northern Ireland's first lap dancing club was opened by [[Donegal (town)|Donegal]] businessman Jerome Brennan, who already owned lap dancing clubs in [[Dundalk]] and [[Limerick]] in the Republic of Ireland, mainly using dancers from Russia and the Baltic states.<ref name=McDonald1>{{cite news|title=Lap dancers ready to scandalise Ulster|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/feb/24/northernireland|author=Henry McDonald|date=24 February 2002|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 February 2018}}</ref> In 2002 Brennan opened the Movie Star Cafe, a lap dancing club in [[Belfast]],<ref name=Groom>{{cite news|title=Lapdance Club Boss Groomed Girl, 15, on Internet|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lapdance-club-boss-groomed-girl-703855|newspaper=Mirror|date=25 October 2006|access-date=16 February 2018}}</ref> with dancers from Belfast and England.<ref name=McDonald2>{{cite news|title=Belfast war on the lap dance club|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/18/northernireland.henrymcdonald|newspaper=The Guardian|author=Henry McDonald|date=18 May 2003|access-date=16 February 2018}}</ref> The Belfast club was officially opened as a restaurant to circumvent Northern Ireland's licensing laws. The opening of the club was opposed by Rev. David McIlveen, a minister in the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster]],<ref name=McDonald1/> and the club was often picketed by protesters from the church<ref name=McDonald2/> and women's groups.<ref>{{cite news|title=Paedophile asks to serve jail term in Republic|url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/2013/08/20/news/paedophile-asks-to-serve-jail-term-in-republic-67959/|date=20 August 2013|author=Valerie Robinson|newspaper=The Irish News|access-date=16 February 2018}}</ref> In 2003 councillors from [[Belfast City Council]] expressed their intention to refuse the renewal of the club's licence,<ref name=McDonald2/> and the club closed in November 2003 with debts of over £300,000.<ref name=Groom/> Brennan's nightclub in Dundalk remained open.<ref>{{cite news|title=Assaulted two Gardai on leaving nightclub|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/argus/news/assaulted-two-gardai-on-leaving-nightclub-26914105.html|newspaper=The Argus|date=6 August 2004|access-date=16 February 2018}}</ref>

A few years later Northern Ireland businessman Lawrence John organised lap dancing at a [[Hooters]] bar, followed by a clandestine lap dancing club in Belfast in 2007.  It was the subject of a report on the [[BBC Northern Ireland]] TV programme [[Spotlight (BBC Northern Ireland TV programme)|Spotlight]] in 2008 alleging that simulated lesbian [[sex show]]s took place on the premises.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sex Industry in Northern Ireland: Private Dancers|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/sex-industry-in-northern-ireland-private-dancers-28140383.html|first=Gail|last=Walker|date=4 July 2008|newspaper=Belfast Telegraph}}</ref>

===United States===
Some jurisdictions in the [[United States]] outlaw lap dances and enforce a minimum distance between dancer and patron. In [[Seattle]], one such minimum distance ordinance was overturned by [[Referendum|public referendum]] in November 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/13/america/NA_GEN_US_Seattle_Lap_Dances.php|title=Lap dance ban defeated, Seattle wonders where to put strip clubs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013060541/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/13/america/NA_GEN_US_Seattle_Lap_Dances.php|archive-date=13 October 2007|date=13 November 2006|newspaper=International Herald Tribune}}</ref>

Also in 2006, concerned about reports of [[sexual assault]] and illegal stage fees, San Francisco's Commission on the Status of Women recommended a ban on private rooms and booths at adult clubs in the city. However, a majority of dancers at the Commission's meetings and the [[San Francisco Board of Supervisors]]' meetings protested against these efforts, fearing for their income and claiming that these rooms were safer than other venues.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/05/BAGQEKBSMH1.DTL |title=Adult club private rooms debated |date=5 August 2006|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|first=Charlie|last=Goodyear}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/19/BAG2DKLOQ61.DTL |title=Exotic dancers rally at City Hall to halt private-room ban in clubs|date=19 August 2006|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|first=Cicero A.|last=Estrella}}</ref> As a result, the Commission's proposed ban was not adopted by the city.<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=autogenerated3 />

In February 2010, the [[Detroit City Council]] voted to ban lap dances in VIP rooms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/02/detroit_detroit_city_council_v.html |title=Detroit City Council votes to allow alcohol, ban lap dances in strip clubs|work=MLive.com|date=24 February 2010 |access-date=11 September 2015}}</ref> However, across from Detroit in [[Windsor, Ontario]] in Canada, lap dancing remained legal, even where alcohol was served, and sex clubs were also legal in Windsor.

In 2012, the [[New York Court of Appeals]] ruled that lap dances were not an [[art form]] and are subject to [[sales tax]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2012/10/23/new-york-court-of-appeals-lap-dancing-is-not-an-art-form-is-subject-to-sales-tax/ |title=New York Court of Appeals: Lap Dancing Is Not An Art Form, Is Subject To Sales Tax|magazine=Forbes|date=23 October 2012|access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref>