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Sex plus tax? Labour ministry supports regulating exotic dancers

By ANDREA DOWNER, Staff Reporter

THE MINISTRY OF Labour has supported calls by some exotic club owners for the regulation of Jamaica's sex trade industry. The ministry has also come out in support of recruiting girls from outside of Jamaica to dance in exotic nightclubs.

A senior representative in the ministry told THE STAR that regulation of the lucrative business, which could include taxation, would ensure that the interests of exotic dancers are protected and that more money will flow into Government coffers.

The representative also indicated that regulation would enhance and improve a product that is linked to the country's tourism trade. "I agree that more should be done to regulate the industry. In addition to the high potential for earning foreign exchange, the regulation of the industry would ensure the high quality of the product such as dancers etc," said Ivan McIntosh, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Labour. "The operators of the clubs are not catering for a purely Jamaican clientele, when persons come to Jamaica, they expect a diverse entertainment package which not only includes our local girls."

He said that by regulating the industry, the rights of exotic dancers would be protected to ensure that they are adequately remunerated. He said the dancers would be more aware of their rights and would be able to benefit from education and training. He added that it would then be more difficult to hire underage girls as sex workers.

McIntosh pointed out, however, that there are aspects of the regulatory procedure that would not be the responsibility of his ministry. "This would have to be a collaborative effort amongst several ministries that are stakeholders in this," he said.

He indicated that the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Health and the Jamaica Federation of Musicians are among the key stakeholders that would have to be on board.

However, Tony Lowrie, Communications Officer of the Jamaica Tourist Board, denied that Jamaica's sex trade is in any way linked to the island's tourism product. "Jamaica's sex trade, exotic dancing industry etc. is not a part of our tourism product. The Jamaica Tourist Board's policy is very clear," Lowrie told THE STAR.

First preference

McIntosh said that while the labour ministry is not against night-club owners recruiting dancers from outside of Jamaica, the Jamaican dancers are given first preference and his ministry only issues work permits to the foreign girls if it has been proven that the positions have been advertised locally and it has not been possible to find Jamaican girls who are suitable to fill the vacancies.

Figures released by the labour ministry indicate that there are 29 foreign dancers who are currently working in Jamaica in four adult entertainment establishments on the basis of work permits issued by the ministry.

Despite the fact that McIntosh indicated that the ministry is responsible for ensuring that the foreign dancers adhere to the terms and conditions of their work permits, it did not appear that the ministry has a structured way to ensure that this is done.

THE STAR learnt that the ministry relies heavily on informants such as other dancers or the owners of nightclubs to advise them of breaches by the foreign sex workers such as moving from one club to another that is not stated on the work permit or overstaying their time in Jamaica.

"We have ways of knowing these things," an employee of the ministry said. ""The very workers themselves - the Jamaican girls, will call us to tell us that someone has overstayed the limit of their work permit and the club owners will call us if a worker has left his establishment to go to work for another club that is not stipulated on the work permit," a labour ministry official told THE STAR.