It's Like Yelp For Strippers, And It Could Save Freelancers Everywhere (Forbes)
Read the full article by Janet Burns at Forbes.com
Every once in a while, an app or site comes along that makes you wonder where it's been, but very thankful it's arrived. When such a platform also aims to improve lives far beyond its principle area of focus, it may potentially be the rarest of diamonds in this here digital rough —and a new tech suite for strippers is just that sort of gem.
The Dancer's Resource app is a bit like Yelp-meets-Glassdoor for strippers, giving dancers the crucial ability to review and research the clubs where they work, connect with other dancers, and generally strengthen their position in a frequently abusive, financially cutthroat industry. It's also the flagship product of dancer-turned-entrepreneur Crissa Parker, who's determined to bootstrap her way into changing the whole 'contract economy' for good.
And Parker's quest to find better real-life treatment for workers through the digital realm doesn't end there. On May 4, her team will have launched TheClubCreep, an online forum dedicated to letting dancers and other staff warn each other about abusive individuals who come to the strip club, starting with sections for the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
As Parker pointed out, this kind of website has generally remained protected under the Communication Decency Act. However, sites that occupy other legal grey areas adjacent to the sex industry (even to warn sex workers about assaults), or that have fallen under the hammer of twin bills SESTA and FOSTA recently for their adult personal ads, have not.
As a result, sex workers around the world have reported significant losses of income and increased threats to their bodies and lives as they've been forced to find clients on the street, and assess the risk in an instant, rather than making careful decisions from home.
According to Parker and her former peers, the legal crackdown on sex-related sites has also meant that sexual predators (who should be stopped) and those seeking to pay for sex (who should be elsewhere) are now showing up at strip clubs.
It's this kind of public confusion and stigma around sex work and adjacent industries that continues to make stripping so hazardous, despite it being an incredibly common source of work, entertainment, and social comfort, Parker said. "The more marginalized things are, the more dangerous they become," she commented. "Assault happens to one person at a time, making it so much easier to get away with."