Does Exotic Dancing Lead to Prostitution? An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

This study explored contextual variables within strip clubs employing exotic dancers as well as dancers’ characteristics, as potential correlates of prostitution. Face-to-face anonymous interviews were conducted with exotic dancers in San Diego County (N = 123). Logistic regression revealed that nonwhite race, allowing customer touching, illegal drug use, and number of dances per shift were significant predictors of prostitution, while childhood neglect and abuse in adulthood were near-significant. Exotic dancers may be at elevated risk for engaging in prostitution, though results warrant further quantitative research, including early intervention studies for prevention/reduction of prostitution practices and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Authors’ note

Some of the data presented in this article were reported in Jennifer Navala’s 2011 Master’s Thesis for San Diego State University. This manuscript has not been previously published and has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank former Chief of Police William Lansdowne and Lieutenant Caroline Kendrick for their approval and facilitation of this study and the San Diego Police Department for their assistance with data collection, particularly Detective Steve Larson. The authors also thank Dr. Mel Hovell, Director of the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health at San Diego State University, for providing discretionary funds to support this research study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was provided by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice Grant # 2007-IJ-CX-0013, awarded to Dr. Sheldon Zhang.

Notes on contributors

Sandy Liles

Sandy Liles is a Research Associate at the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health at San Diego State University, whose research interests include physical activity in the geriatric population, exposure to smoke from tobacco and other substances, and domestic violence.

Elaine Blumberg

Elaine Blumberg is a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at San Diego State University. Her research interests and experience include prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and health disparities in at-risk populations.

Jennifer Navala

Jennifer Navala has an MPH in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences from San Diego State University. She previously worked with Community Health Workers in rural Kenya as a part of the United States Peace Corps, before joining the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency. Her most recent roles have included managing the Community Data and Analytics Team at the Live Well San Diego Support Team and co-leading the Community Health Worker (CHW) Communication and Outreach Services, working with organizations employing CHWs to provide culturally mindful and linguistically appropriate critical COVID-19 information and resources to the diverse communities of San Diego.

Jennifer Zellner

Jennifer Zellner is currently the Director of Research Operations and Development for the Division of Dysmorphology and Teratology, Department of Pediatrics, at the University of California San Diego. She is a former Project Scientist at the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health at San Diego State University, where her research interests and experience included the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in at-risk populations.

Laura deTar

Laura deTar is the Executive Director of Fresh Approach, a nonprofit offering community-based programs addressing food insecurity and food sovereignty in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has guided program design and implementation at the organization since 2013, ensuring that programs address community-expressed needs, provide access to affordable and locally grown fruits and vegetables, and work to end the health disparities impacting communities of color.

Ben Nguyen

Ben Nguyen earned his MPH in epidemiology at San Diego State University. His research interests are addictive behaviors, physical activity, data science, and statistics. His recent works appear in the Journal of Addictive Behaviors, Translational Behavioral Medicine, and Tobacco Control.

Norma Kelley

Norma Kelley is the Division Data Manager for the Center for Better Beginnings at the University of California, San Diego. She manages the varied databases for all Center projects.

Cody Benedict

Cody Benedict is a Senior Systems Analyst at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She works on a technical team that is responsible for designing, building, and implementing the foundation’s application suite which is used to make and manage its investments.

Sheldon Zhang

Sheldon Zhang is Professor and Chair in the School of Criminology & Justice Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. His recent research interests have mostly centered on human trafficking and transnational organized crime.

Mel Hovell

Mel Hovell is the Director of the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health and an Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the School of Public Health at San Diego State University. His investigations emphasize principles of behavior, involving systematic use of contingencies of reinforcement to alter human behavior. Dr. Hovell’s recent areas of research include shaping parental and child behavior to reduce smoking and children’s exposure to smoke in the home and studying toxic agents in farmers’ well water to insure safe water for family consumption by mitigating family exposures and consequential illness.