The lap dancing clubs which pop up every year in Cheltenham for Race Week are referred to as strip clubs. This gives a false impression of what they are like.
People often imagine a woman stripping or pole dancing on a stage. In practice there is no floor show in the lap dancing clubs. There are several women in their underwear, encouraging the punters to buy them drinks, but the main business is the lap dances, which take place in curtained off cubicles/ booths. The club takes payment upfront for the lap dance: the dancers' main source of income is any tips they make.
There are various rules for the lap dancing, including no physical contact between the dancer and the punter. In practice because the dancer is relying on tips, she is unlikely to say no to any of the punter's requests. The dancer is usually naked. The punter is fully dressed, usually older, larger than her, and often the worse for drink. Some people say the woman in that situation holds all the power, but that has to be a very strong woman, and not all the dancers are. Some are very vulnerable, and they are mostly young. Because there so many lap dancing clubs pop up during this week, in a town where there are no lap dancing or strip clubs outside of horse racing events, women are often employed who have little or no experience of lap dancing. They are enticed in with promises of lots of money. For women struggling financially, these promises are attractive, especially when they are told the official rules that there is no touching etc.
There is a lot of pressure for the no touching/ no sex rule to be ignored, from the punter, and from the need for the dancer to make tips. Prostitution happens, both in the club, and through arrangements made for outside the club. There is some trafficking, though trafficked women will usually be based in Airbnbs round the town, rather than in the clubs.
If the clubs/ punters/ dancers are caught out in any breach of the rules, it will always be the dancer not the punter who is blamed, and she will be out on her ear without any pay. In practice, they are rarely caught. The people who run these clubs are well organised, and have well rehearsed procedures in the event of a visit from the licensing authorities. There are so many of these clubs pop up during Race Week, and only a small licensing dept to deal with them (and the licensing officers seem to prioritise unlicensed taxi cabs, which also proliferate in Race Week).
Some of the dancers have drug habits, which is exploited by those running the clubs. They will keep dancers supplied with drugs and alcohol throughout the night, but this will come out of any earnings the dancers make.
Employment conditions are grim. The hours are long, from very early evening until the following morning . Technically the women are self-employed. Dancers are dependent on tips to make money. Break facilities and smoking areas for the dancers are inadequate. In one club, the dancers' smoking area was on a flat roof accessed by climbing through a window, and with no safety barrier round the roof. That same club had no safe fire exit from the dancers' changing room. The clubs rarely have separate exits for dancers and punters.
The attraction for the people running the clubs is that it is very profitable and poorly policed. The punters are often away from home and see the lap dancing as part and parcel of the Cheltenham Festival.
One of the clubs had a rule banning women coming in the club who were not dancers, 'to reduce the risk of prostitution'. Yes, they thought any woman visiting was likely to be a prostitute, and might threaten the earnings from the dancers working in the club.