Hi all, my first post on the forums as I have personal interest in this subject. 
A little bit about myself...I am a dancer, I chose to do it, I certainly wasn't trafficked, forced etc to do this job. I come from a middle class family, I have a degree and I'm married. In addition to my dancing I also just started business (related to my degree) which I am hoping to build up and do solely within a year or two.
I think both sides of the arguments presented here are quite flawed. The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle. Strip clubs are neither horrible places where young women get abused and objectified nor are they Disneyland like utopias where everyone is always perky and happy and making amazing money.
There are also all kinds of clubs and strip pubs and not all places should be tarred with the same brush. As I've been in business for a few years I have danced in high level clubs and in complete dives. I have worked for myself and for the agencies. For both men and women owners.
I do not favour banning the strip clubs as that will most certainly be a trigger for it to go illegal. It will not eradicate the stripping at all, in that you can be sure. There already are a number of "private parties" being held across the capital where touching is the norm. They are difficult to trace unless you are in the industry and I doubt that they would ever be closed down. If councils ban the clubs and pubs in which striptease and private dancing is performed legally, the whole thing will simply move underground. The WHOLE industry, rather than a few parties as the situation is now. It certainly is something to think about for the anti brigade who claim to have girls' best interest at heart. You don't as you don't respect the choice of others or their right to work in safe environment.
I do believe that your opinions were formed out of desire to help, but really it's not helping.
What we need is not a ban, but different regulations for the industry across the country...not one council or two, but all of them.
I would like to see dancers get some sort of employee status rather than be classed as self employed. The fees clubs charge are extortionate and it can make for the stressful atmosphere when you start your night at -£80 or whatever. Also, being self employed, most dancers simply choose not to pay income tax. Out of all the dancers I know, only a handful pay their taxes. When you start work, clubs certainly don't explain that you are responsible for your taxes and as a lot of the girls are foreign they never bother with it. Rather than pay extortionate fees to the club, put it towards taxes. Having employee status might help with that as well as being helpful in the case of wrongful dismissals etc... (they do happen...one day you work, the next day the boss decides he/she doesn't like you, you're jobless and there's nothing you can do about that).
Not all places are like that, of course. Some treat you very fair, some are just awful as they know they can get away with murder.
Whether the place is run by a man or a woman is completely irrelevant...there are wonderful men bosses and horrible lady bosses (and vice versa, of course).
Now for the brigade that thinks everything is kosher. Not strictly true.
Someone mentioned the money....it is true that we can end up with negative balance at the end of the night. It happens more often than you think in some places. Funnily enough, it's usually glamorous, high end places that this kind of situation is more likely to happen. Places like Stringfellows and Spearmint Rhino pack the clubs with girls...(all beautiful, of course), rack up the house fee and you're left with a cut throat atmosphere and a lot of stress. 100 girls fighting for customers. Sure, you'll have an extremely profitable say...two nights, but the other two nights you'll make a loss. And that goes for even the prettiest, sexiest girl in the place. Even though it balances out at the end of the week/month, it's extremely deflating and demoralizing when you just spent 6-8 hours gyrating naked and you end up paying for the privilege.
As for no touching, in some licensed places it does go on. It shouldn't, and while it's not encouraged by management, they certainly turn a blind eye to it. I, and most girls, don't have problem with a lap dance, and I certainly feel very comfrotable naked, but I don't want no man taking it upon themselves to touch me. Now, while it's easy to blame customers or management for this one, it's actually dancers who are the guilty ones here. They're the ones that normally encourage it first in hope of making more money. And if you offer it to a guy, well, he's gonna take it. And then he will try the same tactic with the next dancer that comes along.
Not cool. Doesn't go on in all the clubs, in fact, majority of clubs don't allow any touching, but it can be a bit of trial and error to find a good place to work which doesn't allow touching, is relaxed and treats girls with respect.
Overall, I do enjoy dancing...it keeps me fit and athletic, I LOVE doing pole dancing on stage, I don't mind doing private dancing as long as there's no touching, and I am not sorry I chose that path.
It enabled me to finish my university with no debt, to travel the world, live in a nice apartment, finance the start up of my business with no loans from the bank etc...
It is certainly a flexible job which does enable you to have a lot of choice in life.
It also gave me a bit of an insight into men and in a funny way, it made me more relaxed and understanding in my own marriage.
And even though, it can at times be demoralizing, I'd say overall it's more of a confidence builder as it does take guts and presence to get out on stage and perform naked.
So to sum it up, no ban, but better regulations.
I would be happy to answer any questions as well.