Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/863487
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 AUGUST 2017 3 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 However, clubs will now get the green light to have naked dancers on stage, provided that hostesses and lap dancers are all clothed when entertaining clients. A St Julian's businessman said there were at least some eight op- erators involved in the business in Paceville, which necessitated some form of legal clarity on the way business was to be conducted. MaltaToday has learnt that the new rules will also oblige employ- ers to engage dancers and hostess- es through employment agencies, either on a self-employed basis or on direct employment. A code of conduct for both dancers and clients will be on dis- play publicly, to outline exactly what dancers are offering and what clients should expect from the entertainment service. There will also be restrictions on advertising outdoors, new zoning guidelines that could prevent such clubs from appearing within a cer- tain distance of schools or places of worship, and also restrictions on club employees reeling in punters on the outside. As things stand, some clubs de- ploy numerous women on the Paceville pavements to encourage clients to walk into the club. The new rules contemplate having just one representative at the door. Malta's first strip club, 'Steam', was opened by Paceville entrepre- neur Frankie Grima in 2004. The establishment today belongs to the hotelier and Paceville mogul Hugo Chetcuti. Since then nu- merous other establishments have opened in the town. Despite operating in a legal lim- bo, on 6 June, 2012, police raided Steam at 2:30am when police ar- rested dancers who at the time were giving private dances to cli- ents. The prosecution charged a lap dancer with immoral acts after she was found with her breasts ex- posed, performing a lap dance on a client. Defence lawyer Joe Giglio had told the court at the time that the police could not impose their own morals on society. Concurring, Magistrate Ian Far- rugia had declared that a topless dancer was not sufficiently "im- moral or scandalous", considering the location, time and age group of the people inside the club. "It is not the competence of the court to decree if frequenting such plac- es is good or not, that decision has to be faced by each individual ac- cording to their conscience," he said. News that the tourism ministry was drafting a set of rules to regu- late the strip clubs led to criticism from women's rights activists, with the Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations call- ing for gentlemen's clubs to be banned. The MCWO accused the minis- ter of "taking sides" of club owners who were keen on keeping a dis- tinction between so called 'gentle- men's clubs' and strip clubs. Chairperson Lorraine Spiteri said the branding of these clubs as "mere adult entertainment venue diverts attention from the fact that these aid the normalisation of prostitution and we should stop calling them gentlemen's clubs, as there is nothing gentlemanly about them." Spiteri said strip clubs were providing an acceptable front to "commercial sex venues", and said research showed all codes of conduct and rules for such venues had not stopped them being used as a prostitution and trafficking hub. The criticism is in part informed by regular reports from the US Department of State's Trafficking in Persons report, which in 2016 insisted that Malta was a source and destination country for wom- en and children subject to sex trafficking. "Female sex trafficking victims primarily originate from China, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Rus- sia, and Ukraine. During the re- porting period, a Tunisian woman was subjected to sex trafficking in Malta. Women and children from Malta have also been subjected to sex trafficking within the coun- try," the report claims. It outlined that women from southeast Asia working as do- mestic workers, Chinese nationals working in massage parlours, and women from Central and East- ern Europe working in nightclubs represented populations vulner- able to exploitation. It also said the Maltese govern- ment had investigated and pros- ecuted fewer trafficking cases, identified fewer trafficking vic- tims, did not adequately fund anti-trafficking efforts, and did not conduct national awareness campaigns. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Magistrate Ian Farrugia had declared that a topless dancer was not sufficiently "immoral or scandalous", considering the location, time and age group of the people inside the clubs. Pictured: exterior of Steam club in Paceville Draft strip club rules lay down mandatory contracts of employment MATTHEW AGIUS AN Italian citizen has been jailed for living off the earnings of prostitution. Inspector John Spiteri charged Alexander Testi with knowingly living off the earnings of sex work carried out by his partner. The police had intervened af- ter his partner had gone to the police station and filed a report, having had enough of being ex- ploited. Lawyer Martin Fenech con- firmed that there was no objec- tion to his client's arrest. Testi, 32, born in Riyadh in Saudi Ara- bia, told the court that he was formerly a casino dealer but is now unemployed. He pleaded guilty to the charg- es. "I was her boyfriend for six months. She was happy working as a prostitute. We had a fight the day before," Testi said. The accused could not understand what she was alleging, the court was told. Inspector Spiteri pointed out that he was not being charged with forcing her into prostitu- tion but only living off the earn- ings of a prostitute. He asked that the court give a sentence that would deter others from committing similar offences. "We have reached a point in Malta where everything goes and unless the correct message is sent, we risk a greater influx of foreign escorts and prosti- tutes." The magistrate commented that Malta's problem was that Maltese society enjoyed many rights, but few duties. In view of the man's guilty plea the court imposed a six month prison sentence and fined him €50. A protection order was also imposed for the maximum period of three years, prohibit- ing him from approaching the victim. magius@mediatoday.com.mt In 2016 Malta was still listed as a source and destination country for women and children subject to sex trafficking Jailed for living off partner's prostitution