Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2007, Qupperneq 6
In March, Parliament accepted new licensing laws mak-
ing strip shows illegal in Iceland. According to the new
laws which took effect on July 1, the promotion of
nudity to attract customers to a particular venue or
event, private dancing and the fraternisation of clients
is also now illegal.
There is, however, an interesting exception to this
law: if a strip club acquires a good report from local
authorities such as the health and safety authorities,
and the police, it can be given exemption from the ban.
While stripping has been made illegal, prostitution was
recently legalised. So, what is the motive behind these
new laws?
“The main purpose of the act was to simplify the
procedures in order to obtain licenses for restaurants
and hotels and to reduce the number of licenses ap-
plicants must obtain,” says Ragna Árnadóttir, Deputy
Permanent Secretary of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of
Justice. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, vice-chair of The Left Greens,
expressed her support for the ban on stripping: “It’s a
very good step that private dancing has been banned.”
However, Jakobsdóttir has some reservations about
the legalisation of prostitution. “We’ve fought against
prostitution and we would have liked to see the law go
a step further towards the Swedish model where the
buying of these services [prostitution] is illegal because
the women who are in this business are usually not
there by choice. Members from all parties apart from
the conservatives have favoured a law put forth by [MP]
Kolbrún [Halldórsdóttir] to move towards the Swedish
model. So we can say that this is the diplomatic solu-
tion,” she adds.
Árnadóttir explains that one of the reasons for mak-
ing prostitution legal is that individuals who have been
forced into prostitution will be more likely to come
forward and lead police to those responsible, know-
ing that they cannot be punished by law. According
to Árnadóttir, it is illegal for a third party, or pimp, to
organise the prostitution of others or make money from
the prostitution of others as well as the renting of facili-
ties for prostitution.
Waiting for an Explanation
During the first week under the new laws some of the
strip clubs the Grapevine visited were still open. At one
of the clubs visited, admittedly on a weekday evening,
the music was still blaring but the club and stages were
virtually empty. A lone stripper sat quietly with the bar-
tender at one end of the bar, while the two body guards
stood hunched over at the other. Surely, this is not what
a strip club is supposed to look like. “We don’t know
what will happen yet,” they say when asked how the
new laws will impact the running of their business.
Reykjavík Chief of Police Stéfan Eiríksson explained
the reason for this.
“Nothing has really changed [...] they can offer the
same services as the wording hasn’t really changed.
The strip clubs in Reykjavík can stay open as they are
operating on their old licenses,” he says. According to
lawyers at Reykjavík Police and the Ministry of Justice,
those clubs which were already legally offering stripping
can continue to operate until July 1, 2009.
Eiríksson says that while there have been no major
changes as far as the role of the police as a supervisory
authority is concerned, the laws will make their job
easier. “The laws are much clearer so if something is
not in accordance with the law the possibility of closing
down a club, if it is not properly licensed or not acting
accordingly, is clearer,” he explains.
Ásgeir Davíðsson, owner of the strip bars Goldfinger
and Bóhem (Iceland’s first erotic club), doesn’t seem
to think that the new laws will have an impact on his
businesses. “No one understands how it works. We are
waiting to hear. We’ll find out from the police – they will
tell us what we can and can’t do. But I think everyone
will be happy,” he says. The finance manager of Club
Óðal in downtown Reykjavík says that they have received
legal advice that the new laws are unlikely to affect their
business.
Davíðsson has also been quite vocal about the new
laws which legalise prostitution but ban stripping. “I
think this is very very stupid,” he says. “It is impossible
for me to understand. I don’t think that the members of
Parliament that are making these decisions have much in
their heads. It’s very confusing. At the end of the day we
will have to be fully clothed at the swimming pool.”
The new law reaffirms that private strip shows are
illegal. Prior to the new laws taking effect, private shows
were also banned, but Goldfinger has and at the time
of writing still does offer private shows on the legal
technicality that the law stipulated that private shows
could not take place behind closed doors, but mentioned
nothing about curtains. “I know that I have been working
in a grey area and why, [but] I’m not working illegally
as far as my lawyers tell me,” Davíðsson says.
Eiríksson rejects rumours that there may be a loophole
in the new law that could allow strip clubs to continue
to offer stripping in the form of private shows: “There
is no problem with the interpretation of the law. In such
places strippers can not walk around guests. There can
be no private dancing – it states that clearly,” Eiríksson
says.
Davíðsson is awaiting a verdict from the court in
relation to whether he will be able to continue to offer
private dancing on this basis. The verdict is being decided
at the time of writing.
10_RVK_GV_10_007_ARTICLE/SOCIAL DEBATE
While stripping has been made
illegal, prostitution was recent-
ly legalised. So, what is the mo-
tive behind these new laws?
Laws on Stripping Laid Bare
Text by Zoë Robert Photo by Gulli