(Newser)
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Seeking to protect women from exploitation, Canada is ending visas for foreign strippers, reports the Globe and Mail. Foreign escorts and massage parlor workers will also be banned. The government says the move is to combat human trafficking but critics say the ruling Conservative Party is just being prudish. The government has issued 496 visas to exotic dancers since 2006, though just 12 were issued last year. There are about 700 foreign strippers currently working in the country, but they won't be allowed to renew their one-year visas when they expire.
"The government cannot in good conscience continue to admit temporary foreign workers to work in businesses in sectors where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a risk of sexual exploitation," says Canada's immigration minister. But advocates for the adult entertainment industry say that as long as those jobs are legal in Canada, the government is discriminating against valid workers. "They’re destroying the industry by creating a labor shortage," says a spokesman for the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada, adding that strip clubs will probably end up recruiting foreign students, who are allowed to work part-time. "The word exotic means foreign, and that’s what people want to see," he says.
