Florida strip clubs: Gov. DeSantis signs bill requiring strippers to be at least 21
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday that bans anyone under 21 from working as a stripper or in other adult entertainment establishments in an attempt to combat human trafficking in Florida.
DeSantis signed the anti-human trafficking bill, HB 7063, during a news conference at Granada Church in Coral Gables.
While the law prohibits anyone younger than 21 to work in adult entertainment establishments, the law also requires Florida rest areas, emergency rooms, strip clubs, massage parlors, and other places where trafficking can occur to display human trafficking awareness signs with numbers to human trafficking hotlines and increase punishments for businesses that fail to do so.
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Adult bookstores, adult theaters, a special cabaret, or or an unlicensed massage establishment, are all defined as “an adult entertainment establishment.”
The bill also requires an entity to contract with the state government to attest businesses don’t use coerced labor, prohibits minors from being employed in any role by adult entertainment establishments, and increases punishments for knowingly violating that.
The bill takes effect on July 1.
“This legislation will help better protect the most vulnerable in our communities, it will ensure that if businesses are not complying with these very modest, reasonable requirements, whether knowingly or unknowingly, they will be held accountable,” DeSantis said. “And of course, anybody actively involved in human trafficking will have the book thrown at them in the state of Florida.”
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DeSantis also announced he would be approving $4.9 million in the state’s budget to help fight human trafficking. He also announced a $900,000 grant program to enhance law enforcement training and staffing to combat human trafficking.
The Florida governor has been adamant about combatting human trafficking in the state. Last year, DeSantis signed a series of bills that fight trafficking, including laws that raise penalties for those who prey on human trafficking victims.
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