In this third instalment, we are releasing 2 short films in one drop! Both films feature strippers discussing the challenges faced by strip clubs and dancers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. These challenges included unpredictable, rotating club closures, and related financial impacts, as well as challenges like the impacts of the online world on in-person erotic service provision.

Hustling Between Lockdowns (10ish minutes) is more specifically about how dancers weathered the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada in 2021, including how some were able to access government supports like CERB while others could not, and how strip clubs were treated differently (and as more risky) than other businesses by government authorities. Dancers in this film assert that strippers are careful about protecting their own health and public health, and always have been.

Watch Hustling Between Lockdowns here. Copy/paste link: https://youtu.be/M9xS_zZkhDk

Being a Woman in Challenging Times (9ish minutes) is about how dancers navigated instability – insights and reflections that apply both to pandemic closures as well as life as a precarious worker in general. Find out more about how strippers are precarious workers on our information page about independent contractors. Learn more about our legal action, mentioned in the video, here.

Watch Being a Woman in Challenging Times here. Copy/paste link: https://youtu.be/5qBmHhcghE4

There is one more video in the series. Stay tuned for our final instalment!