Washington, June 28 (ANI): The City Council of Houston has passed an ordinance, under which strip clubs will be required to pay a five dollar-per-visitor fee to help pay for the analysis of biological evidence, collected from victims in cases of rape, in the hopes of identifying their attackers.
Police in Houston, and in many other parts of the U.S., have been reported to lack the money to promptly analyze evidence such as hair particles and blood specimens, gathered by investigators in packets known as rape kits. Houston estimates it has 6,000 rape kits that have yet to be scrutinized by crime laboratories.
Supporters of the ordinance, which was supported by Mayor Annise Parker and approved on a 14-1 vote, contend that strip clubs should shoulder some of the costs of rape investigations because the establishments can cultivate unhealthy attitudes toward women that can lead to sexual assaults.
"There are negative secondary effects associated with adult-entertainment establishments," the Wall Street Journal quoted Ellen Cohen, a council member, as saying who championed the ordinance which could generate up to 3 million dollars in annual revenue.
According to the ordinance, the fee would also apply to clubs that stage occasional adult entertainment, such as "a wet T-shirt contest or naked sushi contest," and stated that all the revenue is to go toward processing rape kits.
There are an estimated 30 clubs subjected to the tax. (ANI)