US city imposes Rs 280 tax on pole dancing

"There's a nexus between the combination of alcohol and these establishments, on violence, rape in general. So we feel that it is important in an age of constrained budgets to fund these vital services for women that arrive out of violent situations," said Democratic Assemblyman Das Williams, who authored a similar proposal for Los Angeles. He added that aside from the thousands of rape kits go unprocessed in California police departments, funding for services is lacking.

Pole sin: Officials in Houston have imposed the tax saying that it would help speed up the analysis of crime scene evidence in rape cases

"Rape crisis centres across the state are closing because of a lack of funding. The state only provides a miniscule amount of money for all rape crisis centres in the entire state," he said.

Williams clarified that the bill is meant to target only the strip clubs that serve alcohol. "If you look at the rates of violence in and around strip clubs that also serve alcohol, there is a large spike in violence in general, and that costs society money, and I think it's fine for society to ask for recovery of those costs," he added.