HIV-infected stripper faces deportation

Woman convicted in 2007 after infecting husband

OTTAWA – An HIV-infected stripper who infected her husband faces possible deportation from Canada after being convicted of criminal negligence and aggravated assault for knowingly passing on the virus that causes AIDS.

 In a ruling released Tuesday, the Federal Court dismissed a challenge from Suwalee Iamkhong, who came to Canada from Hong Kong on a work visa in 1995 to work as an exotic dancer in Toronto.

Originally from Thailand, Iamkhong met Canadian Percy Whiteman soon after arriving in Canada and she married him in 1997. She had already tested positive for HIV in Hong Kong, but she not reveal her status to her husband until she fell ill and was hospitalized in 2004. Iamkhong, 39, was sentenced in August 2007 to three years in prison after being convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and aggravated assault. Federal Court Justice Russel Zinn ruled against Iamkhong in her challenge to a report, prepared by Immigration officials, finding her inadmissable to Canada on grounds of having a criminal record that garnered a sentence of more than two years. A report, by law, must be prepared for the federal immigration minister before he makes a decision on whether to deport.Zinn noted that non-citizens may be removed from Canada if they have been convicted of “serious criminality, as the applicant has.”At her trial in January 2007, Iamkhong failed to convince the court that she did not believe she had HIV, despite the positive test result in Hong Kong. She argued that she mistakenly thought she had been tested in Canada for immigration purposes and found to be HIV-negative.

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Another stripper files suit against club owner

Exotic dancer Barbara Sanderson has filed a Human Rights complaint against the owner of a Mississauga strip club, claiming that she was dismissed due to her age.

November 7, 2008 09:25 AM – A second adult dancer has come forward to file a human rights complaint against the owner of a Mississauga strip club,alleging she too was fired because of her age.
Barbara Sanderson, 45, a divorced mother who lives in the area of Hurontario St. and Bristol Rd. with her two teenaged children, is the second person to complain to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in recent weeks about John Sit, owner of the New Locomotion Strip Club on Matheson Blvd.
Both she and Kimberlee Ouwroulis, 44, say they were fired from the club because they were too old.
Both cases are now before the tribunal, but a hearing date has yet to be set for either.
Sanderson, who used the stage name Bridgette, has been dancing since 2001. She worked at Locomotion for seven months. But, on June 13, she claims she was terminated because she received some bad reviews from customers who called her “old and ugly.”
“They pulled the rug out from under me,” Sanderson said Thursday (Nov. 6). “I was earning my way and given every indication that I was doing a great job until they canned me.”
Sanderson, who now works at an airport-area strip club, said the manager of the establishment had written a letter of reference for her to secure the mortgage on her home just a month before she was fired.
“He said in the letter I was an ideal employee with a great future at the club, and then all of a sudden, I get fired,” she said.
None of the allegations have been proven.
Sit hasn’t returned more than a dozen phone messages left by The News.
Earlier this fall, Ouwroulis filed a similar complaint against Sit.
“He told me that the club is going in a new direction with younger girls,” Ouwroulis said.

“That’s age discrimination to me.”
The complaint, filed Sept. 16 to the tribunal, alleges that Sit got rid of Ouwroulis back on June 6 because of her age. The complaint also names other dancers as witnesses.
Ouwroulis, who goes by the stage name Kristy, has been dancing for four years. She worked at Locomotion for most of those four years and is now employed at an east-end strip club.
The Tribunal’s mandate is to resolve applications brought under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Ouwroulis will be seeking close to $100,000 in her application. She said she earned close to $8,000 a month while at Locomotion and was one of the hardest-working and most-liked employees.
“I was the older girl but the girl who looked great,” she said. “I was never in trouble at work. I’ve never been reprimanded. I don’t have a criminal record … I am just a professional worker who takes dancing very seriously.”

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Stripper’s demand backed

A BEHAVIOURAL expert has backed a stripper’s call to ban touching in the city’s men’s clubs to protect the dancers’ safety.

Keep them to yourself: Stripper “Cherry” refuses to work in Cairns strip clubs which allow patrons to touch the dancers.

Cherry, 27, said she was disgusted and appalled on her return to Cairns to find both the city’s clubs allowed punters to grope the dancers above the waist.

She said there was enough stigma attached to being a dancer without the public thinking she allowed men to touch her breasts.

Addiction Help Agency director Margaret Renfrey, who is a behavioural and mental health professional, said the touching rules allowed punters to get too close, taking the performance to a whole different level.

“Touching a person’s body breaks down a psychological and physical boundary.

“Once you touch someone, that barrier is broken,’’ Ms Renfrey said.

She suggested the rules also allowed men to get too aroused.

“It’s about the safety of the strippers.

“If someone is so highly aroused, where do they take it when they leave?”

While Queensland legislation allows touching of the body, but not the genitals, in strip clubs, Cherry said the clubs should show more respect for professionals.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years. But this takes the power away from the girls.’’

Covergirls and Toybox both feature touching and non-touching dancers.

Cherry walked off the job after one night at Toybox and wants dancers to know they can perform in cities like Townsville or Mackay without the threat of being touched.

Exotic Dancer Arrested After Bachelor Party

A bachelor party in Virginia Beach ends with a man in the hospital after he got into a fight with the exotic dancer who perfromed there.  Police say 28-year-old Hanna Whipple argued with one of the men at the party, she left, then climbed into an SUV and ran over the man she was fighting with.  The victim suffered a broken leg and collarbone.  Whipple is charged with malicious wounding.

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Geologist transforms into exotic dancer at night

BY DAY she dons a pair of steel toe caps and a high-vis jacket.

But Claire Novis cuts a different figure at night. When darkness falls the senior geologist swaps her sensible work gear for sequins and tassels.

Because the 31-year-old, from Longbenton, Newcastle, is a belly-dancing teacher and has toured the globe to perform.

She said: “I first got into it when I was at Durham University in 1999, it was just a bit of fun but I fell in love with it and it’s taken over my life.”

Claire works as a senior geologist engineer at Arup, in Central Square Forth Street, Newcastle, and says her colleagues were taken aback when they first peered into the boot of her car. She said: “They see me wearing steel toe-caps and a hard hat so to see my sequined outfit and hip belts was a bit shocking for them.

“But I get the same response from people I dance with – they can’t believe what I wear at work, there’s quite a contrast.

“People think I’m nuts but I think they’re used to me now.”

Claire has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004 and at the Hilton Hotel, Algiers, in Algeria, for their 2007 New Year celebrations, as well as in Egypt.

She has also performed on stage with the headliners of the Avalon Stage, the Baghdaddies, at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. And in the little spare time she has left, she teaches other Newcastle residents.

She said: “The youngest I’ve taught is 16 and the oldest is 75. They come from all walks of life.”

Now, Claire has launched her Egyptian-style dance business Claire Dances.

She added: “It’s more of a passion than a money-making venture.

“I just love getting other people into the dancing and watching them progress.”

Claire will be teaching in West Moor and Jesmond – to find out more visit www.clairedances.co.uk

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