Ethiopia strip clubs raided

By Damian Zane
BBC, Addis Ababa

Ethiopian police have been cracking down on illegal strip clubs in the capital, Addis Ababa.

The police say they will close all illegal sex clubs

In a series of coordinated raids, police officers went into five clubs and arrested more than 200 people.

A police statement has linked the crackdown to the country's growing HIV/Aids problem.

It was in the small hours of the morning that a team of 15 police officers raided the clubs.

One of the officers, who was involved in the raid on the In and Out club in Addis Ababa's poshest shopping centre, told me that they found four topless dancers entertaining the clientele.

Extra cash

The police arrested everyone present: customers, staff and management.

The girls that were arrested - some as young as 16 - told the police that they had started off in the clubs as waitresses, but the managers had enticed them to become dancers - no doubt with the promise of extra cash.

But it seems the girls were embarrassed to reveal their new status to their families - because when they were at the police station they made no contact with relatives.

According to the policeman I spoke to, the girls looked sad when they were arrested.

But some of the customers protested to the police saying they had a right to watch topless dancing.

Unsafe sex

The policeman however pointed out that in Ethiopia such activities are illegal.

He said that if the police have evidence of any other clubs operating in this way, they will close those down too.

According to the Daily Monitor newspaper, the police have said that while the country is suffering from the ravages of HIV/Aids it is disgusting that such places exist to help youths practise unsafe sex.

Most of those arrested have been charged and the court case is pending.