A bargirl is a woman who works as a hostess or dancer in bars to provide company or sexual services to patrons; the exact nature of services and varieties of bar varying by country/region. In most cases, these cater mostly to male clients, although in some cases women are also clients. Variants on the term include "B-girl[1]," "juicy girl" and "guest relations officer."
These kinds of bars include hostess bars (primarily in East Asia, but also elsewhere), go-go bars and "beer bars" (Southeast Asia), dance bars (India), and while the term "bargirl" is not used, the basic form is similar in some other areas such as the boliches of Argentina.
Note that this term should not be confused with a barmaid, who serves drinks in a bar but is not expected to entertain customers personally or provide sexual services. Many bars that employ bargirls will have additional service staff, who may be of either sex.
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The term is often associated with some Southeast Asian countries (especially Thailand and the Philippines) where many (but not all) bargirls also act as prostitutes, either on-site (effectively a brothel) or by being available to be bar fined (see below).
Bargirls sometimes get a commission on drinks bought by their customers and a percentage of the escort fee ("bar fine") paid by any customer who wishes to take them out of the bar. In other cases, they may have a periodic quota of drinks or bar fines, or both.
In addition to entertaining customers individually, many bargirls work in go-go bars where are also expected to dance on stage, often in skimpy costumes (such as bikinis), semi-nude or nude.
A bar fine (sometimes written as "barfine" or "bar-fine"), is the payment made by a customer to the operators of a bar (particularly hostess bars or go-go bars) that allows a dancer or hostess or some other employee of that bar to leave work early, usually in order to accompany the customer outside the bar. A bar fine may also be required in order to take the employee to a more secluded part of the same establishment, such as a short-time room.
Although it is not universal, this practice is very frequently associated with prostitution - especially in South-east Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines. The bar fine amount and whether sexual services are included in the bar fine or have to be negotiated separately are both subject to local custom.
It is also a standard feature of dockside nightclubs in South Africa that cater to foreign seamen.
Bar fines also make an appearance in Latin countries in the form of a Salida (Spanish: exit fee); in some other venues, such as boliches in Argentina, there can be a similar requirement to buy the lady a number of drinks before she leaves.
Where bargirls act as prostitutes, patterns vary widely: regionally, between bars and also just on individual preference. Some will seek to have as many customers as possible in a given day, like many prostitutes in the west; these women will generally only take "short-time" clients. Others will be more selective and only accept one customer in a day, taking "long-time" customers overnight or even for a few days following.
In some cases, the cost of a bar fine is fixed; in others, the cost of a "long-time" bar fine is higher than of a "short-time" one.
A payment over and above the bar fine may or may not be expected; this varies nationally (payment for sexual services is almost always separate from the bar fine in Thailand), and by the length of time the bargirl spends (it is generally customary for "long time" but not for "short time" in the Philippines.) When it is paid separately from the bar fine, this additional payment is usually referred to as a "tip" or a "gift."
Working conditions vary highly both between and within countries; even within individual countries, conditions can vary highly between venues - for example, within the single red-light district adjacent to Pattaya Beach, Thailand some classes of bars employ women who are relatively well-paid and live independently from the bar, while others will employ lower-paid women who live in rooms on site in conditions only a little better than the indentures seen at outright brothels.
Individuals working as prostitutes are vulnerable to violence (including rape and murder) and to sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS.[2]
In some countries prostitution is treated as a serious crime; in the Philippines it is covered by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.[3] In Thailand, and in many other countries where bar fine prostitution is common, it is technically illegal but widely tolerated.
In respect of American soldiers, the purchase of a bar fine has been prohibited by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, making it an offense considered equal to buying the services of a prostitute.