Martin M c Dermott , S. Pastoral Committee for the Afro-Asian Migrants,. Artiste is a name for nightclub dancer, masseuse , model, or barmaid, and also for the modestly unmentioned profession of prostitute, which as everybody in Lebanon knows, is a sideline that is expected of the dancers, masseuses , models, and barmaids. Prostitution in Lebanon is not legally permitted and is therefore clandestine, but tolerated and, to some extent, regulated. That means that barmaids, masseuses, cabaret singers and dancers are licensed, and also are required to undergo regular medical examinations.
A foreign girl who is found to have a contagious disease must be deported within 48 hours. The General Security walks a fine line here. In order to avoid the opprobrium of public opinion, it formally forbids prostitution, but at the same time regulates the artistes into a situation where they must prostitute themselves in order to live.
But before I speak of the licensed and regulated artiste s, I should say something about those who find themselves, rather by accident, in unregulated prostitution. Domestic servants are imported from any African or Asian country, the major ones being Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and the Philippines. They are not brought in to be prostitutes, although sometimes their employers, both Christian and Muslim, expect sexual favors of them, too.
If she does not succeed in being illegally hired by a new employer, she finds herself on the street and will soon fall under the protection of a boyfriend, sometimes Lebanese, but often an Egyptian or Syrian migrant worker, who puts her out for prostitution. A woman can remain trapped in this, and for every year she stays in Lebanon without a residence card and work permit, she will have to pay the equal amount to the authorities as a fine before she can leave Lebanon.
In a few years, she will owe several thousand dollars in fines, and so she cannot leave. These girls can be found in the hotels and sidewalks of Beirut and on the streets, bars, and massage parlors of three coastal towns north of Beirut. These same towns Jounieh, Maamaltain, Tabarja, etc, also abound in cabarets, each of which will employ about 15 artistes , while some 60 to 70 establishments called super nightclubs may have as many as thirty girls to dance, to talk with the customers, and encourage them to buy drinks.
