Adverts for sex worker banned

Ministers are to ban Jobcentres from advertising for strippers, lap dancers and topless barmaids. The Employment minister, Chris Grayling, will tomorrow order government-run agencies not to offer jobs in the adult entertainment industry, after campaigners claimed that such ads validate the idea that "sexually exploitative work is an acceptable career".

The Government wanted to bar all "adult" adverts but were successfully challenged in court by the lingerie firm Ann Summers in 2003. The new ban will cover only jobs involving the "sexual stimulation of others", allowing Jobcentres to accept adverts for shop staff or cleaners in bars, but not "performers", either on stage or online.

The policy change will be followed by a change in the law to prevent another court battle. In 2008, Jobcentres advertised more than 350 jobs in the sex industry.