An exotic dancer-turned-legal eagle is turning her sights on five New York jiggle joints and their managers for allegedly trafficking her and allowing customers to rape and beat her.
“When I was dancing, I watched clubs take money to turn a blind eye to what was happening to me and to other dancers,” Christine DeMaria told The Post, detailing the vicious behavior she allegedly endured while working in a pair of “private” VIP lounges in Manhattan.
“I was bit above my left breast so hard, it bled. I was sexually assaulted by customers while on stage. A guy choked me by putting a belt around my neck, and he then raped me up against a wall. I was fired for reporting a rape,” the 37-year-old claimed.
DeMaria grew up in New Jersey, and by the age of 15, was trafficked to Arizona by an older man who had been grooming her, she said.
By 2014, she was stripping.
“I was fired for reporting a rape at a club, and as I was being fired, the manager told me, ‘You’re a stripper. You asked for this.’
“Of course I didn’t ask to be raped.”
She was slapped in the face on several occasions — hit so hard, her skin was left red, DeMaria claimed.
“In the strip club industry, dancers are often forced to choose between accepting sexual abuse or walking away without the means to support themselves,” she said.
“Over and over, I witnessed the owners and managers of strip clubs completely disregard human life.”
She stepped off the stage for good in 2021 — and decided to hit the legal books instead, attending New York Law School.
While she was still in law school, DeMaria launched a non-profit called Switch, or Sex Workers in Transition Compassion Home, which aims to provide dancers with “education, career guidance, and a real exit ramp if they want one.”
In 2023, DeMaria was recognized with the Walentas Family Foundation’s David Prize, which bestows $200,000 each upon five “visionary” New Yorkers annually.
“In an industry that puts a price on people, Christine envisions a New York where people can instead be priceless,” according to the David Prize online profile.
She graduated law school in June and passed the state bar a month later.
DeMaria, who worked for Sapphire 39 in Midtown and Sapphire 60 on the Upper East Side, is seeking $10 million damages against the company for alleged “rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, forcible touching, assault, battery, sex trafficking, and unlawful false imprisonment,” according to her Manhattan Supreme Court filings.
“I witnessed women punished for refusing sex acts and for reporting sexual assault, while management profited from our suffering and sold access to our bodies without our knowledge,” DeMaria told The Post.
“When I was dancing, I didn’t have the resources, knowledge, or support to pursue justice,” she added. “My law school education changed that. Now, I intend to hold these clubs accountable for abusing women in violation of the law.”
DeMaria has also sued Vivid Cabaret, on West 37rd Street, and Hoops Cabaret on West 33rd Street, which share the same ownership, for $15 million, accusing the company of rape, sex assault and sex trafficking, as well as forcible touching and battery, among other claims.
She has accused the club Gossip, on Long Island, of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and other claims, seeking $2.5 million in damages, according to court records.
The cases are pending. Lawyers for Vivid, Hoops, and Gossip didn’t return calls for comment.
Four other former dancers have joined DeMaria’s case against Sapphire, alleging in court papers they were also subjected to sexual violence “resulting in physical and emotional harm.”
“Too many strip clubs operate as if women who agree to dance at their club also agree to be sexually assaulted or even raped,” explained lawyer Megan Goddard, who is representing DeMaria and five other women in the Manhattan state Supreme Court lawsuits.
“Strip club managers often turn a blind eye to assaults and retaliate against dancers who report them. ‘What did you expect?’ is not a lawful — or human — response to an employee reporting a rape on your premises,” Goddard continued.
DeMaria hopes her lawsuits will bring change.
“I have devoted my professional life to advocating for strippers, sex workers, and victims of human trafficking,” she said.
Sapphire insisted it “takes claims of this nature very seriously” and gives workers information on how to report misconduct.
“The first time Sapphire learned of any of Ms. Demaria’s claims was when this suit was filed and the lawsuit itself provides no details of what she actually claims happened a decade ago at the club,” a rep said. “Nor has any additional information been provided despite our requests.”
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