Stories about businesses

How customer preferences and financial incentives perpetuate sexualised work environments

The realities of running a dance bar in Kathmandu

Ram’s dance bar

Ram (name has been changed) is a 10% profit-share partner of a dance bar located 15 minutes away from the biggest Hindu temple in Kathmandu. The dance bar is in a busy area populated with many budget guest houses that primarily serve pilgrims from India and Nepal visiting the temple, but also people migrating abroad for work due to its proximity to the airport. The dance bar is located on the main road that passes through this area, which also serves Kathmandu’s only international airport. Despite the dance bar being in a busy area, it is not a high-density commercial area such as Thamel, which is Kathmandu’s main centre for tourism and entertainment in the centre of the city. At weekends, dance bar customers are likely to visit more popular hubs such as Thamel, rather than this area.

Ram manages the dance bar and is also a dancer. He is around 40 years old and dances well, having been involved in the dancing and bar sector since he was 20. Previously, he owned a restaurant and bar in Western Nepal, but he joined this Kathmandu dance bar in 2019, having been invited to do so by the venue’s partners.

The dance bar is located on the first floor of a two-storey building. On the ground floor, there are two restaurants with bars that serve food and alcohol. At the dance bar, customers can consume alcohol and food while being entertained by female employees who sit, interact and dance with or for them. Food is prepared in the restaurant below. Inside the venue, there is a small, brightly lit stage; elsewhere is dimly lit and there are sofas with coffee tables and a small dance floor. Performing dance is one aspect of most female employee’s roles, but often they are also occupied with sitting with customers on the sofas and ‘entertaining’ them (described further below). Usually, it is only Ram and one other male dancer, who perform routines consistently throughout the night (however, during the time CLARISSA researchers accompanied Ram, the male dancer was on leave). The music played in the dance bar ranges from Nepali and Indian pop songs to more sensual Bollywood songs. Dances can be erotic and female employees generally wear revealing clothes. More females are employed in this venue than men. Most male employees are employed as either dancers or bartenders.

The dance bar opens at around 5pm in the evening and closes between 1 and 2am.

Three male partners each hold around a 30% share of the business. Ram has known the other partners for some time, through his long experience of working in the restaurant and bar sector. He has a familiar and close relationship with them. The dance bar has been running for 21 years, but the present partners took over the business in 2019, after acquiring it for 1,500,000 NPR (US $11,500). Its present valuation is 3,000,000 to 3,500,000 NPR (US $23,000 to $26,000). The rental rate is 33,000 NPR (US $250) per month. The dance bar is a formally registered business, but informal practices, such as staff being employed without contracts, are prevalent.

A dance bar employee looks out from the stage towards the seating area where customers drink and eat while being entertained by female employees

Accompanying Ram at work

In January 2023, two researchers accompanied Ram at the dance bar across two consecutive evenings. The accompaniment took place on two week-day evenings because in this area, weekend evenings are less busy because customers tend to visit larger commercial centres such as Thamel. As well as observing the working environment and specific tasks undertaken by staff-members, researchers had informal discussions with Ram before customers started arriving. Where appropriate, researchers joined in with work tasks such as tidying the venue. Researchers recorded their observations on their mobile phones; this made it possible for them to note things discretely and in way that would not disrupt the employees or customers. After each evening of accompaniment, researchers recorded their more general observations and reflections.

A total of 11 customers were observed during the accompaniment: five customers on the first evening, and six customers on the second evening. Six employees were observed: five female employees aged between late teens and 28, and one male employee in his early 20s. Ram and one other business partner (aged in his 40s) were also observed during the process. Due to the heavy make-up worn by female employees, it was difficult for researchers to accurately assess their age. At least one female employee could have been under 18.

A dance bar employee performs on stage.

What happened at the dance bar 

Day One

On the first day of work shadowing, Ram opened the dance bar at around 5pm. Most employees reached work at 6pm. Others commute from more distant parts of Kathmandu (often in heavy traffic), and so don’t arrive until 7pm. Different employees were responsible for different tasks within the dance bar: on this evening the male employee handled the bar while a female employee cleaned the sofa and tables. Other female employees sat on a sofa smoking and drinking, watching TikTok and using other social media until customers arrived.

At 9:30pm a group of five male customers in their 40s entered the venue. As soon as they entered, one of the customers put his hands around one female employee’s waist, and then hugged her and kissed her on the lips. Another member of the group grabbed another female employee, and they started dancing. One of the customers high-fived Ram, showing that they were familiar with each other. Ram then took to the stage to dance.

The five men sat on the row of sofas closest to the stage and ordered beer. A female employee poured the customers a beer, and then after pouring one for herself, sat with the group by squeezing herself in to sit between them. After some time, she went to the stage and started dancing.

 

A dance bar employee performs on stage

This group of customers were mostly retired police or army personnel. At one point, when the music was not so loud, one customer could be heard loudly exclaiming, ‘I belong to the army and he is in the police!’, before playfully saluting his friend in front of the female employee. One of the customers in the group was neither drinking nor smoking but seemed to be there just to be with his friends. The other two customers in the group were drinking and smoking but seemed sober. Two of the group members were acting in a drunken way and these two customers would later dance with and touch and kiss the female employees.

Three female employees sat with the five customers. After some time, another female employee joined the group. This employee appeared to be new to working in the venue as her friend (one of the other employees) was gesturing for her to drink and be comfortable with the customers.

Later, one of the customers joined a female dancer from the stage on the dance floor to dance. While dancing with her, he continuously touched her body. At one point, he pushed her towards a wall and was forcefully kissing her on her lips, cheeks, neck and touching her body. At the same time, Ram performed on stage for them. After finishing his dance, Ram collected the tips that the customers had offered while the female employees were dancing.

Customers look towards the stage from the dance bar’s seating area.

The customers were from the hill region of Nepal and requested mainly Nepalese songs as they continued to dance while groping the female employees. At times, while they were dancing one of the customers picked up several of the female employees turn by turn, in his arms. This annoyed them, and they asked him not to do so. However, he acted indifferently and continued to pick them up, mockingly showing his biceps to everyone. Sometimes, one of the customers would whisper something in a female staff member’s ear, and she would nod her head, suggesting she agreed with what he was telling her.

Separately, another customer in his 40s entered the dance bar. He spoke to one of the employees, requesting her to call another staff member. She did as he requested, and when the employee was called from the changing room, he gave her a gift, hugged her and then left the venue.

At one point, one of the customers looked at us (the researchers) and asked if we were new staff. Ram said no, they are from an organisation and are here for research. The five customers left the venue at around 11:45 pm. While leaving, one of the customers approached us and asked if we enjoyed their dancing. Another customer joined him and greeted us playfully with ‘Namaste!’. Their friend then rebuked them and asked them to leave us alone: ‘You drunk guys, do not bother them!’. He whispered to them that we are from an organisation, and then they all left.

Two girls (aged under 18) who were working in the restaurant and bar below the dance bar as a waitress and cook entered the dance bar at around 11pm. They spoke discreetly to the male employee at the counter, and he called Ram over to talk to them. They spoke with Ram, but the researchers were unable to hear what they said due to the loud music. One of the girls went downstairs for a few minutes and came back again with a young man (aged around 19-20 years) who stayed within the venue for a few minutes while talking to Ram. One girl remained in the dance bar, watching the customers and dance performances, without talking to anyone. The other girl and young man left and then returned after 15 minutes. The girls left the venue at around 11:40 pm. When asked, Ram said the girls were there for Pathao (online taxi service), but the researchers felt the girls’ presence seemed unusual.

After the group had left, two female employees were talking to each other, saying that the customers left early because there were not enough girls for all five of them. We helped the female staff members to re-arrange the sofas. One of the female employees got a call from a different customer. She was inviting him to come to the dance bar. After a few minutes of talking with him, she handed the phone to Ram who addressed the customer as juwai (brother-in-law). Ram then said to us, ‘you see this is how we have to manage relationships with customers, by being respectful, because he is a friend of one of the shareholders’.

After that, no other customers visited the dance bar. The female staff members were drinking and smoking and then after a while, they went to have dinner at around 12:45 am. Dinner was prepared in a small staff kitchen at the venue. After dinner, there were still no customers. Ram waited for another hour and then closed the venue. He called a taxi and asked the girls to leave. He told us that he had to do the accounting and would sit with another partner to do so. The researchers left the venue.

Dance bar employees sit together during a period of low footfall.

Day Two

On the second day, the dance bar opened at the usual time (5pm). At 9.30pm, four customers (aged over 40) were the first to enter the dance bar. Unlike the previous day, none of the customers greeted or hugged the female staff; instead, they sat on the sofa enjoying the music. Again, shortly after their arrival, Ram started to dance on the stage.

The customers seemed to be originally from the Terai (southern) region of Nepal and requested Hindi language songs. Two members of the group were sitting drinking, whilst one member drank and danced with the female employees. One of the customers greeted one female employee in a way that suggested he had previously met her. She approached him and asked him to buy her a drink. They sat together and drank a beer. He seemed to be comfortable with this employee, and later grabbed hold of her and danced, kissed and hugged her. Another female employee was also sitting with them, but her facial expression and body language suggested she did not want to be part of the group.

The customer then requested a song for the next performance, and the female employee he had been sitting and dancing with started performing to the song on stage. However, he was unhappy with her performance and asked her to change the way she was dancing: he told her to sit on the floor so that she more closely resembled how the original dancer had performed the song in the music video. The employee sat on the floor as requested, and continued her performance, which pleased the customer.

One of the shareholders of the dance bar arrived later. He greeted us and then stood near the bar observing what was happening in the venue.

The group of four customers left the venue at around 10 pm. Soon after, two male customers in their 30s arrived. One of the female employees immediately approached and greeted one of the customers, and then sat next to them and ordered beer for them all. She seemed quite close with one of them. Both customers were drinking and enjoying the dance performances. Later another female employee joined them. The two customers were talking occasionally to the employee, and she was nodding and responding to them. It was not possible to hear their conversation due to the loud music. The customers drank alcohol but seemed sober. They were enjoying the dance performances but did not dance themselves. The customers left the venue at around 11:30 pm.

After that, no further customers visited the venue. Ram decided to close the venue at around 12am, once the staff had eaten dinner. He called a taxi to drop the employees to their homes.

A female dance bar employee begins her dance routine on stage.

The economics of the dance bar

The dance bar employs 12 to 15 individuals. Six regular staff were working during the accompaniment period. Salaries range between 15,000 and 18,000 NPR (US $110 to $135) per month. The Nepal government’s minimum wage requirement is 17,300 NPR (US $130); this is widely regarded as insufficient to constitute a living wage, especially if an individual has dependents. Employees rely on tips from customers which are distributed among the staff at the end of the shift, based on the level of sales of food and alcohol that each employee has generated. If the level of sales is 15,000 NPR (US $110) per day, then there is no loss for the business. Staff costs equate to around 20% of this figure.

The period of observation in the dance bar was defined by fluctuating custom. For long periods of the evening, the dance bar had no visitors. When customers did arrive, all staff members – from Ram performing on stage to female employees interacting one-on-one with each customer – mobilised to maximise sales and tips. The dance bar’s sexualised business model relies on female employees interacting with customers to increase sales for that evening and to ensure the customers will continue to patronise the venue in future. How they interacted with customers depended on the customers’ desires and expectations (see Section 5). But meeting customers’ expectations poses a financial challenge for the dance bar: as one female employee noted, without sufficient employees to interact with each customer, custom can be lost. Selling intimacy requires one-on-one interactions and this demands a relatively large staff for when groups of customers arrive. However, with fluctuating levels of custom this means employees may spend much of their shift with little to do.

The dance bar is connected to local small-scale businesses and to other dance bars. Groceries are bought from nearby shops usually by cash payment. If groceries are bought on credit this is settled by the end of the month. Food for customers is ordered from the restaurants below with some profit margin added. If alcohol supplies run low at night, agreements with other dance bars mean that alcohol can be borrowed from them.

Like many dance bars in Kathmandu, the dance bar is owned by multiple partners. This multi-partner model spreads financial risk and allows fairly low levels of investment from each investor: approximately 500,000 NPR (US $3,700) per partner. Ram’s involvement as a profit-share partner enables the investment partners to have less involvement in the day-to-day management of the venue. His skills as a dancer and manager ae utilised, whilst he is also incentivised to increase profits.

According to Ram, if sales are good, the profit margin is approximately 10-20 %. But it was unclear how often sales are sufficient or ‘good’. He described how the business ran at a loss during the Covid-19 pandemic, but that he feels it is recovering gradually.

Relations between customers, employees and employers

Employees looked very comfortable with Ram and there did not appear to be an overly hierarchical management structure at the venue. For example, one employee entered the venue late (at around 7:30 pm) and was not reprimanded by Ram, suggesting a relatively relaxed attitude to timings. The female employees seem able to exercise some agency in terms of the activities they engage with in the dance bar: there is no overt pressure from Ram for them to dance and he seemed unconcerned whether they sit with customers or in the corner away from customers.

However, roles seemed to be pre-defined and there is an expectation that female employees will drink with and entertain customers. The pay structure incentivises these interactions because employees can earn more by encouraging customers to buy food and alcohol. Expectations to entertain customers and drink alcohol were also be reinforced by co-workers. For example, one female employee appeared to be new to the role and seemed wary about the activities at the dance bar. A more senior female staff member was pressuring her to sit with customers and get comfortable with them, despite the new employee being hesitant to do so. Along with one of the customers, the senior employee encouraged her to interact and drink alcohol with them. The need for each customer to feel entertained encourages employees to pressurise their co-workers to keep customers happy; if one group member feels excluded, this risks the whole group leaving. In addition, increased drinks sales bring benefits for staff in terms of commission and tips earned. While customers may tip individually, there’s incentive for employees to increase a group’s sales, because the commission from the group’s bill will be split between them. Commission will also be earned from the food and drinks bought for employees, so there are also financial benefits from encouraging co-workers to drink alcohol.

Customers appear at ease when entering the venue, and some are regular customers. Familiarity is important for customer retention, and Ram is a key part of fostering this sense of closeness. He greets each customer even when performing on stage and seems comfortable being touched by customers on his cheeks and body while dancing. He uses familiar terms of address such as juwai (brother-in-law) to refer to customers in some situations. Both Ram and his staff are adept at personalising their approach with customers – adapting the way they interact to meet their needs and sensibilities. For example, during the observation, one group of customers were addressed using the terms dai (brother) and the customers addressed them as bahini (younger sister), whilst another group of customers were addressed using the respectful suffix ji while the customers addressed the employees using the term maiya (sweetheart).

Types of interaction with customers also vary. For example, during the observation there was some evidence of longer-term relationships between some staff and customers. One customer visited the venue to provide a gift to one member of staff, and Ram explained that sometimes customers visit the dance bar at around 5pm to meet their favourite employee. More generally, flirting, kissing and sexualised touching seemed to be an expected and not uncommon aspect of interacting with customers.

Generally, customers expect employees to meet their demands – whether this is dancing in the way they want or engaging in sexualised interactions. At times, during the observation, employees looked uncomfortable with the levels of interaction and some employees directly verbalised their dislike of certain behaviors, such as being picked up and carried by a customer on the dance floor. However, attempts to control customer behavior and put in place boundaries were dismissed or ridiculed by customers. Several customers arrived at the dance bar in an inebriated state and continued to drink alcohol in the dance bar. Despite several employees vocalising their discontent about certain behaviors, Ram, who had heard the complaints did not interfere and allowed the behavior to continue.

The power customers have can also be seen in payment arrangements: Ram described how customers want to pay on credit, and that he must collect the money from them the next day. Sometimes he faces difficulties in collecting the money and must leave with only a promise from customers that they will pay “next time”.

Conclusion

High levels of competition both locally and from other centres of entertainment such as Thamel, result in the dance bar grappling to secure custom. In this climate, the balance of power resides with customers. Both Ram and his employees go to great lengths to appease customers’ demands to ensure that they stay at the venue and spend money; this includes providing high levels of physical intimacy (including kissing and sexualised touching) with few limitations, and, for Ram, turning a blind eye to employees being touched co-ercively. It also relies on employees consuming alcohol with customers to increase sales.

Commission based pay structures mean employees are incentivised to be intimate with customers and to drink alcohol, and to encourage their co-workers to do the same. With base salaries at minimum wage or just above, earning a sufficient living wage depends on being able to boost salaries through tips and earning commission from food and alcohol sales.

Dance performances are not a central part of the offer, but instead, one aspect of the sexualised interactions with young female employees that the dance bar provides. There are expectations for both one-on-one interactions and high levels of physical intimacy that include open displays of sexualised touching. Customer expectations for high levels of physical intimacy and financial pressures to meet these, mean that employees are exposed to harassment, and there is no recourse when touch is coercive. While CLARISSA researchers could not confirm the presence of children at the dance bar, this case study illustrates how these types of working environment constitute the worst forms of child labour for children working in them. Business models’ reliance on sexualised interactions between female employees and customers, results in the sexual exploitation of children in workplaces where children are employed in such roles.

A female employee stands at the side of the stage

High levels of intimacy have financial implications because sufficient staff are required to fulfil each customer’s needs, even though there may be long periods of no custom. There was some evidence that this could be mitigated by temporarily expanding the workforce with employees from nearby venues, such as the restaurant below the dance bar. Although not explicitly stated by Ram, our researchers hypothesised during their time spent observing the running of the dance bar that the two female children who worked in the restaurant situated below could be involved in this way: when the dance bar needed more employees to meet customer demand, they could be used to boost staff numbers.

The immersion of CLARISSA researchers into the day-to-day running of a dance bar in Kathmandu reveals how the dance bar’s sexualised business model incentivises intimacy between employees and customers and takes advantage of social norms that reflect older men’s sense of entitlement to young women and girls’ bodies and attention. But this also means that central to the business model, is a reliance on female employees being exposed to harmful behaviour – from having to consume high levels of alcohol to being at risk of harassment, and being left unprotected when touch becomes coercive.

*Photo credit: Anish Bastola. Photographs were taken in a dance bar in Kathmandu which is similar in size and set-up to Ram’s dance bar. Written consent was provided by each employee featured in the photographs. Photographs have been blurred to protect individuals’ identities.