The Fawcett Society has investigated corporate sexism and the sex industry's infiltration into the modern workplace and found 26% of trade unions have received enquiries from employees who have been exposed to the sex industry - including pornography - at work.
Nearly nine out of 10 lap dancing clubs in London provide ‘discreet receipts' so employees can visit and claim the money back from their employer.
The Fawcett Society believes this type of behaviour demeans the status of female staff in workplaces and has recommended employers take action to prevent porn and lap dancing clubs being associated with corporate purposes.
Kat Banyard, campaigns officer at the Fawcett Society, said: "Despite relative silence on the issue within employer circles, our research shows the sex industry is a major threat to women's equality at work. For too long, employers have engaged with the sex industry without due regard for the impact on female employees in a work context. But this is an issue employers cannot afford to ignore.
"The sex industry is increasingly focusing on the corporate market, with lap dancing clubs marketing themselves as ideal venues to host meetings and client entertaining,
"While the days when it was deemed acceptable to hang ‘girly calendars' on office walls may be long gone, the presence of degrading imagery of women in UK workplaces has never been more endemic. It is crucial that retail employer cover up pornographic newspapers and lads' mags and place them on the top shelf."
