There is nothing more testing of the limits of one’s libertarianism than raising pubescent daughters. I should imagine even John Stuart Mill would have tempered his ideas had he presided over a gaggle of teenage offspring in crop-tops and micro-minis, whose only cultural reference points were Heat magazine and Hollyoaks.

A mother of girls arguing in favour of lap-dancing clubs is like a vixen promoting hunting with hounds or a beagle recommending smoking. It is as suspect as succumbing to an urge to unbutton John Prescott’s shirt. So news that lap-dancing clubs could be outlawed in parts of Scotland if the recommendations of the Scottish parliament’s adult entertainment working group (AEWG) are adopted should be as welcome as summer. But despite the fact that it lands me with some unsavoury bedfellows, I oppose an all-out ban.

It is astonishing how quickly lap dancing has been assimilated into mainstream culture. The first lap-dancing bar, featuring half-naked girls, opened in London in 1995. Now the girls are nine-tenths naked and it has become acceptable entertainment for the third in line to the throne. Prince Harry, taking the notion of “passing out” a tad too literally, recently celebrated his graduation from Sandhurst with a visit to a Spearmint Rhino club in Slough.

From its sleazy beginnings, pole dancing is now promoted as a form of wholesome exercise. Tired of tai chi? Weary of weights? Try hanging upside down in sexually provocative positions from a pole. Kate Moss, Sara Cox and Zoe Ball have all extolled its virtues, so perhaps it is not surprising that in a recent survey of teenage girls, 25% said lap dancing was a good career choice.

A spell in a lap-dancing bar or a hostess club, paying off student debt after graduating, is the new gap year for middle-class girls.

Despite attempts to dress it up as risqué but ultimately harmless fun, the naked truth is that lap dancing is part of the sex industry. Girls who naively think they can make a fast buck, no G-strings attached, can easily find themselves in situations outwith their control.

Few end up murdered and mutilated like Lucie Blackman, who was working as a hostess in a bar in Japan and whose parents told of their anguish in a Japanese courtroom last week. But whatever the official line, the pressure to sleep with clients is ever present, if not from the management then from the other girls who view passing up any chance to separate a client from the contents of his wallet as an opportunity wasted.

Glasgow has always taken a prudish line on lap dancing, on the grounds it is degrading to women.

If the AEWG’s recommendations are adopted, the city could become the first to ban such clubs. But they are not just degrading to women; they are degrading to all of us. I would defy anybody not to be demeaned by the tacky tawdriness of it all.

Freedom of the individual, however, means nothing if it does not mean the freedom for others to indulge in pursuits that the majority find distasteful. I don’t particularly like living in a culture that glorifies the soulless adult entertainment industry, but I’d like living in a country that banned it even less.

But if we are to tolerate lap-dancing bars, it seems eminently sensible that they are well-regulated.

Scottish employers were last week warned that they could face prosecution for sex discrimination under the new equality laws if they so much as allowed employees to hang a Pirelli calendar in the office. Yet pubs are allowed to employ lap dancers as young as 18 without the need for a licence. It is an anomaly ripe for addressing.

The AEWG’s proposals, which include a 3ft exclusion zone between dancers and clients, have been ridiculed as unenforceable. I don’t see why. Once the rule is established it is up to the club’s management to adhere or face potential closure if they are caught flouting it. Ending the practice of private booths and generally cleaning up the acts is long overdue. Giving local authorities power to control licensing should limit growth of the industry.

Imposing standards is not the same as censorship.

While it may seem to be a Sisyphean task given the sheer saturation of sexual imagery in our culture, giving up is not an option. The sex industry is constantly pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and it is not just the sex industry. Last year, Ofcom published a broadcasting code removing the requirement for television programmes to conform to standards of taste and decency.

There is a balance to be struck between outright bans and free-for-alls. I’m not sure we have it quite right at present, which is why the AEWG is to be applauded for at least trying to introduce some standards into a grubby business.

When eight times as many girls would consider a job as a lap dancer as would consider a career in teaching, it is time we took a look at an industry most of us would rather not think about.

There are measures that can be taken to limit the potential for harm.

It doesn’t have to be in the lap of the gods.

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