Editing Prostitution in Nevada (section)

== Illegal prostitution ==
Illegal prostitution is the most common form of prostitution in Nevada; the offense is a [[misdemeanor]]. The cities of Las Vegas and Reno have worked to expand their tourism base by attracting families to the hotels and casinos. Accordingly, the state legislature has made prostitution illegal in Clark County, and law enforcement agencies have tried to eliminate the once-rampant street prostitution, enacting legislation against it in 1971. Nevertheless, prostitutes continue to work in casinos, where they wait in bars and attempt to make contact with potential clients.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Schwartz |first1=David G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofeAAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |title=Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781136757402 |pages=59–61}}</ref> Of all the prostitution business in Nevada, only about 10% is legal, and 90% of illegal prostitution occurs in Las Vegas.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chase |first1=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhRyput1LlUC&pg=PA99 |title=Picturing Las Vegas |publisher=Gibbs Smith |year=2009 |isbn=9781423604884 |page=99}}</ref> The vast majority of prostitution in Nevada takes place illegally in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKBvqXL0jTQC&pg=PR27 |title=Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work |year=2006 |isbn=9780313329692 |editor-last1=Ditmore |editor-first1=Melissa Hope |volume=1 |pages=xxvii, 254|publisher=Greenwood Publishing }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kuo |first1=Lenore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYs7wGbPAnUC&pg=PA86 |title=Prostitution Policy: Revolutionizing Practice Through a Gendered Perspective |publisher=NTY Press |year=2005 |isbn=9780814747919 |page=86}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Driggs |first1=Don W. |url=https://archive.org/details/nevadapoliticsgo00drig_0 |title=Nevada Politics & Government: Conservatism in an Open Society |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1996 |isbn=9780803217034 |page=[https://archive.org/details/nevadapoliticsgo00drig_0/page/9 9] |url-access=registration}}</ref> Legal prostitution in Nevada grosses about $75&nbsp;million per year while illegal prostitution in the Las Vegas area grosses about $5&nbsp;billion per year.<ref name="Flowers2011">{{Cite book |last1=Flowers |first1=Ronald Barri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYA7FJxisMIC&pg=PA42 |title=Prostitution in the Digital Age: Selling Sex from the Suite to the Street |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=9780313384608 |page=42}}</ref> Some 300–400 prostitutes are arrested each month by the Las Vegas police.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Flowers |first1=Ronald Barri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNB0G7f4CsC&pg=PA33 |title=The Prostitution of Women and Girls |publisher=McFarland |year=1998 |isbn=9780786404902 |page=33}}</ref>

[[Escort service]]s offering sexual services euphemistically as 'entertainment' or 'companionship' are ubiquitous, with a reported 104 pages of a Las Vegas [[yellow pages]] directory devoted to "entertainers".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=William Norman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9eNVovFFMoC&pg=PA340 |title=Gambling in America:An Encyclopedia of History, Issues, and Society |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2001 |isbn=9781576071595 |page=340}}</ref> Flyers are dispensed to tourists and others along the Las Vegas Strip by freelance workers. These flyers also graphically depict female 'personal' entertainers or escort services. Despite the attempt to make the Las Vegas Strip more family-friendly, such advertising for these services continues.<ref name="UGLV2007">{{Harvnb|Sehlinger|2007|p=269}}</ref>

In 2009 Las Vegas was identified by the FBI as one of 14 cities in the U.S. with high rates of [[child prostitution]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Whaley |first1=Sean |title=State Lawmaker Plans To Continue Mission In 2011 To Combat Child Prostitution In Nevada |url=http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/tag/child-prostitution/ |access-date=October 3, 2011 |website=Nevada News Bureau}}</ref>  Las Vegas police claimed that "roughly 400 children are picked off the streets from prostitution each year."<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 22, 2009 |title=New Law Expands Crackdown on Child Prostitutes |url=http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=10575169 |access-date=March 10, 2010 |website=Las Vegas Now |publisher=KLAS TV, CBS Channel 8}}</ref>

The [[United States Justice Department|U.S. Justice Department]] has also named Las Vegas among the 17 most likely destinations for [[human trafficking]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Skolnik |first1=Sam |date=January 29, 2007 |title=Do we have a human trafficking problem? |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2007/jan/29/do-we-have-a-human-trafficking-problem/ |website=Las Vegas Sun}}</ref>