Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Prostitution in Nevada
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== Criticism == {{Summarize section}} The brothels in [[Nevada]]'s rural counties have been criticized by law enforcement professionals, journalists, sex worker activists, feminists, social and religious conservatives and politicians. [[File:Sheri's Ranch.JPG|thumb|[[Sheri's Ranch]] in [[Pahrump, Nevada|Pahrump]]]] Columnist [[Bob Herbert]] wrote: {{blockquote|A grotesque exercise in the dehumanization of women is carried out routinely at Sheri's Ranch, a legal brothel about an hour's ride outside of Vegas. There the women have to respond like [[Ivan Pavlov|Pavlov]]'s dog to an electronic bell that might ring at any hour of the day or night. At the sound of the bell, the prostitutes have five minutes to get to an assembly area where they line up, virtually naked, and submit to a humiliating inspection by any prospective customer who has happened to drop by".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Herbert |first1=Bob |date=2008-01-15 |title=Politics and Misogyny |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/15herbert.html?_r=1 |access-date=2010-05-22}}</ref>}} During the 1970s and early 1980s, several towns had enacted rules prohibiting local brothel prostitutes from frequenting local bars or casinos or associating with local men outside of work. After a lawsuit was filed in 1984, these regulations had to be abandoned, but as a result of collaboration between [[sheriff]]s and brothel owners, they remain in effect unofficially. Most brothels do not allow the prostitutes to leave the premises during their work shifts of several days to several weeks.<ref name=Alexa/> In 2009, prostitution researcher Melissa Ditmore wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' that brothels "impose some extraordinary restrictions on commercial sex workers" in order to "separate sex workers from the local community": some places forbid prostitutes to leave the brothels for extended periods of time, while other jurisdictions require the prostitutes to leave the county when they are not working; some places do not allow the children of the women who work in the brothels to live in the same area; some brothel workers who have cars must register the vehicle with the local police, and workers are not permitted to leave the brothel after 5pm; in some counties registered sex workers are not allowed to have cars at all.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ditmore |first1=Melissa |date=April 16, 2009 |title=Sex and taxes |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/apr/03/nevada-prostitution-tax |access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref> The Nevada brothel system has also been criticized by activists in the [[Sex worker movements|sex worker rights movement]], who are otherwise supporters of full [[decriminalization of prostitution]].<ref name="anderson">{{Cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=L |year=1994 |title=Working the Nevada Brothels |url=http://www.bayswan.org/Laura.html |journal=Gauntlet |volume=1 |issue=40 |page=42}}</ref><ref name="brents-haus-2001">{{Cite journal |last1=Brents |first1=BG |last2=Hausbeck |first2=K |year=2001 |title=State sanctioned sex: Negotiating informal and formal regulatory practices in Nevada brothels |url=http://faculty.unlv.edu/brents/research/socpersp.pdf |journal=[[Sociological Perspectives]] |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=307β332 |doi=10.1525/sop.2001.44.3.307 |s2cid=144728259}}</ref> Organizations and individuals supporting the [[Sex workers' rights|rights of prostitutes]] typically favor deregulation and oppose Nevada-style regulation, mainly for three reasons:<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Laura |title=Working In Nevada |url=http://www.bayswan.org/Laura.html}}</ref> * the licensing requirements create a permanent record which can lead to discrimination later on; * the large power difference between brothel owner and prostitute gives prostitutes very little influence over their working conditions; * while prostitutes undergo legal and health background checks, their customers do not; the regulations are thus designed to protect customers, not prostitutes. Teri, a prostitute who has worked in a Nevada brothel (and who would like prostitution to be decriminalized), stated that "The brothel owners are worse than any pimp. They abuse and imprison women and are fully protected by the state".<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 26, 2000 |title=Sexwork Cyber Resource Center |url=http://www.sexwork.com/legal/NevPimpHouses.html |access-date=June 18, 2011 |website=Sexwork.com}}</ref> Another former prostitute who worked in four Nevada brothels attacked the system, saying, "Under this system, prostitutes give up too much autonomy, control and choice over their work and lives" and "While the brothel owners love this profitable solution, it can be exploitative and is unnecessary". She described how the women were subject to various exaggerated restrictions, including making it very difficult for them to refuse clients, not being allowed to read books while waiting for customers, and having to deal with doctors who had a "patronizing or sexist attitude" (the brothels discouraged and in many cases forbade prostitutes to see doctors of their own choosing).<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 21, 1995 |title=Working In Nevada |url=http://www.bayswan.org/Laura.html |access-date=June 18, 2011 |website=Bayswan.org}}</ref> In an article published in ''The Guardian'' in 2007, anti-prostitution campaigner, [[Julie Bindel]] wrote: "If you believe their PR, Nevada's legal brothels are safe, healthy β even fun β places in which to work. So why do so many prostitutes tell such horrific tales of abuse?"<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Bindel |first1=Julie |date=September 7, 2007 |title=It's like you sign a contract to be raped |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/07/usa.gender |access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref> In her 2007 report, ''Prostitution and trafficking in Nevada: making the connections'', anti-prostitution activist [[Melissa Farley]] presents the results of numerous interviews with brothel owners and prostitutes, she says that most brothel prostitutes are controlled by outside [[pimps]] and that they suffer widespread abuse by brothel owners and customers.<ref name="curtis">{{Cite web |last1=Curtis |first1=Lynnette |date=September 6, 2007 |title=Outlaw industry, ex-prostitutes say |url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/9612332.html |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Waite |first1=Mark |date=September 7, 2007 |title=Panel: Brothels aid sex trafficking |url=http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2007/Sep-07-Fri-2007/news/16519321.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217174035/http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2007/Sep-07-Fri-2007/news/16519321.html |archive-date=December 17, 2007 |website=Pahrump Valley Times}}</ref> Farley said that "What happens in legal brothels is [[sexual harassment]], sexual exploitation and sometimes [[rape]]";<ref name="lvrj.com">{{Cite web |title=Outlaw industry, ex-prostitutes say |url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/9612332.html |access-date=June 18, 2011 |website=Lvrj.com}}</ref> she also said more than 80% of the women she had interviewed told her they wanted to leave prostitution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It's Like Signing a Contract to be Raped": Work in Nevada's Brothels |url=http://mostlywater.org/its_signing_contract_be_raped_work_nevadas_brothels |access-date=June 18, 2011 |website=Mostly Water}}</ref> Alexa Albert, a [[Harvard]] medical student who has conducted a public-health study inside one of Nevada's brothels, and authored ''Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bing Shopping Home β Shop online, compare prices and read reviews |url=http://shopping.msn.com/prices/brothel-mustang-ranch-and-its-women/itemid2636730/?itemtext=itemname:brothel-mustang-ranch-and-its-women |access-date=June 18, 2011 |website=Bing Shopping}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> wrote in her book that the brothel owners used to require the prostitutes to have outside [[pimp]]s, because the pimps were thought to make the women work harder: "The involvement of pimps enabled brothel owners to leave discipline to men who wouldn't hesitate to keep their women in line."<ref name="eastbayexpress.com">{{Cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Toni |date=May 25, 2001 |title=The Business of Desire |url=https://eastbayexpress.com/the-business-of-desire-1/ |url-access=registration |access-date=December 6, 2022 |website=East Bay Express}}</ref> [[Bob Herbert]] also stated that many brothel prostitutes are controlled by outside pimps: "Despite the fiction that they are "independent contractors," most so-called legal prostitutes have pimps β the state-sanctioned pimps who run the brothels and, in many cases, a second pimp who controls all other aspects of their lives (and takes the bulk of their legal earnings)."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Herbert |first1=Bob |date=September 11, 2007 |title=Fantasies, Well Meant |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/opinion/11herbert.html}}</ref> In 1998, pimps from [[Oregon]] managed to place at least four underage girls in Nevada's legal brothels; they were arrested and convicted.<ref name="reviewjournal.com">[http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1998/Jan-21-Wed-1998/news/6806375.html LAS VEGAS RJ:NEWS: Searching for teen prostitutes]. Reviewjournal.com (January 21, 1998). Retrieved on June 18, 2011.</ref><ref name="pimps">[http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1998/jan/21/pimps-force-underage-girls-to-work-in-nevada-broth/ Pimps force underage girls to work in Nevada brothels, Oregon police say β Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1998 | 4:39 a.m.]. Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved on June 18, 2011.</ref> On underage girls being trafficked to Nevada's brothels, Oregon Detective Greg Harvey said, "It's happening right now, it's amazing how many girls are shipped from here to different brothels in northern and southern Nevada. Many are underage." Another detective, Sgt. Pete Kerns, supported Harvey's claims. "Never buy the line that nobody under 18 works in (Nevada brothels)," Kerns said. "It's happening."<ref name="pimps" /> Former [[Nye County]] Commissioner Candice Trummell, director of the Nevada Coalition Against Sex Trafficking, said, "It is way past time for Nevada to be the last state in the United States of America to finally stand against all forms of [[slavery]]."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Curtis |first1=Lynnette |date=September 6, 2007 |title=Outlaw industry, ex-prostitutes say |work=Las Vegas Review Journal |url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/9612332.html |access-date=October 4, 2011}}</ref> Assemblyman [[Bob L. Beers]] said, "A brothel owner is somebody who, when it gets down to the very essence, is nothing more than a slave-owner."<ref name="lvrj.com" /> Some brothel owners have been involved in criminal activities: in March 2009, a Nye County brothel owner pleaded guilty to fraud charges for paying bribes to a former Nye County Commissioner;<ref>[http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/mar/16/brothel-owner-pleads-guilty-fraud-charges/ Brothel owner pleads guilty to fraud charges β Monday, March 16, 2009 | 3:53 p.m.]. Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved on June 18, 2011.</ref> in 2008, a former brothel owner was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on two [[child pornography]] charges;<ref>[http://www.lvrj.com/news/25644904.html Former brothel owner gets 15 years in child porn case β News β ReviewJournal.com]. Lvrj.com. Retrieved on June 18, 2011.</ref> and in 1991, [[Joe Conforte]] fled to [[Brazil]] in order to avoid a conviction on tax fraud charges.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)