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Archives for July 2018

July 27, 2018 By NBA Staff

Don’t outlaw brothels, empower sex workers

(Isabel Youngs) – Over the last week, several opinion pieces have been published regarding Nevada’s laws around legal (and illegal) sex work. Every single one was reductive and borderline cruel, invalidating the autonomy of sex workers by stating they either all love or all hate their jobs; that brothels are safe or brothels are inhumane.

Like any profession, there are hundreds of factors that go into why one either enjoys or despises what they do. Each piece did nothing to address the many nuances of why some sex workers are happy and others are not. There are problems in our legal brothel system; however, much of that stems from society’s cultural lack of respect for women and sex workers.

There is absolutely no peer-reviewed study corroborating that legalized prostitution expands illegal prostitution or that brothels are rife with trafficking, rape, abuse, drugs, suicide and imprisonment. There is no factual or philosophical basis for criminalizing prostitution.

Additionally, there is no research comparing legal sex work and the safety of other professions, like domestic work. The problem of abuse, drugs and misogyny is engrained, and encompasses several industries, not just the sex industry.

Sexual and physical violence is tied to power imbalances, discrimination and the devaluation/stigma of certain people. Targeting sex workers does not help to solve systemic abuse and violence across many communities and in many professions. In fact, stigmatizing sex work could increase violence against workers.

However, there are inherent problems with the way we have established our prostitution laws, and many workers do end up in horrifying conditions with few opportunities for recourse. Nevada law limits legal sex work to specific locations in specific counties, operated largely by affluent businessmen with no incentive to provide benefits for their employees. In our current climate, workers have less choice, less autonomy and less negotiating power under contracts at brothels than they would as either unionized employees or private independent contractors who decide when, where, how and with whom they do business.

However, these problems are not solved through the criminalization/outlawing of prostitution, which paints women as victims who are disempowered and lacking autonomy. Many of the problems rampant in sex work are a result of a sweeping lack of choice for marginalized communities across the board. By improving access to high-paying alternative employment and educational opportunities, as well as legislating protections for marginalized workers, we can begin to transition people out of sex work who do not want to be there, and end the stigma against those who willfully choose that employment.

The creation of better laws protecting the interests of workers and offering legitimate paths out of the profession for those who want to leave it is much better public policy than throwing sex workers in jail or attempting to pass laws that would make trafficking victims less safe.

Many of the people and organizations doing work in the sex trafficking prevention arena are not asking underground sex workers and trafficking victims what they need, but relying on research that is rarely peer-reviewed or procedurally vetted. Recent peer-reviewed articles about sex work tend to find positive outcomes to decriminalization. The prominence of bad research makes it difficult to speculate or theorize the harms of sex work in other contexts, and when problems in prostitution do materialize, we rarely see suggestions of solutions to specific issues – we see a call-to-arms for criminalization.

UN Women reports, “The conflation of consensual sex work and sex trafficking leads to inappropriate responses that fail to assist sex workers and victims of trafficking in realizing their rights. Furthermore, failing to distinguish between these groups infringes on sex workers’ right to health and self-determination and can impede efforts to prevent and prosecute trafficking.” While there are claims that “pimps bring their victims to Nevada” because of prostitution, trafficking is tied far more to immigration, population and globalization than legal prostitution.

Traffickers also often use the danger of police intervention and criminality to control their victims, accusing them of breaking the law or threatening them with deportation. Despite “safe harbor” laws in some states, which have been implemented to protect victims from criminal punishment, the State Department reports that many victims, including minors, are routinely prosecuted by state or local officials on charges related to their trafficking.

At the end of the day, legal prostitution has its demons, but to unfairly target sex work and delegitimize the self-determination of many sex workers who do want to be in that profession by claiming that “no little girl wants to grow up to be a prostitute,” we do irreparable harm to ending the stigma of sex work. Enacting thoughtful, respectful and well-researched labor and education laws that give sex workers power and autonomy will do far more to make our state better than trying to outlaw prostitution.

Isabel Youngs is a Reno local and advocates in the issue areas of sex work, disability rights, health care and child welfare. She studied political science at the University of Nevada, Reno, with an emphasis on social policy. She currently works at a legal aid nonprofit. The opinions here are her own and not necessarily reflective of any organization or employer she is affiliated with. This column was originally published by the Nevada Independent.

Filed Under: Blog

July 19, 2018 By NBA Staff

Brothel ban supporters concede they won’t get question on Nye County ballot

(Michelle Rindells | Nevada Independent) – Organizers of an effort to ban brothels in Nye County have conceded the measure won’t make it onto the ballot this cycle.

Jason Guinasso, an attorney who’s helping coordinate similar efforts in both Nye and Lyon counties, told The Nevada Independent on Monday that the campaign wasn’t able to secure enough support from Nye County commissioners to call a special meeting and approve language for the ballot ahead of a mid-July deadline. The campaign could have forced the question on the ballot through a referendum petition, but was several hundred signatures short of the 1,963 needed to do so when volunteers ceased the campaign.

“I don’t consider it a failure,” Guinasso said. “One of the big impetuses of this is to raise awareness — I think we’ve done a good job of raising awareness.”

Guinasso said the group started relatively late in the election cycle and didn’t use paid signature-gatherers, which could have improved the prospects of the measure.

A pro-brothel campaign called Nye County Freedom countered the anti-brothel campaign, arguing that legal prostitution is a relatively unique liberty and taking it away could lead to the curtailment of other freedoms.

Guinasso said the plan is to continue outreach in the county and pursue a ban later, perhaps in  2020.

Lyon County, which had an even higher signature threshold for petitions than Nye County, already decided to take the advisory question route. That will give voters a chance to weigh in on whether they support keeping prostitution legal, and commissioners can decide whether to heed that advice and implement a ban.

Filed Under: In the News

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Suzette Cole, CEO, Moonlite Bunny Ranch

“Prostitution is the oldest profession and will not go away.  Nevada has been doing it right since 1971 when we took it out of the criminal’s hands and put it into a highly-regulated industry.  As an added benefit, there has never been a case of HIV/AIDS in the history of legal brothels here…and you can’t say that about any other profession in the United States.”

John Stossel, Syndicated Columnist

“We don’t have to cheer for prostitution, or think it’s nice, to keep government out of it and let participants make up their own minds.  It’s wrong to ban sex workers’ options just to make ourselves feel better.”

Steve Chapman, Syndicated Columnist

“Prohibition doesn’t eliminate the harms generally associated with prostitution, such as violence, human trafficking and disease. On the contrary, it fosters them by driving the business underground.”

Christina Parreira, UNLV Researcher/Sex Worker

“Sex work is my CHOICE.  I’d like to continue to have the opportunity to make that choice legally.  We don’t need protection. We’re consenting, adult women.”

Washington, DC Councilman David Grosso

“We need to stop arresting people for things that are not really criminal acts. We should arrest someone for assault…but when it’s two adults engaging in a consensual sex act, I don’t see why that should be an arrestable offense”

New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried

“Trying to stop sex work between consenting adults should not be the business of the criminal justice system.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker

“Yes, sex work should be decriminalized.  As a general matter, I don’t believe that we should be criminalizing activity between consenting adults, and especially when doing so causes even more harm for those involved.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders

“I think the idea of legalizing prostitution is something that should be considered…(and) certainly needs to be discussed.”

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris

“When you’re talking about consenting adults, I think that, yes, we should really consider that we can’t criminalize consensual behavior, as long as no one is being harmed. … We should not be criminalizing women who are engaged in consensual opportunities for employment.”

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

“I believe humans should have autonomy over their own bodies and they get to make their own decisions. … I am open to decriminalizing sex work. Sex workers, like all workers, deserve autonomy and are particularly vulnerable to physical and financial abuse.”

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

“If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime. All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper

“Legalizing prostitution and regulating it, so there are norms and protections and we understand more clearly how people are being treated and make sure we prevent abuse, I think it should be really looked at.”

Mike Gravel, former Alaska Senator

“Sex workers are workers, and they deserve the dignity and respect that every worker deserves. For too long, we’ve denied them that. Sex workers, not politicians, should lead the way in crafting sex work policy.”

Prof. Ronald Weitzer, George Washington University:

“Unlike illegal street prostitution in many other places, Nevada’s legal brothels do not disturb public order, create nuisances, or negatively impact local communities in other ways. Instead, they provide needed tax revenue for cash-strapped rural towns.”

Prof. Barbara Brents, UNLV author, “State of Sex”:

“Teams of scholars…have concluded that Nevada’s legal brothels provide a far safer environment for sex workers than the criminalized system in the rest of the United States.”

Prof. Sarah Blithe, UNR author, “Sex and Stigma”:

“Discussions of legal prostitution are rife with misinformation.  Academic work and popular press publications alike often conflate legal prostitution in the United States with illegal prostitution.”

Lee Herz Dixon:

“Do I think eradicating legal prostitution from all Nevada counties will erase the practice of the oldest profession in the state, or break the nexus of drugs, crime, and exploitation of the vulnerable? I do not.”

Journalist Michael Cernovich:

“It’s empirically proven that criminalizing sex work allows children to be sex trafficked more readily as they are afraid to turn to authorities and wonder if they will be arrested.”

Enrique Carmona:

“We need to put aside moralistic prejudices, whether based on religion or an idealistic form of feminism, and figure out what is in the best interests of the sex workers and public interest as well.”

Ruby Rae, professional courtesan

“In the brothels, we have the choice, always, to say which clients we will say yes and no to. We have staff that would never let a man hurt us, and we have a clientele that do not come here to hurt us.”

Kiki Lover, professional courtesan:

“We are human beings who chose to do sex work on our own free will. We get treated with respect and like family at the brothels. It’s a job just like any other job. We sell a service that all humans need.”

Paris Envy, professional courtesan:

“I’m not ‘exploited.’ I’m not ‘trafficked.’ I’m not ‘brainwashed.’ I don’t need to be ‘saved.’ I’ve freely chosen this line of work, which is a legal, private transaction between consenting adults.”

Alice Little, professional courtesan:

“It’s ILLEGAL sex work that exploits children. It’s ILLEGAL sex work that traffics. It’s ILLEGAL sex work that sees women exploited and abused by pimps.”

Jim Shedd, Nevadan

“Prostitution should be licensed, regulated, taxed like any other service industry.  There are many single or widowed men and women who should be able to take advantage of such services provided by consenting adults for consenting adults. Let’s act to at least reduce illegal sex trafficking and other sex crimes by creating safe and legal outlets for paying adults who wish to use them.”

Paul Bourassa, brothel customer:

“Some people are just never given a chance in the dating scene, so brothels offer those of us with no experience a chance to learn what it’s like to be on a date.”

Lewis Dawkins, brothel customer:

“It’s not always about sex. Little compliments and encouragements offered by the ladies help build my self-confidence. It’s a business, yes. But the ladies care personally about their clients. That means a lot.”

Brett Caton, brothel customer:

“I think brothels provide an important function in society. Legal ones give a safe outlet to their customers and for some men it is the only way they get so much as a hug.”

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The Nevada Brothel Association PAC is a coalition of legal brothel owners, brothel workers, brothel clients and brothel supporters dedicated to defending a woman’s right to choose professional sex work as a career, protecting the public’s health and safety, and preserving Nevada’s rich live-and-let-live heritage.

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Carson City, NV  89721

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