(Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez | Nevada Independent) – Dennis Hof was found dead at one of his seven brothels almost a year ago. But the death of one of its most outspoken figureheads hasn’t kept the brothel industry out of the headlines — it faced a legislative push to put an end to the industry and a proposal to explore brothel working conditionsthrough a formal study.
Archives for August 2019
Brothel Study Committee Members Appointed
(Chuck Muth) – Last week the Nevada Legislative Commission appointed the six members of the Legislature who will sit on the interim committee charged with studying the working conditions for Nevada’s legal commercial sex workers.
The study, proposed by Assemblywoman Leslie Cohen (D-Las Vegas), will include “an examination of the extent to which the rules and working conditions in licensed brothels provide for the health, safety and general welfare of sex workers in licensed brothels.”
The appointed study committee members include three from the State Senate and three from the State Assembly. Four Democrats, two Republicans. Four women, two men. Three from Clark County, one from Washoe County and two rural.
They are…
- Julia Ratti (D-Washoe)
- Dallas Harris (D-Clark)
- Pete Goicoechea (R-Rural)
- Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen (D-Clark)
- Assemblywoman Heidi Swank (D-Clark)
- Assemblyman John Ellison (R-Rural)
Of the six, Sen. Goicoechea and Assemblyman Ellison represent districts in which legal brothels currently operate. Legal brothels are not allowed in Clark and Washoe counties.
The study committee will likely hold its first meeting some time in late September and is likely to appoint Assemblywoman Cohen to serve as the committee chair.
The group will likely conduct its study through next June or July and then begin the process of recommending possible legislation for the 2021 legislative session.
Of primary interest, as outlined in the bill creating the study and articulated during hearings on it, is the nature of the contractual relationship, rules, and working conditions of the independent businesswomen who choose to work at the brothels and the brothel owners.
The committee is also directed to study…
“The adequacy of oversight and regulation by the State and licensing and law enforcement units of local government with respect to the health, safety and general welfare of workers in licensed brothels.”
In that regard here are three areas the committee should put at the top of its list for examination…
1.) Closing a loophole in the law that potentially allows the work card applications of commercial sex workers at Nevada’s legal brothels to be released to the public.
Those work card applications – which include private information, such as social security number, home address and other contact information – should be considered confidential, just like the applications to obtain a work card for gaming and liquor establishments.
In fact, the confidentiality for these women is even more important due to the nature of their work. After all, liquor store clerks and blackjack dealers aren’t usually targets for stalking, harassment and sexual assault. Commercial sex workers are.
2.) Eliminating and/or changing state law and ordinances which perpetuate the social stigma associated with commercial sex work.
Despite brothels being legal in parts of rural Nevada, certain wording, phraseology, limitations, requirements and restrictions unique only to this industry contribute to a community perception that these professional women are “second-class citizens.”
Eliminating the stigma associated with LEGAL commercial sex work in Nevada would go a long way toward improving the “health, safety and general welfare of workers in licensed brothels.”
3.) Along those same lines, the study committee should review provisions in state law that discriminate against legal brothels when it comes to advertising.
Despite being a legal, licensed and heavily regulated industry, Nevada’s brothels suffer from severe restrictions, embedded in law, on their ability to market their services, unlike every other legal business in the state – including gaming, liquor and marijuana, as well as other sex-related businesses such as gentleman’s clubs and escort services.
Indeed, state law even goes so far as to make it unlawful for a legal brothel to include in any “display, handbill or publication” the “address, location or telephone number of a house of prostitution” or “identification of a means of transportation to such a house,” or even “directions telling how to obtain any such information.”
Seriously? In 2019? Does Google Maps know about this?
Such limitations and restrictions on a legal business which perpetuates the stigma absolutely harms the “general welfare of workers in licensed brothels” and should be revised.
With those items in mind, let the study begin.
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a limited-government grassroots advocacy organization, and government affairs counsel to the Nevada Brothel Association
Only Tulsi Gabbard Wants to Decriminalize Sex Work, but Other Dems Show Signs of Progress on the Issue
(Elizabeth Nolan Brown | Reason) – A majority of Americans now favor “removing criminal penalties for adults to sell and pay for consensual sex,” with support particularly high among Democrats and younger voters but also crossing party and age lines. Yet most of the Democrats running for president prefer to keep quiet about sex work issues, and only one remaining candidate—Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii)—has publicly expressed support for decriminalizing prostitution.
“If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime,” Gabbard said in a statement this weekend to Reason. “All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor.”
Gabbard is the only one to get a good grade on a recent report card put out by the group Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW). “Gabbard supports the full decriminalization of sex work, which removes criminal and civil penalties from adults engaged in consensual acts of prostitution,” the group reports.
California Governor Signs Immunity From Prostitution Arrest Bill SB233
Sex Workers Applaud Governor’s Signature Of SB233 Which Protects Individuals Reporting Serious Crime And Removes Condoms As Probable Cause For Prostitution Arrests
(Maxine Doogan) – The Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP) applauds California Governor Gavin Newsom for signing Senate Bill 233 into law.
Originally sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener, Assembly Members Bill Quirk and Laura Friedman, SB233 picked up two more sponsors along the way: Assembly Members Buffy Wicks and Sydney Kamlager-Dove. This first of its kind legislation protects anyone reporting a serious crime (such as sexual assault, trafficking, robbery, domestic violence, or other violent crime) without being charged with a misdemeanor prostitution charge under California Penal Code 647. It also removes condoms as probable cause for prostitution arrests.
“I was violently assaulted by a predator who targeted prostitutes in 2012,” said Reada Wong. “But when the police found out that I was a prostitute, they lost interest, demeaned me, and threatened to charge me. And then, much later, when the guy was finally charged, he plead guilty. If the police and district attorney had done their jobs when I first reported the assault, the predator wouldn’t have still been out there to assault other women.”
“I was raped by a client in 2001,” said Veronica Monet. “Three weeks later, he stabbed a young woman in the face when she resisted. We were sharing information online so we knew he was a dangerous serial rapist. But when I reported him to the Oakland Police Department they wanted to arrest me for getting raped, because I admitted that I was a prostitute. Then, after three years of pressure on then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, I was finally allowed to report this rape without threat of being arrested myself. However, the police still made no attempt to contact this violent predator’s other victims, and he was neither questioned or apprehended. As a result, he is still out there to this day, and remains a serious threat to the safety of all women.”
SB 233 will make it easier for people like Reada Wong and Veronica Monet to report violence – and encourages the police to take assaults against sex workers seriously.
“This is important legislation,” said Maxine Doogan of ESPLERP. “We are very pleased to see Governor Newsom’s signature on a law which enables prostitutes to report rape and assault without fear of being arrested. And now we can do our part in helping the state get to zero HIV transmissions, a goal long held by the California Department of Public Health, without the fear of our carrying condoms being used as evidence for prostitution arrests”.
SB 233 is based on policy supported by the San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney. It’s especially relevant after the passing of Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), in April of 2018 which has disastrously affected the safety of sex workers. So we applaud our Governor for taking our call for help seriously. Now police can prioritize public health and public safety.
The Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP) is a diverse community-based coalition advancing sexual privacy rights through litigation, education, and research. Contributions to support the court case can be submitted through our crowd fundraiser – www.litigatetoemancipate.com.