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Archives for November 2019

November 11, 2019 By NBA Staff

Brothel Study Committee Needs to Study Where the REAL Problems Are

(Chuck Muth) – Katelyn Newburg of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported recently that an underage girl was raped and robbed by a 27-year-old man, Dijan Anderson, outside the Bellagio Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

The girl, reportedly under 16 years of age with autism and other developmental disabilities, “told a security guard at the hotel’s north valet area that a man took her purse and punched her in the head because she refused to solicit sex for him.”

“The girl told officers she was on the Strip with other people when they were approached by a group of men, including Anderson, who asked her to solicit men for him,” the RJ reported.  “The girl ‘said she wasn’t going to participate and started to cry because she didn’t like it,’ the (police) report said.”

“Around 3:30 a.m., the girl and Anderson began walking through Bellagio; the girl told officers he then took her to a bushy area outside the casino and raped her, the report said.”

Ms. Newburg continued…

“Surveillance footage showed that Anderson and the girl walked behind some bushes and that 20 minutes later the girl came back without her purse and a man was running from the area, the report said.

“Later that morning, surveillance footage showed Anderson speaking with a woman near the MGM Grand and hitting her multiple times. Bystanders try to help in the video, but Anderson ‘chases them away’ while appearing to hold a gun, the report said.”

Horrific.

But it can’t be ignored that this assault occurred in the one county in Nevada, Clark (Las Vegas), where legal brothels are prohibited by state law.

The Nevada Legislature has authorized a Brothel Study Committee to look into the employment conditions of women working in Nevada’s legal brothels.

But if legislators are truly interested in the health, safety and welfare of women in Nevada who work in the sex industry, they need to look at the dire and dangerous conditions faced by those who work where commercial sexual services are ILLEGAL.

THAT’S where most of the real problems are. THAT’S where the real dangers lie.  And ignoring them won’t make them go away.

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a limited-government grassroots advocacy organization, and government affairs counsel to the Nevada Brothel Association.  His views are his own.

Filed Under: Blog

November 1, 2019 By NBA Staff

US judge dismisses case against legal brothels in Nevada

(Ken Ritter | Associated Press) – A federal judge in Nevada has dismissed a lawsuit that invoked sex trafficking laws in a bid to close the nation’s only legal brothels.

U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno said in her Tuesday ruling that she empathized with three women who claim they were victims of sexual violence in Nevada and other places.

However, the judge said the women live in Texas and she wasn’t convinced the profound harm they said they suffered was due to Nevada prostitution laws.

“That plaintiffs were unlawfully forced into prostitution and sex trafficked in Nevada and other states is not sufficiently traceable to Nevada laws … as opposed to other factors, namely the illicit behaviors of private bad actors,” Du wrote.

Attorney Jason Guinasso, representing plaintiffs Rebekah Charleston, Angela Delgado-Williams and Leah Albright-Williams, said they may appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been victims of sexual assault, but Guinasso said the women consented to be named in the lawsuit and news reports.

Guinasso previously served as a lawyer for a Nevada group, “No Little Girl,” that led an unsuccessful campaign last year for a ballot measure to end prostitution in Nevada’s Lyon County.

He called the lawsuit a successful “first step to creating change in our laws” and said in a statement that if Nevada did not permit legal prostitution, his clients would not have been trafficked to Nevada.

Prostitution is legal in rural Nevada, but not in the state’s two most populous counties, Clark and Washoe, or the cities of Las Vegas and Reno. State officials currently oversee 21 legal bordellos in seven counties.

Brothel owners argue that state regulation and mandatory health screenings make the women they hire safer than those involved in illegal prostitution.

Lance Gilman, owner of the Mustang Ranch in northern Nevada, welcomed Du’s ruling and said he and his competitors are “firmly committed to being an integral part of the solution to address” sex trafficking.

“The significant amounts of time and resources that have been wasted on inflammatory lawsuits and desperate ballot initiatives … should have been spent developing solutions to get women off the streets and out of the hands of predators,” Gilman said in a statement.

Charleston heads a group in Colleyville, Texas, that works to eradicate sexual exploitation. She has said she was a homeless runaway living on the streets when a boyfriend forced her into prostitution. She said she was traded to a sex trafficker who forced her to work at a brothel in Lyon County east of Carson City.

The other two women were added to the lawsuit as plaintiffs in March. Their hometowns were not listed in court filings, which named Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak and the Nevada Legislature as defendants.

Nevada state Attorney General Aaron Ford, representing the governor and Legislature, declined to comment about the dismissal.

The judge summarized the complaint as a contention that “the existence of legal prostitution in certain counties and localities in Nevada allows for sex trafficking to flourish and thus conflicts with federal laws.”

The lawsuit cited the federal Mann Act of 1910, which prohibits the interstate or foreign commerce transport “of any woman or girl for prostitution, debauchery or for any other immoral purpose.”

It called the Nevada law legalizing prostitution unconstitutional because “the brothel industry in Nevada openly notoriously persuades, induces, entices and coerces individuals to travel in interstate commerce to commit acts of prostitution.”

The lawsuit also asked the judge to order the state to devote $2 million a year to a fund for mental health services, job training, child care, scholarships and tattoo removal to people seeking to leave the sex trade.

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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