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By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Monday, Jan. 2, 2012 | 2 a.m.
J. Patrick Coolican
Sun archives
Like much else in Las Vegas, we treat prostitution with a wink and a nod. Although our police agencies fight it with varying degrees of success, our culture is so nonchalant about it that the rest of the country thinks it’s legal here.
We seem to collectively believe it belongs in our libertarian pantheon of guns, gambling and 24-hour access to alcohol and, to a lesser extent, other intoxicants, especially on the Strip. What a person does with his body and mind, the thinking goes, is his (or her) business.
But we need to educate ourselves about prostitution, and if we do, I think we’ll re-evaluate our stance toward it.
As my former colleague Abigail Goldman reported in 2009, “Vice detectives will tell you (that) behind every prostitute is a pimp. These relationships are by nature coercive, and these coercions are often cemented with violence.” In other words, we’re not talking about a victimless crime, about two consenting adults, because one of those adults is often a prisoner to a violent pimp. He gives her food, clothing, a roof over head, and that’s it.
Metro Police has changed its focus from prostitutes to pimps — the crime is called “pandering” — in an attempt to get to the source of the problem. But it’s a Sisyphean task because of the combination of demand — thousands of men with money who come here for business or leisure every few days — and the perception that prostitution is an accepted — or at least tolerated — activity in Las Vegas.
A few people are trying to change that perception. I recently attended a screening at UNLV of the documentary “Sex + Money: A National Search for Human Worth,” which shows the darkness of the American sex trade.
Although the film draws attention to this problem, as a documentary it’s a self-indulgent failure. Note to the filmmakers: It’s not about you. Get the camera off yourselves and stop talking. At one point, we listen to one of the filmmakers say, “I’m in crisis mode now. I don’t know how to channel my anger.” You’re in crisis? No, you’re not in crisis. The women held captive are in crisis.
In another moment of epic solipsism, the filmmakers are at a lodge at Mount Charleston discussing their new feelings about prostitution. I tried to count how many times in a minute they used the word “like,” valley girl-style, but lost count.
(I feel almost rude raising these issues, but I’m compelled to because it reflects a broader trend in documentary filmmaking, in which the ethos of reality television has infected everything like a virus.)
A question-and-answer session after the screening, however, was very valuable. Alexis Kennedy, a UNLV forensic psychologist who specializes in this issue, said the violence she sees among survivors is “unbelievable” and that “a blind eye is being turned” to the suffering caused by the sex trade.
Christopher Baughman, a member of Metro’s Pandering Investigation Team, offered a sobering portrait of what he believes is a burgeoning problem. He said criminals have considered costs and benefits and determined that the sex trade offers more money for less risk than dealing guns or drugs.
How so? A bag of drugs can be sold just once; a prostitute, many times. Moreover, women are often reluctant to testify, and for good reason. They live in fear of their pimps. Finally, even if Baughman can make these tough cases, the penalty is just four years maximum, or five years if violence was used to coerce the victim into submission.
Think about that. You terrorize and enslave me, and the penalty is four or five years max? Contrast that with much longer sentences for major drug trafficking, and you can see how our city might be flooded with pimps.
The next Legislature needs to fix this by making it easier to develop cases and by increasing penalties.
As for legalization and regulation? Baughman says he doesn’t believe this would solve the problem of pimps using violence to control prostitutes, even if the women were in a legal brothel.
We need to have a communitywide conversation about prostitution and the damage it inflicts. Let’s start now.
Part of the problem in having a discussion is the verbiage. What we are talking about in the case of illegal prostitution is not just the damage done to the people in the trade, but also our own attitudes towards the act.
In fact what men are paying for is not love; it is sex. The often enslaved prostitute provides a path for sexual energy from the john. The pimp gets the money, prostitute gets the action and the john gets his 'experience'. Neat.
Not.
The psychological damage to the prostitute is severe and usually life-consuming. How would you benefit from the acceptance of the fact that your role in life is to provide men a special place to masturbate into you?
If Las Vegas is to rise up from its current position, we must find a new kind of respect for human life. Tolerating this 'nod and wink' approach to the harsh reality of slavery, abuse and suffering can only hasten the destruction of our friends and neighbors.
a swing and a home run by mr coolican!!!
by the way...
when businesses are thinking of establishing a presence in las vegas...
how often do you think the topic of prostitution comes up...
every single time!!!
and...
what do you think the ceo's wife has to say about it when she is asked her opinion on the subject???
Hogwash.
Consensual sex between 2 adults is perfectly legal. Even if they've only known each other for 2 hours or 2 minutes. Doesn't matter.
Only when you throw money into the conversation does the act itself become illegal.
Tell me that makes ANY sense??
Comment removed by moderator. Off Topic
Show me the famine, show me the frail
Eyes with no future that show how we failed
And I'll show you the children with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I.
Well, coming from White Pine County, where there are LEGAL BROTHELS, and there are regulations in place, this article is pretty vague, basically lumping ANY prostitution into one moral catagory, which it is NOT. There are TWO catagories of the sex trade: legal and illegal. One must check their religious judgement bags at the door when reading this article.
It is the ILLEGAL prostitution and sex trade market that needs our attention and how it could be addressed. As it is, if a client wanted a LEGAL prostitute here in Clark County, they must travel all the way to Pahrump (50 miles or so) or to Ely (240 miles) or venture further north. Clark County is part of the problem and should have a legal brothel and gain control on the issue, but the misinformed or the religious right simply won't put up with it.
The ILLEGAL SEX TRADE is ridden with abuse, violence, disease, and theft. The workers are treated worse than animals and public safety is at risk. Most of the workers are exploited under age children, which is shameful and a crime, because society has written them off, not protected them sufficiently, which is an outrage (guess the State Budget doesn't allow for it). They are sex slaves, which must never be tolerated in our society. Every Nevada State Legislation Session has literally avoided the LEGAL BROTHEL topic, which demonstrates the covert part of our legal system here in Nevada.
LEGAL brothels in Nevada, do NOT permit underage workers, nor does it tolerate violence, or any form of exploitation, to their credit. There are strict rules and procedures in place to protect both the worker and the client. For the legal sex worker, it is a part of their lifestyle, doing what they enjoy, and it pays the bills. Many workers have children that go to school who live regular kid lives, even attending Church. It is patently wrong for people to judge and condemn these children because their parent has a particular lifestyle and way of thinking. Police calls over a legal brothel is a complete rarity, and when there is a call, it is usually because a client has violated the rules.
If you ever take the time to have a conversation with legal workers and establishment management, you would leave with more assurance and a more positive view of LEGAL prostitution here in Nevada. If all you interview are those against the sex trade, you will get absolute wrath and condemnation, against the WHOLE trade, both legal and illegal. These people are incapable of separating the two, seriously.
Which brings us back to the issue. There are 2 (two) very distinct industries. Please be clear about this. This is the oldest profession on the planet, yet people still cannot come to solid terms about it in part, due to ignorance, belief systems, or our government discussing it openly without being like cats in a room full of rocking chairs.
Happy New Year, Blessings, and Peace,
Star
A friend a mine called last night. Tragic news. She ran a guy over as she was backing out her driveway which is lined by shrubs until early winter when the tiny leaves drift away and one can barely see through them.
Well anyway as she was backing out she noticed Gary on his bike coming her way down the street. Gary sold heroin. His standard MO was cute young girls who were from excellent families, bright, but shy. He shared his goodies. They learned how to return favors.
As I say, the tragic news was terminal; took a while, but with help from attorneys, landscapers, prosecutors and wealthy family members, Bonnie got her way with the Buick backing out barely able to time Gary's demise perfectly.
"LEGAL brothels in Nevada, do NOT permit underage workers, nor does it tolerate violence, or any form of exploitation, to their credit. There are strict rules and procedures in place to protect both the worker and the client."
--------------------------
That is the catch here, we have LEGAL brothels in Nevada AND they pay taxes.
Legalize, regulate and tax prostitution Nevada wide, I live in Germany, and it s easier and more "harm reduction" filled from a law enforcement view in German cities.
Excellent comments, Star, on a story that completely lacked focus to say the least.
Let's look at reality with the real conversation...
If you legalize it, you will still have the drug addicted street walker who cannot get into the legal side because of her drug habit, physical appearance and health issues - So the "big-pimpin" continues!
You can't eradicate it...I think 6,000 years has taught us that.
Legalized brothels do not change the landscape of prostitution - You will find the drugs and vice lingering outside of the legal establishments as the European model demonstrates.
In the end, it's about easy money...For the hit of smack or the payment on the Benz - $500 dollar escort to the $20 'dolla-make-ya-halla' ho...It's about the dough! Girls do not become prostitutes overnight (in most cases) it's a series of bad choices, bad parents and bad luck that goes back years before the first trick is turned.
That's why I have come up with a 999 Plan!
1. Caught pimpin = 9 years
2. Caught trafficking (cross Stateline) = 9+9 years
3. Caught underage trafficking = 9+9+9 years.
Rehabilitation is the only solution to the career prostitute and that will probably have a 9+9 = 18 % success rate but that's better than nothing.
If they legalized prostitution, the pimps would go out of business immediately. If they legalized drugs (and collected taxes to pay for facilities to treat those that were finally ready to quit) drug dealers would go out of business.
Maybe we could even use some of the revenue generated to pay for the halfway houses that were supposed to be built when we closed down all the mental institutions back in the 70's. Now, we just house our mentally-ill on the street.
Illegal prostitution destroys lives. Legal prostitution is unsavory, but in my opinion, no worse than porn, and we hold porn conventions for crying out loud.
"As my former colleague Abigail Goldman reported in 2009, "Vice detectives will tell you (that) behind every prostitute is a pimp. These relationships are by nature coercive, and these coercions are often cemented with violence." In other words, we're not talking about a victimless crime..."
Coolican -- I have a friend who's a porn star. Two of his models are prostitutes on the side. Neither has a pimp. So these vice detectives show Metro's true face -- say anything to justify your job and budget, even if it's a lie.
It's called the world's oldest profession for self-evident reasons, and it's still the nanny state discarding the Bill of Rights to invade what consenting adults do in private. So long as there's consent and no one is actually -- as opposed to constructively -- getting hurt, the state has no real authority to impinge.
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others." -- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-82
The rest of the country? I hate to break it to you, but unfortunately the rest of the WORLD thinks prostitution is legal in Las Vegas.
I know this firsthand, as run into it often when I talk about my daughter, Jessie Foster, who was taken to Las Vegas in 2005, forced into prostitution - there are hospital records of Jessie being brought in after being beaten; she was arrested for solicitation several times (making one wonder if she was trying to get arrested in the hopes of being sent back to Canada); and went missing on March 29, 2006 when she was planning on coming home.
Before human trafficking was a topic in the news over and over every day, Abigail Goldman wrote a story about Jessie's disappearance: Mutual Misery When Daughters Disappear published on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006.
The other 'daughter' is Lindsay Harris, when she was finally identified in Illinois after 3 years as a Jane Doe. Lindsay went missing from Las Vegas in May 2005 - the EXACT month Jessie was taken there - and these 2 women could be described the same: blonde; early 20's; 5'6" to 7"; 110 pounds; but Jessie has hazel eyes, and Lindsay's were blue - WAS JESSIE TAKEN TO LAS VEGAS TO REPLACE LINDSAY?? I would sure like to know.
Detective Chris Baughman told me that he is very much aware of Jessie's case and he believes she is a victim of human trafficking.
As does Benjamin Perrin a Professor of Law at the University of British Columbia and the author of INVISIBLE CHAINS: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking (which includes Jessie's case in it).
And Joy Smith, Member of Canadian Parliament and someone responsible for having her Bill passed into law, changing the Canadian Criminal Code for people convicted of human trafficking a minor, and whose next Bill is hopefully about to change more.
Jessie is considered the 'poster-child' for human trafficking here in Canada. She changed how people thought a victim of this crime should look like - they used to think someone from 3rd world countries were the only victims of this crime - now they know different.
Abigail's article was the 2nd story the LV Sun did. The first was right after Jessie went missing. Tom Gorman wrote: Tom Gorman on when parents learn their missing daughter was a Vegas call girl on Friday, April 21, 2006.
Ironic, isn't it that Jessie's case has become one of the most well-known cases of human trafficking in North America (the most well-known in Canada) and Tom referred to her as a CALL GIRL in 2006?
The 3rd story the Sun published on Jessie's case was by Tiffany Brown. The article is called: A Moment Captured and it was on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2006.
I RAN OUT OF ROOM . . . this is the end of my comment: There was an article on Monday, December 8, 2008 called Problem once thought dire hasn't been confirmed: Millions spent to fight human trafficking; few examples found by Timothy Pratt where I left a very detailed and informative comment, which I see it no longer available as I was not a TRUSTED COMMENTER on the Las Vegas Sun. I am sure I saved it on my external drive, but I won't bother looking for it at this time.
There was also an article written by Sam Skolnik, Do we have a human trafficking problem? from Monday, January 29, 2007 where I learned about ATLAS. Unfortunately, ATLAS is no longer in operation, but through it, Jessie's case was given to the task force and to this day, I am still in contact with one of the former members of ATLAS . . . we work together on the Board of Advisors for the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, on bringing awareness to human trafficking to the citizens -- and often the students -- of your country. Something I also do here in Canada.
One last thing - Never, ever, EVER should prostitution be legalized. There will NEVER be enough women to fill the "positions" available by the pimps & brothels so there will just be MORE & MORE victims forced into this horrific crime.
Good idea, doubledown_deadender.
Might I make a suggestion though?
If your plan comes to fruition and becomes law, leave Mr. Herman Cain off of the shortlist of possible people in consideration to be in charge of it.
It would be at cross purposes for the goal it's trying to achieve, I would think.
He needs to stick to making his stupid pizzas.
I'm really, and truly sorry that happened to your daughter, Jessiesmom, but I stand behind my comments that prostitution should be legalized to take the criminal element, the type that hurt your daughter ,out of the equation.
I hope whoever hurt your little girl rots, slowly, and painfully.
Talk to any cops.
The Asian massage parlors are full of girls who are modern day slaves. They are forced to come to America. They are own by the people who own the parlors. Most likely the parlors are paying off the Vice squads and the top people in police organizations.
Many American born prostitutes were sexually abused by relatives in their early teens. There ability to make good judgements are gone. They have zero self esteem. They are damaged goods.
Prostitutes and many others in the sex trade are screwed up people.
On the other hand, that is why it is called Sin City.
If you want to build paradise then move somewhere else.
This city is built on the destruction of others whether it is gaming or drugs or prostitution.
It is Sin City.
Don't be idiot and think everything is so nice and dandy when you have your quick 5 minutes sex session with a prostitute. When you bring some STD home to your wife, she will be sooooo happy. Yeah, you really believe some girl giving like 10 to 30 BJ's a day is doing it for self sexual pleasure. Please.......stop being an idiot.
Don't be idiot and think you can clean up this town. That is not going to happen either.
It is evil. Get use it to it. You live in a very evil town.
Legal: gambling & alcohol. Illegal: "recreational" drugs & prostitution. Gambling ruins far more lives than prostitution and alcohol kills and maims far more than "recreational" drugs. So why the difference? Makes no sense to me. I see no groundswell for making gambling or alcohol consumption illegal - not in "Sin City," or elsewhere, for that matter. As a matter of fact, in NV, top politicians and newspaper editorials laud the "take" gambling & alcohol provide the state & local governments. Las Vegas' former mayor took $100,000 to endorse alcohol in lavish terms. Seems a bit hypocritical to this observer. Time to stop trying to legislate morality and to enforce the laws against those who force others to participate unwillingly. BTW, I do not advocate "recreational" drugs, alcohol use or prostitution. To me, they are all activities to be avoided like the plague!
While I'm unsure if prostitution should be legal or illegal, I do know it's already a crime to terrorize, beat or coerce the victim into submission.
Seem like the real issue here is the light sentences for these crimes.
These next questions are just for conversation purposes and to guage the opinions here:
If pimps were eliminated, would more people support a womans right to choose prostitution?
What about the prostitutes that want a pimp for his protection form violent Johns?
Legalize everything.
Legalize freedom?
"Legalize everything."
"Legalize freedom?"
James_P, westvegas -- excellent posts!
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Isaac H Tiffany (1819)
Comment removed by moderator. Inappropriate
"...we treat prostitution with a wink and a nod." I use to be that way, so casual about my thoughts on to what you refer to as "prostitution." I thought if someone wanted to make that life "choice" that was their option no matter how wrong I thought the "choice" was. But then I started becoming educated on abuse - control over others and I started seeing "prostitutes" in another light. But it wasn't until I heard of 2 cases Lyndsey Harris and Jessie Foster's cases that my whole thought process changed forever. This thing you call "prostitution" is human trafficking. Law enforcement had both those young women in their custody. Two educated young women both so loved by their families; both came out of good homes. It should have been a Sesame Street moment of what is wrong with this picture for law enforcement. Instead of having these young women call home, promising them protection and counseling them that the threats made that their families would be harmed wouldn't happen they, LE, instead released them to their "owners" released them back into slavery. Lyndsey didn't survive. Jessie has been missing for many years from Las Vegas and I pray she survived.
I am a trained advocate for the families of the missing. Sadly I think we are going to find a number of our missing young women and men are slaves to human traffickers. Many of our older missing are slaves to labor trafficking.
The discussion shouldn't be on "prostitution" but on HUMAN TRAFFICKING!!!
Maureen Reintjes
NamUs Victim Advocate - KS (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System)
Admin Peace4 the Missing
Perhaps we need to treat all prostitution the same as drug distribution? Start by closing down all brothels state wide to show we mean business. How can anyone (in an official capacity), in this state say they are against prostitution while we have brothels open? Can you imagine ranches through out the state where you could go and get high using the drug of your choice? But if you buy it off the street you'll get arrested.
Hear me now and believe me later. YOU WILL NEVER END PANDERING/PROSTITUTION WHILE BROTHELS ARE OPEN. Free enterprise and competition is the American way. If you open a store selling Prada shoes at a ridiculous price, some entrepreneur will find that inefficiency and sell similar shoes on the street at a fraction of the price.
My guess is that pimps are selling the shoes on the street. If you can't afford Burberry or Christian Louboutin, you go to Payless.
Maybe I've objectified women. If I have then so does every brothel, every topless joint, every truck billboard cruising up and down the strip and every beauty contest. Get serious. We all know that trying to rid this city/state/country of pandering, prostitution and sex trafficking is an exercise in futility as long as we accept it in any form.
A "conversation" implies that there are two sides. You have presented one. Comparing illegal prostitution with legal prostitution is like comparing legal prescription drug use to crack cocaine.
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At first hand knowledge we are mammals. Humans are only one race leading civilization on earth, not animals.
I'm sorry to disturb your high-flying party, do read the bible but don't slip into alphabets.
I'm curious to know if recent studies have compared legal prostitution to illegal. Where it's legalized, are the women still more likely to be victimized by pimps? I don't think any young girl or boy aspires to be a prostitute when they grow up...but I wonder if the profession can be made safer if it is legalized or if that is a fallacy.
There is a lot the public needs to learn about prostitution as it is in Vegas. Coolican is right. The vast majority of the girls who are prostitutes here have pimps. The girls deny it but they are lying. Once they are in the "game" It is very hard to get out. The amount of manipulation that these pimps exert is formidable. Most of the girls feel that even if they wanted to leave they couldn't.
Even if we had brothels here it wouldn't stop it. The girls pimps would never allow it and the customers are more apt to get a girl that's in their hotel rather than drive somewhere. I think brothels work elsewhere unfortunately I think it's too late to introduce them here.
Are there girls who don't have a pimp and do well, yes. That girl is a miniscule percentage of the total in Vegas. The rest of the girls live a bad life. They have to stay out till daylight to make their nightly quota before they can go home. Their pimps get them pregnant to make sure they can't go anywhere. They also work during their pregnancy. They are subject to violence. The psychological toll exacted on them is staggering.
What would happen if sex in exchange for money was completely and totally decriminalized? What if we simply no longer allowed government to have any power or authority over that particular issue?
Make something illegal and by definition, only criminals will sell it. During the 1920's we made alcohol illegal. The end result? A massive crime wave with violent criminals like Al Capone. Once it was legalized, the Al Capone types were replaced by Anheuser-Busch.
And just look at your sources: "Christopher Baughman, a member of Metro's Pandering Investigation Team, offered a sobering portrait of what he believes is a burgeoning problem."
No kidding. If you were around in 1929 would you study the impact of alcohol by asking Prohibition Agents like Eliot Ness? Of course they would say the "demon rum" was destroying lives and point to the bloodshed caused by Al Capone. In fact whether you're talking alcohol in the 1920's or drugs and prostitution today, the bloodshed was and is a natural outgrowth of criminalization.
Curious we don't hear about enslavement at Dennis Hof's Bunny Ranch. We rely, not on Hof's good character, but on the fact that he would lose his license to operate if he allowed misconduct. That is the model we should follow.
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One other thing. I love the Sun's selective expression of sympathy for the victim's of prostitution. Because whenever there are one of those choreographed prostitution busts at a casino pool, you sure don't treat the women as "victims." Instead you pull the whole "naming and shaming" bit with big photos and their names all over the internet.
For the rest of their lives, a Google search will bring up the Sun articles loudly proclaiming their arrests for prostitution. Essentially the Sun destroys them for life. And now you shed crocodile tears. Give me a break!
You CAN NOT legislate morality.
Again, there are TWO catagories of the sex trade: legal and illegal. One must check their religious/ judgement bags at the door when engaging this topic.
Now listen, LEGAL prostitution here in Nevada protects the prostitutes who are with LEGAL establishments. These legal sex workers have routine checkups for both physical and psychological health. That is in place to not only protect the sex worker, but their clients as well. There also are programs to assist a sex worker who wishes to change out of their profession of prostitution into other career options. How many workplaces have these conditions???
Being a legal prostitute affords being treated with respect. Grant you, it is a unique lifestyle entertainment form and certainly not for everyone, but it provides a job for a citizen.
Many Nevada Brothels give to charities and are supportive in their communities. You simply don't hear about problems in the LEGAL prostitution trade because for the most part, they are good, caring, people. They are members of the community, pay taxes, raise families, even go to Church. They fill a niche for a service that has been in existence since the beginning of time.
On the flip side, ILLEGAL human trafficking and prostitution amounts to the harshest forms of enslavement and abuse. It IS immoral, degrading, and the worst of the worst life situations. It is difficult to control.
That is where legalizing and regulating prostitution and EDUCATING people about it and career options, just might steer those who are prone to go into the sex industry, to at the very least, have a SAFE and RESPECTFUL workplace as an option, rather than get snagged by some abusive low-life pimp and being treated like trash, or worse, lose their life!
The cases of Lyndsey Harris and Jessie Foster are not familiar to me, but IF they made the "choice" to enter the sex trade business, obviously it was not at a Nevada Brothel where they would be afforded respect and care. If they were "abducted or kidnapped," then they had no options. Either case, they were/are victims of abuse, which is criminal and our current system is inadequate in dealing with such situations.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
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we all need to let people be what they want and only when they break the law should we do something about it.
"we need to educate ourselves about prostitution, and if we do, I think we'll re-evaluate our stance toward it."
The oldest profession in the world, prostitution.
And we need to educate ourselves about it? really?
"You CAN NOT legislate morality. ..... On the flip side, ILLEGAL human trafficking and prostitution amounts to the harshest forms of enslavement and abuse. It IS immoral, degrading, and the worst of the worst life situations. It is difficult to control."
star -- but they do their best to legislate sin, no? Look at the anti-sodomy laws it took the U.S. Supreme Court to smack down. I disagree with you on the "flip side." What about the two ladies I referred to who sell their sex on their own -- nothing you referred to applies to them. Their biggest concerns are the cops.
"With morality the individual is led into being a function of the herd and to ascribing value to himself only as a function. . .Morality is the herd instinct in the individual." -- Frederich Nietzsche 1882 "The Gay Science"
Mr. Coolican Was paid for his time and talents as a writer so technically he pimped him self to the Sun.
The worlds oldest profession will continue to be the worlds oldest profession because nobody can nor will control it,..nor should they. If your referring to street hookers,...perhaps some who wander the casinos,..ok, try to do something with them, but where its LEGAL it should remain LEGAL.
Many of the working girls in Pahrump and outside of Carson City work legally for themself,..to pay the bills. Most do not work in a brothel for a pimp, and if they do they're not too bright. I know two who worked LEGALLY in Pahrump,..and while its probably an occupation some feel they have to do thanks to the economic disaster our government has dumped on us,...others enjoy the work. Some fly in from all manner of locations for the work.
Clean up the streets if you think you can,...but don't go looking for trouble in the legal areas of the state where there isn't a problem.
Legalize. Regulate.
Prohibition really worked well and so would completely outlawing prostitution. However, it needs to be regulated so that the innocent are not taken advantage of and the women or men are protected.
Too complex a subject to address in one article. Illegal Pimps as a rule need to be dealt with using various measures to help them quickly achieve room temperature in a remote desert area. Illegal and legal prostitutes do the work for a galaxy of reasons and a police solution for them is generally inappropriate unless they are trick rolling in concert with their pimp etc. Having counselled some illegal prostitutes in the dim past they are often very sad people and they fear police or customer violence almost as much as they fear their pimps.
Coolican,
Please attempt to eradicate yellow journalism, indeed yellow journalism engendered from laziness, by being inclusive. Even a cursory Google search on prostitution would lead you to rich and various sources, many that contest and contest again the prevailing narrative that sex workers are perpetual victims. A "real conversation" about sex work would, I imagine, actually include the voices of sex workers and/or sex worker rights organizations, such as SWOP, the Sex Worker Outreach Project.
Although I am compelled to offer line-by line commentary, I will stick to taking issue with your most glaring falsity: your definitions of violence and coercion are, actually, violent in and of themselves. First, having a pimp does not imply coercion, necessarily. Second, most sex workers, as shown in peer reviewed research, work alone. Third, the violence associated with sex work is not inherent. It is the result of social stigma and criminalization, which forces sex workers to live in fear, not to mention subjugate themselves to, say, potentially precarious relationships in exchange for protection from police brutality. Fourth, violence is perpetuated by yellow journalism like this that conflates consensual and nonconsensual sex work.
The implications of your shoddy journalism are most evident in your reader's confused responses. Perhaps there would be less confusion if you actually asked experts; not just the "experts" with monetary incentive; not just the "experts" who routinely entrap, harass, and rape sex workers with tax payer dollars; not just the "experts" who ease their white guilt through problematic philanthropy, but the experts who work in the sex industry and the experts who listen to them.
What you do successfully, dear author, is maintain the violent status quo. Congratulations!
europe has been very successful with legalizing prostitutes and collection billions in taxes, this is a given it should be legal.
Las Vegas is supposed to be about fun , adult fun, yet the place is full of childrens games and silly circuses
lets make las vegas the adult playground again
Legalize prostitutes - Legalize nudity in both public areas (like in most of europe) and in places with alcohol
Reduce the drinking and smoking age to 16 like europe then the grass isnt greener
reduce gambling age to 18 like in europe
if las vegas does not become more european then you can guarantee china will and take business away from vegas very quickly
Ibiza is a prime example for an adult playground - low cost too
Human trafficking is a CRIME.
Nevada LAWMAKERS have failed in addressing the gross human trafficking that takes place here in Nevada. Every State Legislative Session, they gloss over the subject and focus on something else.
Why? You wonder. Perhaps it is because of the covert and criminal allowing of ILLEGAL workers here in this state! Nevada has a very large illegal worker sector (and this is also the reason that Nevada has a lowly educated workforce.)
IF you get a handle on the ILLEGAL WORKFORCE in Nevada, you will then be able to begin controlling crime and human exploitation.
WHY do LAWMAKERS avoid this? What's in it for them?
We can look over DECADES of Nevada Legislative Session documents and hardly find a peep of evidence that LAWMAKERS have attempted to address this! WHY?
Las Vegas is about image and people's perceptions about the "kind" of entertainment they will experience here in Las Vegas.
What would happen to Las Vegas IF more "conversations" were about human trafficking and the horrors it brings to its victims? Bet those who promote Las Vegas don't want these type of "conversations" happening! WHO are they?
Perhaps, these all are the conversations that we all should be having, especially as a free society. We owe it to the victims of human trafficking and exploitation to address their plight and have these dialogs. Maybe then, something WILL be done about this!
Blessings and Peace,
Star
It obvious by this article and by the above comments that its time women took over running this city and this country!
Enuff said....
Cooligan wrote: "As my former colleague Abigail Goldman reported in 2009, "Vice detectives will tell you (that) behind every prostitute is a pimp. These relationships are by nature coercive, and these coercions are often cemented with violence." In other words, we're not talking about a victimless crime...". The police may wish to push this fiction to justify their policing this trade but the cause and effect of the argument is all mixed up. The fact that the trade needs to work outside the law has created the opportunity for the pimp to act in a simple protection racket game. Twenty years ago, I studied this issue in depth and read countless studyies on the subject written both in England and the United States. What I found was that a victimless act was made a crime, and in doing so, the trade was made profitable and controllable to those on both sides of the law. I also learned that the worst thing that could happen to the trade was to have the police act in both regulating and enforcing the trade. Each time that happened, the police ended up being far worse than any pimp. The only way the trade appears to work, is to have the health department run the regulation part with no enforcement powers, and to have the police used for enforcement but only after the health department enters a complaint through the courts. It is only with this type of seperation of governement powers that the system remains above board and legal. As long as the trade can work inside the law, the pimp role is eliminated along with the violence of working outside the law.
yes, Where is THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT?????
you can get a license for escorting, but no health card is required???
Where is the police and the Board of Massage when it comes to these fake massage places that are a coverup for human trafficking and unlicensed massage?
On that, it is the 'loophole' in the massage law, where Reflexology is exempted from the statute. And the fact that massage establishments are not regulated by the Board of Massage, but by each individual jurisdiction. So there is NO CENTRAL DATABASE of the owners cross referenced with MASSAGE THERAPIST LICENSES.
So the article in the RJ, where the journalist walks into a Massage establishment in Henderson and finds, not a massage table in a service room, but a BED on the floor. And all the female 'masseuses' in high heels and sexy attire. And this was a licensed establishment by the city of Henderson.
OH, PLEASE. Isn't it obvious that these jurisdictions are not equipped to handle this task? Where is the HEALTH Dept inspections? Did you not see the BED ON THE FLOOR???
What a game of whack-a-mole! one closes and another opens in another's name, with the same MO.
Legalize Prostitution, Regulate It. License and TAX it so Pimps are not stealing our TAX money. Close the loophole in the Massage Business and eliminate the reflexology exception. and most importantly, give the Board of Massage the authority to regulate ALL massage business, not just the therapists.
I find it laughable that the oldest profession (prostitution) is being regulated by the second oldest profession (politics).
I would prefer it the other way around.
I wonder if this writer has not stirred up a hornet's nest for the sake of stirring the pot and not for the sake of bringing forth a news worthy item.
This article is a repeat of news articles of this same context throughout the newspaper rollers.
Star, you asked why . . .
My answer is: "Twenty years ago, I studied this issue in depth and read countless studies on the subject written both in England and the United States. What I found was that a victimless act was made a crime, and in doing so, the trade was made profitable and controllable to those on both sides of the law."
Understand, in order to profit from this trade one needs the ability to control it. Even when the trade is legal, as in Nye and Story County, politicians expect their cut from the brothels. Read up on the Chicken Ranch in Nye county where the owner of that brothel wrote a book that spoke of the hoops he had to jump through, and then look at the history of Raggio and Conforte up around Reno. If you ever have the chance, read the book by Ms. Davis . . . who was a madam in LA, about 60 years ago, a madam to the Stars of Hollywood, judges and politicians.
What we have here is scumbag jouralisism where the word sex is used to get peoples attention. The author implies that sex is the cause of human trafficting and without the illegal sex trade, the problem is solved. How about Phil Knight, the founder of Nike who explotes 6 year old kids who make shoes in his china factories for a few pennies that go to their parents.No sex is invloved so its ok with this type of human trafficting. I know a chinese guy in another state and when I go to his resturant, there are a several chinese people working in the kitchen who are from china. They are sponsored to work for him for so long with hardly any pay. He feeds them and houses them and when their debt is paid, they can go out on their own. Once again, no sex involved but is there not human trafficting involved. I like the show on Cops where a Las Vegas police woman dresses like a hooker and hangs out on the corner shaking her ass to get men driving by to stop and use her services and then they arrest them. What next, a show on maybe pulling a cupcake on a string by homeless people and if they grab it, arrest them for stealing.
This is not going away ever, somewhat like cannabis, it is woven deep within society. Legal cannabis clinics have opened, a start to fix that problem, and the same should apply to prostitution. It will never be stopped so might as well protect those in, many other civilized countries do so. As pointed out the legal brothels of rural Nevada do not have these violence problems. This is not a religious matter.
I'm surprised you would do time in prison for mental enslavement. If that is true - wouldn't there be millions of people, married couples, who would argue that a spouse has mentally enslaved them?
No.
I think it is wrong to engage in hyperbole to imply that a person who has "enslaved" another person would only get 2 or 3 years in prison.
If someone kidnaps - holds against their will - another person - that is kidnapping and you will go to prison for more than 2 or 3 years.
The reason these pimps aren't going to prison for longer periods? You are speaking of "mental enslavement." In other words - these victims of prostitution aren't necessarily threatened with harm so much as they are threatened to be left without their pimp. Again, if the pimp is holding them against their will - they will do more time in prison. That is kidnapping!
Here, you have a socially vulnerable person who is voluntarily going along with a pimp. This is more of a moral wrong than a legal wrong.
Big corporations do this all the time - sell cheap products to consumers - exploit their social vulnerabilities and make them conform to high prices. Ever read up on the home shopping network problem?
I am by no means defending these worthless pimps who exploit vulnerable women - but we can't lie to ourselves in addressing the real problem.
The real problem is market forces at work - We have big government who has made prostitution illegal. As a result, a black market has been established. The black market does NOT protect vulnerable prostitutes - there are no rules or laws to protect these people.
Why do these females participate in prostitution? The forces of demand and supply. There is huge demand for prostitution - the oldest profession in human history. So long as the demand is there - women will be there to fill that demand.
Unfortunately, because big brother is involved and has made it illegal - these women have less protections and thereby become victims of this market.
Jim Reid, in your experience you speak of a victim, and the "degradation of the women". My question to you: Was that degradation due to the fact the women were working outside the law, such that they did not have the protection of a civil society and and as such . . . were subject to being degraded? Or, are you suggesting that these woman were working within the protection of a civil society, yet they were still degraded by customers who loathed doing business with these ladies? Just curious.
I work as an escort here in Las Vegas. I do not have a pimp or work for an agency. I maintain a personal website and do my own advertising. I am not forced into sex work due to drug addiction or lack of education. I have a Bachelor's degree in a field I find fulfilling but the salary is too meager to support my family. I am divorced with a young daughter. My current occupation provides me the funds to allow her a private school education and because I work so few hours, I can spend most of my time with her. I make a few hundred an hour and I sell my time in packages starting from two hours up to twenty-four hours. My clientele consists of older men who I see on a regular basis. Because I have to be extremely careful of LE, I need to screen new clients before I meet with them. They must fill out a booking form on my website and I thoroughly check their references. There are websites that offer discussion forums where providers and hobbyists (clients) can banter, along with boards to submit and search escort reviews. I am genuinely fond of the men I see but I will admit this is not my ideal profession. I am not a sex work activist. (But I have respect for those that are.) I do not claim that I am blessed with the opportunity to explore my sexuality. I don't declare that I actually feel empowered by my work. (Those are things I tell my clients.) Occasionally I enjoy the "work" part of what I do, but most of the time I don't. However, I appear to be very enthusiastic because that is important to the men who pay me. I am aware that there are different types and levels of sex work in Las Vegas. Drug addiction and misfortune can lead people to do many things they would rather not. For whatever reason, it is that type of sex worker many of the readers posting comments believe to be the norm. I honestly believe that I am a more accurate representation of what sex work is in Las Vegas today. And the next time the writer wants to have a conversation about sex trafficking, he shouldn't get it confused with prostitution. I resent being labeled a victim.
As we can see, this topic is multi-faceted, and is difficult to discuss unless each facet is carefully identified and is discussed in appropriate context. Otherwise, it becomes unwieldy and confusing. What has been discussed, is prostitution in its many forms.
I contend that in illegal human trafficking, there ARE VICTIMS, that many who serves as prostitutes had been abducted, turned into slaves under coersion and great durress. This IS a CRIME and it has VICTIMS. We should make that distinction.
The other forms of prostitution are more subjective. Since prostitution has been with humanity for eons, and will continue to be, the best way of dealing with it, is to: legalize it, decriminalize it, regulate it, tax it, and insure prostitutes get those health and psychological check-ups and career counselling to protect them, their clients, and society at large. Just deal with the reality that prostitution is NOT going away, no matter if you prohibit it through legislation.
UNLV702 stated, "The real problem is market forces at work - We have big government who has made prostitution illegal. As a result, a black market has been established. The black market does NOT protect vulnerable prostitutes - there are no rules or laws to protect these people."
As long as there is a demand, there will be those who will capitalize on that demand and supply it. It's the American way you know. Other countries have dealt effectively with prostitution and the USA and Nevada should be looking at those models towards improving what we have here.
Blessings and Peace,
Star