No, this is no joke. This is one of the most appalling things I have ever heard. In truth, the legal whorehouses (called "brothels" in Nevada) should be put out of business in the state. Only a truly ignorant person would even suggest such a thing as legalizing something that is a human rights violation. The prostitutes in the legal brothels in Nevada live and "work" in the middle of nowhere and as virtual prisoners. Moreover, Las Vegas is already known as one of the major world centers for sex trafficking. But to hear the advocates for legal prostitution, who see nothing wrong with exploiting women's bodies for money, it's a "victimless" crime between two "consenting" adults.
I have written on this blog about how I feel Phil Donahue and other television talk show hosts of the 1970s and 1980s did a terrible disservice to the public by glorifying this kind of thing, even making the likes of tax dodger and pimp Joe Conforte into some kind of folk hero.
I have linked this article before, but it's worth noting it again:
Described as "pussy penitentiaries" by one interviewee, the brothels tend to be in the middle of nowhere, out of sight of ordinary Nevadans. (Brothels are officially allowed only in counties with populations of fewer than 400,000, so prostitution remains an illegal - though vast - trade in conurbations such as Las Vegas.) The brothel prostitutes often live in prison-like conditions, locked in or forbidden to leave.
"The physical appearance of these buildings is shocking," says Farley. "They look like wide trailers with barbed wire around them - little jails." The rooms all have panic buttons, but many women told her that they had experienced violent and sexual abuse from the customers and pimps.
"I saw a grated iron door in one brothel," says Farley. "The women's food was shoved through the door's steel bars between the kitchen and the brothel area. One pimp starved a woman he considered too fat. She made a friend outside the brothel who would throw food over the fence for her." Another pimp told Farley matter-of-factly that many of the women working for him had histories of sexual abuse and mental ill-health. "Most," he said, "have been sexually abused as kids. Some are bipolar, some are schizophrenic."
Then there is the fact that legal prostitutes seem to lose the rights ordinary citizens enjoy. From 1987, prostitutes in Nevada have been legally required to be tested once a week for sexually transmitted diseases and monthly for HIV. Customers are not required to be tested. The women must present their medical clearance to the police station and be finger-printed, even though such registration is detrimental: if a woman is known to work as a prostitute, she may be refused health insurance, face discrimination in housing or future employment, or endure accusations of unfit motherhood. In addition, there are countries that will not permit registered prostitutes to settle, so their movement is severely restricted.
What a great career and lifestyle to which all women should aspire.
3 comments:
Yep, I've seen these trailer park brothels in my travels around the state. One of the questions I always have is how do they make any money anyway? They're out in the middle of nowhere, I never see cars packing the parking lot, if I see any at all.
On the other hand, my hospital district (Silver Springs) depends on the revenues generated from the medical exams they do for the girls in Dayton.
It is a screwed up system when the ability to provide a clinic in rural Nevada depends on prostitution.
Carissa, that is so true about those brothels being out in the middle of nowhere. A couple of years ago, when I went with my family to Vegas, Arizona, Utah, and back through Nevada via Highway 50, we noticed all of these "trailer trash" brothels. They were awful; I should have taken pictures of them. They were there on Highway 95 to Vegas, and on Highway 50 back to Reno. It was just disgusting to see these things, and yes, they have barbed wire fences.
My understanding is long distance truckers are the main clientele of the legal brothels. However, recent reports had it the legal brothels are having financial problems because truckers are less likely to spend money there with the economy tanking. What is also sad to note is the brothels have been getting piles of applications from desperate women who need an income.
My landlord and I used to know a person who "worked" in one of the brothels either in Lyon or Storey county. If you read the description of the Mustang Ranch which was in Wikipedia, it is very accurate in describing the working conditions in these places just as this woman we knew described it. My landlord used to drive her to "work" after her week off for having her period, and the brothel atmosphere was just exactly as the Wikipedia article describes.
The kicker of all of this is that as bad as the conditions for prostitutes working illegally are, they have a lot more autonomy than those in these prisons called legal brothels.
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