Nevada’s Brothels: Legalization Serves The Man

by BELLA MANSFIELD, ESQ. on APRIL 22, 2014 · 37 COMMENTS

in LABOR LAW, PROSTITUTION

via Flickr user Craig Walkowicz

One of the many questions OkCupid users can answer to determine compatibility with potential mates is “Should prostitution be legal?” The answer options are:

1. Yes, absolutely
2. Yes, only if it were regulated
3. I don’t think so
4. ABSOLUTELY NOT (emphasis theirs)

In my four years of using the site, I’ve noticed that those who choose answer “2” frequently add something in the comments about regulations being necessary to protect workers from harm. Somewhat less frequently someone comments that regulations protect the health and general well-being of the public. My sample size is, of course, limited, but that thinking isn’t all that different from members of the general public who support legalization. Legalization, the thinking goes, would protect the public from the perceived health risks associated with prostitution by mandating testing, provide states with tax money (which relies on the false assumption that sex workers don’t currently pay taxes) and would control when and where sex work could be done. And, if prostitution was legal, sex workers would be safer because they would feel more comfortable utilizing the criminal legal system.

What they forget is that we have an example of legal prostitution in the United States: regulated, licensed brothels in the state of Nevada. While legalization provides benefits to the state, the workers are still treated as second-class citizens. Nevada has been home to brothels since the late 1800s, and the first licensed brothel opened there in 1971. Currently, there is no statute explicitly stating that prostitution is legal, but under state law, counties in Nevada with populations under 400,000 can allow brothels. These brothels are the only places in the United States where one can engage in legal prostitution, and the people doing this work are governed by three different sets of regulations: state laws, county laws and brothel rules.¹ While the state laws are easy to access and review, county laws are less so, and brothel rules are not available to the public. The small size of the counties and towns that the brothels are in means that rules frequently change depending on the mood of the sheriff. This form of legalization is a combination of modern business law and Wild West attitudes.

Nevada state laws are the framework under which the counties containing brothels operate. They dictate where brothels (or “houses of ill fame” as the law describes them) can be located, the steps counties must follow in order to have legal brothels, advertising restrictions, and health regulations. They not only establish behavioral and structural regulations, but also include statutes requiring workers to be tested weekly for gonorrhea and chlamydia (through a cervical sample) and monthly for HIV and syphilis (through a blood test). A positive test result for any of these mean that the worker must quit working in a legal brothel. If a worker tests positive for HIV and continues working, they can be charged with a class B felony, and if the brothel owner knows of their test results they are liable if anyone contracts HIV from that worker. While it can vary by county, the fees for the tests are usually paid for by the worker. Condoms are mandatory for oral sex and intercourse. In order to further protect the health of clients, some counties place restrictions on how long a worker can be gone from a brothel before she has to be re-tested or require a chaperone if a worker goes out at night, lest she work independently and choose to not use a condom.

There are also strict laws regarding pandering beyond the typical “pimping” statutes that might come to mind. Living off the proceeds of prostitution is pandering, so workers’ spouses and partners better have their own employment! Providing transportation so that someone can engage in prostitution is also illegal. The transportation statute essentially prohibits anyone from providing a worker with a ride to work, as it finds that anyone transporting a worker with the intent to encourage them in engaging in prostitution is guilty of pandering. This is an interesting contrast to the policies that some brothels have of giving a fee to cab drivers who bring clients to their establishments or providing free limo service to clients coming from Las Vegas. While workers either have to drive themselves to work or find a ride with someone who doesn’t know what they do, clients can arrive in business-sponsored cars. Few things show intent to encourage someone to hire a prostitute more than sending a complimentary limo to whisk them away to a brothel.

State law also restricts advertising for both legal brothels and illegal prostitution. Brothels can only advertise in the counties where prostitution is legal. It’s also illegal to prepare or print an advertisement for illegal prostitution, which means that graphic designers, handbill printers and producers of small newsprint ad catalogs are now included in the category of people who are affected by the prohibition of sex work. The penalty for illegal advertising can include jail time and fees.

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