A woman said that she was sex trafficked through Nevada brothel plans in order to file a federal lawsuit on Monday which sought to overturn the state’s legalized prostitution in rural counties.
The lawsuit will be filed in federal district court in Reno, which argues that legal brothels contradict two federal laws which criminalize human trafficking across state for the purpose of commercial sex acts. The state of Nevada, the Legislature and Gov. Steve Sisolak have been named named as defendants.
Plaintiff Rebekah Charleston was born in Texas, who alleged in the lawsuit that a man whom she initially considered her boyfriend trafficked her for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and this included a stint working at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Northern Nevada. Her trafficker brought her to Las Vegas, where profit margins were supposedly higher in the city’s illegal sex industry, said the civil complaint.
Reno-based attorney Jason Guinasso, who has been representing Charleston on a pro bono basis, said that he hoped that the federal court affirms the connection which exists between Nevada’s legal brothels and illegal sex trafficking.
He said thus- “There are people just like my client, Rebekah, who have been harmed as a result of the legal system which has existed in opposition to a federal law.
Nevada’s history with the sex industry goes back to the 1800s where mining flourished in the West, and gave way to brothels. But it wasn’t until the Storey County Commission officially sanctioned the Mustang Ranch Brothel in 1971 that Nevada saw its first legal brothel.
The Legislature passed a law allowing prostitution in certain licensed brothels. Currently, counties with populations of less than 700,000 residents can issue licenses like these. According to the lawsuit, 21 brothels operate in the seven Nevada counties: Elko, Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Storey and White Pine.
Efforts to end such legalized prostitution in two Nevada counties last year failed to gain much attarction. An anti-brothel campaign in Nye County couldn’t reach the ballot, and, in Lyon County, voters rejected the advisory question which questioned whether or not the county commissioners should rescind its brothel ordinance.
Guinasso has helped coordinate such campaigns in Nye and Lincoln counties. It hasn’t been his first foray into the anti-prostitution advocacy world. His interest in the issue was after attending a small fundraiser for Awaken, a Reno nonprofit which helps women transition from the commercial sex industry. Since then, Guinasso estimated that he has offered legal assistance to more than a dozen sex-trafficking victims that required help with matters regarding vacating their records.
He went on to add- “I was shocked to see that what I thought only occurred in other countries but was happening right in our backyard.”
A 2017 study by Creighton University has found that the number of sex providers in Nevada which doesn’t include workers at brothels, escort services or massage parlors had been 63 percent larger in comparison to New York, that ranked second. The study analyzed data from Backpage.com, a classified advertising website which the federal authorities shut down in 2018 after there were repeated accusations that they promoted prostitution and sex trafficking of minors.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline said that they have received 305 calls in 2017 which referenced Nevada in addition to 199 reported cases. Of these reported cases, 177 have been related to sex trafficking.
The lawsuit states thus- “The State’s creation of intrastate commercialized prostitution market has exerted a substantial economic effect, and this includes the creation of an interstate and foreign prostitution market.”
The suit alleges that dynamic conflicts have occurred with the Mann Act, that criminalizes interstate and foreign transport of persons for prostitution, as well as the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, a multi-layered law which includes methods of prosecuting traffickers, protections for victims and making trafficking and related offenses a federal crime.
Guinasso said that he isn’t aware of any similar legal attempts to abolish brothels.
The #MeToo movement emboldened women and heightened conversations regarding consent and sexual violence. But death of brothel owner Dennis Hof who is known for his over-the-top personality and marketing prowess left the industry without a powerful and influential leader. In addition to all this, Nevada recently elected their first female-majority Legislature.
The existence of a lawsuit, according to Guinasso, could nudge lawmakers to take up such a sensitive issue since the Republican state Sen. Joe Hardy filed a bill draft request last summer which had prohibited prostitution throughout the state.
He said- “I think such policymakers, if they have been looking at the arguments that being made, will get an opportunity this session to change that. I’m hopeful that maybe they could look at the lawsuit and say, ‘You know, we agree. Let us use Sen. Hardy’s bill as the vehicle to effectively change the lawsuit which is trying to perpetuate.”
Sisolak, the Speaker Jason Frierson and Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson didn’t comment on the lawsuit.
Charleston said that legal prostitution perpetuated illicit trafficking, which could lead to the two worlds merging.
She said- “You can’t introduce an influencer wo is as powerful as money and expect that this would be equivalent to consent because it doesn’t.”
Charleston signed and notarized the lawsuit and attested the authenticity of her account. Guinasso said that he has filed a public records request to obtain copies of sex worker registration cards in Lyon County, where Charleston said that she previously worked.
The lawsuit requests the federal court to issue a preliminary and permanent injunction which would prohibit Nevada from allowing prostitution. It will also seek about $2 million from the state to establish a fund which will help people leav the sex industry and provide them with services like medical treatment, rent assistance, job training, child care and tattoo removal.
Two days after Hof’s death last fall, sex workers from the Moonlite Bunch Ranch defended brothels during an educational forum which was related to the ballot advisory question.
Guinasso said- “It is inhumane and it violates every principle of kind of human rights and dignity. I think it is time for Nevada to turn a page on this aspect of our identity as well as stop allowing our counties to be de facto pimps.”
