Nevada is the only state in the country where some form of sex work or prostitution is legal. In counties with fewer than 700,000 people, brothels have been legal since the early 1970s.
Some say it's a regulated way to maintain safety for the workers and customers in a world where prostitution will never really disappear, while others say no to prostitution in any form.
A bill in the Legislature could change some circumstances for sex workers. It would prevent police from arresting a sex worker if they seek medical care for an incident that happened while working.
At the same time, a new book is out by a UNLV sociology professor that one researcher says demonstrates decriminalization works better to protect those workers
Assemblyman David Orentlicher, D-Las Vegas, sponsored the bill, which remains alive with just two weeks left in the 2025 legislative session. He said the bill was prompted by stories “from people who work with sex workers that our laws can be counterproductive and actually harm the people who are being trafficked or people who are engaged in consensual sex work.”
”If there's going to be illicit sex work, let's make sure we don't put the workers at risk for rape and physical violence and then not even getting treated because they might get arrested.”
Las Vegas police testified against the bill, saying they’ve never seen an instance where a sex worker was arrested after calling police for help.
But “Jackie,” a sex worker with the Red Umbrella Collective, said police might not know about it, because they simply won’t call police out of fear of arrest. “I don’t know many of us who haven’t had that fear of arrest when something happens to us.”
UNLV sociology professor Barb Brents is the co-author and editor of a new book comparing sex work in the U.S., New Zealand and Great Britan. The book, Voicing Consent: Sex Workers, Sexual Violation and Legal Consciousness in Cross-National Contexts, is free online.
Brents said the comparisons demonstrate to her that “a decriminalized system seems to allow sex workers to deal with situations when they arise. It allows them to say ‘hey, I’ve got the law on my side.’”
Cherida Fraser is a New Zealand researcher who interviewed sex workers there for the book. One state in Australia decriminalized sex work in 1999. Three more later joined them. And New Zealand has similar laws, she said.
She added that the law not only protects sex workers, but “significantly improved relationships (with) police.”
“Police have gone from being antagonistic to being protectors of sex workers,” she said. She gave an example: when a customer refused to pay a sex worker, a police officer “marched the client down to the ATM to get the money” to pay her.”
Sex work has been decriminalized in New Zealand for 22 years, she added, “and there’s no evidence whatsoever of increased numbers of sex workers” because of it.
1, Barb Brents, UNLV sociology professor
Zoom
2. Cherida Fraser, interviewer/researcher in New Zealand/former regional coordinator for the Autearoa
(aw-tee aurora) New Zealand Sex Workers Collective.
3. “Jackie”, Las Vegas sex worker.
Pre-record (done)
4. David Orentlicher, Nevada Assemblyman, district 20 (It’s saved as “Start of show 5_16 4_38” in ENCO Production)
Guests: Barb Brents, sociology professor, UNLV; Cherida Fraser, interviewer and researcher in New Zealand, and former regional coordinator, Autearoa, a New Zealand Sex Workers Collective, “Jackie”, Las Vegas sex worker; David Orentlicher, Nevada Assemblyman (D-20)
