How would you legislate prostitution?

[crashhelmet]

Here in Nevada, it's legal in counties with a population of less than 250k. The population of Las Vegas alone kills it for Clark County. However, they were trying to push an exception through for downtown Las Vegas to establish a brothel and get the girls off of the streets.

At the brothels in the other counties, the girls can only work 3 weeks out of the month. With that week off, they are required to get a full screening, blood work, etc. Every week while they are working, they're required to get a quick check for any visual signs of infection, fever, etc.

Out in Pahrump, the closest town to Vegas with a brothel, the girls are not allowed to do anything in town aside from visit the doctor or cash their paychecks during the weeks they work. Some of the girls have houses in town and others go back to whatever state they live in. During their work periods, they live at the brothels and have everything provided for them. They have a gym, internet access, a 24 hour kitchen, and a bar just to name a few.

From a legal stand point, this is proof where legalization and regulation work well. Prostitution is a bigger problem in Vegas than people like to admit and following these guidelines will greatly clean up the trade, reduce crime associated with it, and protect the girls.

[crashhelmet]

I imagine that for security purposes, there could only be cameras and no tapes for the actual working rooms. But any of the common areas would be fair game for recordings.

And no record of the patrons. They'd have to show valid ID to prove they were of age, and possibly sign a waiver stating that they aren't infected and promise to abide by the rules of the establishment. I could even see them issuing membership cards.

I could also see a market for professionals who already have certain STDs to cater to clients with the same. No chance of passing something that both parties already have, after all.

^-.-^

Out here, all rooms have cameras and all are actually recorded in case it needs to be used as evidence. how long those recordings last, i don't know.

Condoms are required and visual inspections for rashes, warts, etc are done before the action takes place. The girl always has the option to refuse the deal.

[telecom_goddess]

Ok here we go...I've always thought it should be legalized.

I think girls should sign up with an agency of some sort for protection, either a brothel or a call girl situation with a madame. Customers pay an hourly rate and the brothel/madame get a percentage. But if a girl doesn't want to work on a certain day/night then they should be allowed to say no without repercussions or threats.

No limit on hours....in terms of general service. Girls should be able to pick the hours they can work. But in general have it available 24/7.

Tax the shit out of it....even if they add something small like 5 or 10 bucks a transaction ...do you realize the money that would be made?

Definitely provide healthcare and a low cost std screening at least once a month.

Have customers sign in, have valid id, and recent std screening results. And demand use of a condom. That the girl supplies.

Have customers sign a waiver that they will not be responsible for any resulting pregnancy, it only seems fair to me. But they also waive parental rights in the event a baby is kept.

Stuff like vanilla/kinky activities could be worked out between girl/customer, with hard limits respected.

Alter as necessary for guys selling themselves for money as well.

I wish lawmakers would wake up and just legalize this already. It's the world's oldest profession for a goddamn reason, there's a high demand for it and it's not going away. People should be able to sell their bodies if they want to.

[Fire_on_High]

How would charges be calculated if something go out of hand and a prostitute was injured? There'd be all kinds of details to work out, not just healthcare and insurance against pregnancy.

If something accidentally happens, criminal charges would make just as much sense as criminal charges if your plumber's back goes out while he's working under your sink, or your washing machine repairman trips on his own shoelace and breaks an arm.

[Duelist925]

If something accidentally happens, criminal charges would make just as much sense as criminal charges if your plumber's back goes out while he's working under your sink, or your washing machine repairman trips on his own shoelace and breaks an arm.

There is a difference between an accident and taking things too far, however, or outright violence.

Not to mention, if a customer is injured for some stupid reason (Fell out of bed/off the table, etc) In the sue happy society we have....

[crashhelmet]

There is a difference between an accident and taking things too far, however, or outright violence.

Not to mention, if a customer is injured for some stupid reason (Fell out of bed/off the table, etc) In the sue happy society we have....

As I said earlier, the rooms are monitored and recorded in case violence does occur. There are also full security teams, and not just a surveillance watcher.

They take the greatest of care for their girls.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Yeah, I was thinking more of taking things too far, or violence, rather than accidental injury.

[crashhelmet]

As far as I know, all BDSM type parties are done with the girl as the dom, they don't allow her to sub. If there is an accident, surveillance catches it and the necessary steps are taken to ensure medical attention is received. If the customer gets too rough and/or violent, it's quickly broken up.

All in all, it really is the perfect work environment for someone that chooses that profession. I wish they would legalize it here in Vegas and get the girls here off the streets and away from their pimps.

[Nekojin]

Not that I disagree with the notion that legalizing prostitution would be a net good thing, you should really talk to some of the women who have worked in the Nye County (and other Nevada) brothels. The laws that govern them make them pariahs, and they're essentially forced to rely on the brothels for damn near everything. It's far from a paradise for them.

And the majority of the reason for this is because it's so heavily regulated there, and banned elsewhere. If there was more competition, and more places for the girls to work, the kind of crap that they have to deal with would most likely end.

[crashhelmet]

Not that I disagree with the notion that legalizing prostitution would be a net good thing, you should really talk to some of the women who have worked in the Nye County (and other Nevada) brothels. The laws that govern them make them pariahs, and they're essentially forced to rely on the brothels for damn near everything. It's far from a paradise for them.

And the majority of the reason for this is because it's so heavily regulated there, and banned elsewhere. If there was more competition, and more places for the girls to work, the kind of crap that they have to deal with would most likely end.

The kind of crap that they deal with? Do you know any of them? have you ever been to one of them? I have talked with them on several occasions. Some of them are great friends of mine. Some of them are clients of mine. Other friends of mine work there in non-courtesan roles.

The two major ones in Nye County are the Chicken Ranch (aka the Best Little Whore House in Texas) and Sheri's Ranch. They are on county land outside the town of Pahrump. That town is run by prudes and neo-cons that couldn't ban prostitution county wide, so they were forced to redraw the town lines to exclude those properties.

The women there aren't treated as pariahs. Yes, they're not allowed to do anything in town during the weeks that they work as they're not allowed to "advertise" their services in public. but honestly, unless you frequent the ranches, or their web sites, you'd never know who was working and who wasn't.

But because of this, the brothels do provide everything they need. They do it as a way of saying thank you for working there. They have their own rooms, a 24 hour kitchen, their own private gym, a business center, as well as wifi to surf the internet from their rooms, and all of the amenities they'd need. They're treated like high rollers in a casino, except the house takes a cut of their earnings. They're not forced to rely on them. They can bring in whatever the hell they want with them. They can have deliveries, they can take the day off and drive into Vegas or where ever the hell they want to go outside of Pahrump. They're not prisoners of their own demise.

The heavy regulation is to keep it clean and safe. It's to reduce the crimes committed against "johns," the slave-like treatment from their pimps, and to curb the spread of disease.

As for competition? They're spread too far out and in often hard to find places.
Google Maps of the 2 outside Pahrump
There are only houses nearby there now because the town grew out that way. It used to be miles upon miles of emptiness in all directions.

The next closest brothel is in a town called Crystal, which is 30 miles north of Pahrump, so a good 45-50 miles from Sheri's and CR. That one was owned by Heidi Fleiss, the Hollywood madame, with the intention of making it into a Stud Ranch (the workers are men). It's since been bought by Dennis Hof, the guy that owns the Bunny Ranch (HBO's Cathouse) up near Carson City. I don't know what the new plans for it are though.

The next closest one is about 100 miles north in the town of Beatty, I believe.

Allowing Vegas to open one would do more help than harm. It wouldn't reduce the treatment that women get at other brothels. If anything, it would increase the perks they get to keep them there and not lose them to competition.

[Nekojin]

The kind of crap that they deal with? Do you know any of them? have you ever been to one of them? I have talked with them on several occasions. Some of them are great friends of mine. Some of them are clients of mine. Other friends of mine work there in non-courtesan roles.

Known a few from when I lived in Vegas, yes, and seen more than a few interviews by former employees. It's a cut above streetwalking, no question, and a cut above having to deal with an abusive pimp. But it's still far from an actual desirable job, and not just because of the patrons.

And no, I'm not arguing against legalized prostitution at all. More competition will make things better for the legal prostitutes, make it harder for their "handlers" to mishandle them. I'm all in favor of that.

Sex is on the bottom tier of Maslow's Hierarchy, after all.

[HYHYBT]

Going solely from descriptions in this thread, it seems to me that more competition could also mean *worse* conditions, because competition drives down prices and the difference has to be made up somewhere.

[crashhelmet]

Going solely from descriptions in this thread, it seems to me that more competition could also mean *worse* conditions, because competition drives down prices and the difference has to be made up somewhere.

But that's the great thing. The girls are all independent contractors. They set their own prices and establish what they will and will not do. The house takes a cut of what they charge. The only risk from the house is they'll terminate the contract if they're not bringing in enough money to cover their costs. Like most employees in any job, the girls have a quota to meet. No one rides for free.

[Nyoibo]

The problem with independant contractors is that there's always someone willing to undercut the others and the standard drops, regulation and industry standardisation are a good thing.

[crashhelmet]

All deal negotiations are done within the girls' rooms, once a girl is selected. It's not out in the public and attempting to do so would get you kicked out. There are no bidding wars and there is no in-house competitive pricing.

Arranging a "party" typically works in one of three ways.

1. Call ahead and schedule an appointment with a particular girl (porn stars that moonlight at the brothels normally work like this)
2. Meet and talk with one of the girls in the bar area and agreeing to go back to the room
3. Requesting a line-up (this is where every available girl lines up in the main room and introduces themselves) and making your selection

If you have a particular request or fetish, you can ask which ones are into it and narrow your selection down from there.

Once the selection is made, she walks you back to her room, or the room applicable to what you're looking for (Dungeon, hot tub, dining room, etc) and that's when negotiations are done. If you can't come to an agreement, she walks you back to the main room and you can either leave or make another selection and try again.