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Sex Industry

Ten years after Nevada criminalized sex trafficking, legislators want to crack down further

A decade after then-Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto led a push to ensure Nevada law outlawed sex trafficking, at least four lawmakers plan to continue the fight against illegal sex work during the upcoming legislative session. 

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As Nevada’s legal brothels remain closed, sex workers think bias is at play

Services allowing physical contact around the state have been allowed to resume service, with tattoo shops, estheticians, and massage parlors open since May. Women who work in Nevada’s legal sex industry say they feel they’re being ignored not because of the risk their business poses but because of a bias against their industry.

Nicholas A. Trutanich, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada and Ray Johnson, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Indy Q&A: U.S. Attorney Nick Trutanich on sex trafficking, marijuana and public corruption

One of the faces at the forefront of efforts against human trafficking is Nick Trutanich, U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada, whose office is tasked with investigating such cases. The Nevada Independent caught up with Trutanich at the seminar to discuss the challenges of those prosecutions, as well as his office’s priorities on marijuana enforcement and public corruption cases.

Dennis Hof sits between two women

Autopsy: Brothel owner, Assembly candidate Dennis Hof died of natural causes

An autopsy report released Thursday indicates Hof, 72, died of natural causes — specifically “acute myocardial infarction due to atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.” It notes that diabetes and obesity were also significant factors, and a toxicology report found caffeine, Viagra and the active ingredient in marijuana in his blood.

Senate introduces bill to ban brothels in Nevada

“We have a lot of sex trafficking that uses that as a cloak,” Spearman said about why she signed on to the bill. She also said there were other potential legal models aside from what Nevada has, pointing to the Nordic model, in which prostitution is decriminalized but buying sex is a crime.

Sex workers make case for saving brothels as Lyon County voters weigh ban

At an educational forum about a potential Lyon County brothel ban, there was a moment of silence for Hof, who died in his sleep last week. He was a polarizing figure whose name will still appear as a Republican Assembly candidate on the November ballot, and one who raised the profile of brothels through an HBO reality show.

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