NEW YORK CITY—As anyone who's familiar with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE—formerly Morality in Media) is aware, that organization's idea of "modern society" stopped somewhere in the 1950s—so perhaps it shouldn't be too surprising that among this year's "Dirty Dozen"—companies that are too sexually liberated (in most cases, by the tiniest margin) than the rest of the world's business—are Amazon, Google, HBO, Netflix, Roku, Steam, Twitter and ... United Airlines (!!!), which somehow are guilty of causing or aiding sex trafficking and/or the sexual exploitation of women.
For instance, NCOSE accuses Amazon of "promoting material that sexualizes children and normalizes the dehumanization and sexual commodification of women," and Amazon Prime for "insert[ing] unnecessary, gratuitous nudity and simulated sex scenes into many of its original programmings;" Google "because it has failed to proactively address serious digital harms flourishing on YouTube, Google Chromebooks, and Google Images"; HBO because it "has consistently produced content [like Game of Thrones and, of course, The Deuce] which normalizes rape myths, sexual violence, and commercial sexual exploitation through ... sexually exploitive depictions of sex and sexual violence"; Netflix because it "often produces media portraying gratuitous nudity, graphic sexual acts, and even graphic depictions of sexual assault"; Roku because it "facilitates access to hardcore pornography channels through hundreds of private and hidden channels"; gamer site Steam because "[e]ven when a user has filters on, pornographic video games that clearly portrayed penetrative sex acts are still accessible with a mere two clicks"; Twitter because it's "being used to advertise prostituted persons and sex trafficking victims for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, often via pornographic images or webcamming"; and... United Airlines because its "aircrews have apparently received ineffective training due to consistent failures in addressing sexually harassing actions, speech, or pornography-use."
However, as Chuck Muth, manager of the late brothel owner Dennis Hof's campaign for state representative, points out, NCOSE's tarring of these companies essentially means, "If you search Google for a recipe for Hungarian goulash, you’re facilitating sexual exploitation. If you order a book on gardening from Amazon, you’re aiding and abetting sex trafficking. If you watch HBO or Netflix, you’re an accessory to sex crimes. Indeed, if you tweet about a story you read in Sports Illustrated on Major League Baseball’s spring training camps while flying on United Airlines to a Bible convention in Alabama, you’re all but a street 'pimp.'"
Now, bear in mind that it doesn't take much to set off the acute "porno sensors" of NCOSE members, so the above descriptions of what's "wrong" with the "Dirty Dozen" would barely raise an eyebrow among most people who actually live and work in modern society. Still, we were a bit surprised to find the State of Nevada on NCOSE's list. Wha???
One needn't read further than the second and third paragraphs of NCOSE's anti-Nevada screed to see how whacked in the head these people are:
"While some may claim that legalization provides better regulation and increased safety—the truth is that sexual violence, racism, and socioeconomic disadvantages are inextricable from the prostitution experience.
"Nevertheless, nearly 81% of the voters in Lyon County, Nevada voted to keep brothels legal in 2018. This made 81% of Lyon County citizens complicit in the sex trade, and therefore complicit in the sexual exploitation (and even sex trafficking) of countless women." [Emphasis added]
Just a couple of problems with that.
Terming the claim that 81% of Lyon County's voters are "complicit" in sexual exploitation or trafficking as "insulting," Muth notes that, "In naming Nevada to its 'ignominious' list, NCOSE cites a Lyon County Sheriff’s Department audit of its four legal brothels last fall that purportedly found 'signs of potential sex trafficking'—while failing to note that audit report was generated by the local sheriff who was secretly funding a ballot question to ban legal brothels in part because his ex-wife had gone to work for one. Yeah, that’s a credible report."
Moreover, NCOSE quotes one Rebeka Charleston, who authored an anti-prostitution screed for the Reno Gazette-Journal, in which she claims, "We did not have the 'independent contractor' freedom to turn down buyers. Management required us to line up when someone arrived at the brothel. Once picked from the lineup, we would bring the sex buyer back to our room where he was allowed to do whatever he wanted with us… The violent-natured men I encountered in legal brothels are no different than the men buying sex on the streets. I cannot count the number of times I physically fought with men in the brothels and how many times I have been raped because I was too scared to fight back."
But according to adult actress and sex-positive activist Nina Hartley, that's all crap. Hartley, when asked about Charleston's allegations, stated that not only do the women working in legal brothels have the absolute right to turn down any customer for any reason, the rooms in those brothels where sexual activity takes place are wired, and if the madam (or whoever's monitoring the microphone feed) hears any prostitute call for assistance (some brothels may even have established "safe words"), a security guard is in the room "in seconds" to rescue the woman.
NCOSE also claims that, "Legalized Prostitution in Nevada has led to an increase (not decrease) in the state’s illegal sex trade."
"In fact, Nevada has the highest rates of an illegal sex trade in the country, adjusted for population. It is 63% higher than the next highest state of New York and double that of Florida," the NCOSE Dirty Dozen website claims. "This dismantles the myth that legalizing prostitution will decrease unregulated prostitution or sex trafficking. Wherever prostitution is legal, the demand for commercial sex skyrockets, which provides a great incentive to pimps and sex traffickers to push more women into the marketplace to sell."
However, as Muth points out, "Las Vegas is awash with gentleman’s clubs, nudie bars, escort services, massage parlors, “girls to your room” in luxurious Strip resorts, adult sex shops, and good old-fashioned slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am in the back seat of cars behind convenience stores and in seedy motels. Yet NCOSE doesn’t talk about THAT.
"Instead it focuses on Nevada’s legal rural brothels which prohibit underage girls from working in the trade, keeps the consenting women who work there safe, protects the public through weekly health exams for sexually transmitted diseases, and contribute significant tax revenue and charitable donations to the communities where they’re located. ... The adult women who work in Nevada’s legal brothels are business women and entrepreneurs who have chosen such sex work of their own free will—even though that’s not a career choice many others would make. They’re not the problem; they’re part of the solution."
Of course, the Dirty Dozen-Nevada piece isn't totally without a bit of humor. It quotes several statistics from the Lyon County Sheriff's report, noting that prostitutes in Nevada brothels work there for an average of 1.88 years; that the youngest applicant for a prostitution license was 18 years and 15 days old, while the oldest was 72 years young!
And they say there isn't something for everyone in Nevada brothels!
Photo courtesy of Moonlite Bunny Ranch
