We welcome this statement from NOMAS:
The National Organization for Men Against Sexism
For Immediate Release:
NOMAS Applauds Senator Reid’s
Stand Against Prostitution
The abuse of women in prostitution is among the most visible and shameful injustices in the U.S. today, and Nevada is the epicenter of this ugly industry in North America.
Senator Harry Reid’s recent urging, that Nevada end its support for the ‘legal brothels’ in a few rural counties, is certainly to be commended – but does not go nearly far enough. Pimps and ads for prostitution are highly visible throughout the entire state, which is now a major destination for sex trafficking. One-fourth of the Las Vegas yellow pages now advertise for prostitution. Republican and Democratic politicians there are openly endorsing state pimping: promoting & profiting from prostitution.
Nevada however is just one arena of a growing debate that is now raging throughout the modern world. Is the selling and buying of women and girls (and boys) for sex really a ‘consensual business exchange’, which should be accepted?, or, a heartless and patriarchal exploitation of those who have no power, and no real choice?
Prostitution has long been an accepted part of our culture, something to joke about, and the subject of endless erotic Hollywood fantasies. But that is beginning to change, as women and men have been able to pull back the curtain, and see the sickening abuses of women that this industry depends on.
NOMAS endorses a complete re-examination of the laws, assumptions, and popular attitudes concerning prostitution in the United States, including but not limited to Nevada.
NOMAS calls for the vigorous enforcement of the Mann Act, the single federal law ever enacted which might protect women being used in prostitution, which is today widely ignored by the Department of Justice.
NOMAS points to the growing centrality of the Internet, CraigsList, etc., to those involved in selling women and children, and to this use of unfettered technology to trade in the bodies of human beings.
NOMAS calls for national legislation extending and strengthening the 2007 New York State Anti-Trafficking Law, the best legislative effort to date to deal with the complex realities of prostitution and sex trafficking.
NOMAS addresses many of the complexities of prostitution, and the broader sex industry, at its web site: NOMAS.org. (See e.g.: “Does Consensual Prostitution Exist?”)
For specific information about the abuse of women in prostitution in Nevada, by far the most authoritative and reliable source on this subject is: Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada: Making the Connection (2007) by Dr. Melissa Farley. ISBN 978-0-6151-6205-8.
NOMAS strongly endorses the work of Candice Trummell and her courageous colleagues at NCAST, the Nevada Coalition Against Sex Trafficking. (www.nevadacoalition.org)
The National Organization for Men Against Sexism
National Task Group on Pornography & Prostitution
Dr. Robert Brannon, Chair, rbran999@aol.com
See also:
Press Release: “Nevada Attorney General Masto Announces Ninth Circuit Court Decision Limiting Brothel Advertising”
New Book – Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada: Making the Connections
Letter to Gazette: “Urges Valley Advocate to stop running escort ads”