Texas Anti-sex Trafficking Activist Sues Nevada to End Legalized Prostitution

An anti-human trafficking activist in North Texas has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Nevada in a bid to end legalized prostitution there. The complaint, filed Monday morning in Reno by Rebekah Charleston, contends that Nevada's legal brothels are in violation of federal law preventing interstate commerce in prostitution, and that the market created by those brothels contributes to illegal sex trafficking. It names the State of Nevada, its legislature, and Governor Steve Sisolak as defendants. Charleston claims to have been trafficked in one of Nevada's legal brothels. Trafficking is illegal in every state, but prostitution is legal in Nevada only in licensed brothels in counties with fewer than 700,000 residents. There are currently 21 such brothels operating in seven counties. Now, more than a decade after her experience there, Charleston is executive director of Valiant Hearts, a nonprofit organization working to end sexual exploitation. She described her life as a victim of sex trafficking and her escape in a profile in The Dallas Morning News.  Continue reading...