{"id":2734,"date":"2017-02-24T19:51:51","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T19:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/?p=2734"},"modified":"2017-02-24T19:52:37","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T19:52:37","slug":"las-vegas-child-sex-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/las-vegas-child-sex-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Mayor Carolyn Goodman about Las Vegas Child Sex Trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Mayor Goodman,<\/span><\/p>\n

My name is Dennis Hof, and I\u2019m in the prostitution business. For nearly fifty years prostitution has been legal in many of Nevada\u2019s rural counties in the form of licensed and regulated brothels, where sex workers practice their trade safely, profitably, and free from coercion. I own seven brothel licenses, more than anyone else in Nevada\u2019s history \u2014 three of which are in Nye County near Las Vegas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I bought my first brothel, the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, in the mid-1990\u2019s and I\u2019ve spent the better part of my life as the most outspoken figure in Nevada\u2019s legal sex industry. I\u2019ve had a long-running television program on HBO, written a book about my experiences, and I\u2019m often in the media championing (or defending) Nevada\u2019s unique and progressive prostitution laws. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This platform has been my life\u2019s work. I believe that I\u2019ve changed the perception of American prostitution forever and brought Nevada\u2019s brothels out of the shadows and into the limelight, where all Americans can see the good that these establishments do for sex workers, clients, business owners, and rural communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

This past October, I turned seventy. While I\u2019m proud to reflect on my accomplishments over the decades as a successful and uncompromising businessperson and legal sex work advocate, I\u2019m saddened to realize how much work there is yet to be done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently a\u00a0study from Arizona State University<\/span><\/a>\u00a0shined a bright light on the reality of Las Vegas sex trafficking victims. The study showed that, in 2014, two-thirds of victims were under the age of 18, and nearly half of these children were violently forced into sex slavery by coercive pimps who are often not convicted of any crime. The study revealed that victims were as young as 12 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our State\u2019s most prized city is a cesspool of child sex trafficking, and it\u2019s worse than any of us thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

Las Vegas, with its \u201cSin City\u201d reputation and \u201cWhat happens here, stays here\u201d slogan, is the top sex tourism destination in the United States. The casinos, hotels, and streets of Las Vegas are overflowing with criminal prostitutes, a good portion of them underage, ready to cater to the sexual desires of the city\u2019s guests. The gaming industry passively enables pimps, as sex trafficking victims service the guests staying at the opulent adult theme parks Las Vegas is known for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prostitution and gaming are why people come to Vegas, and both industries work together in harmony.\u00a0So what if one of these industries is illegal and harms children? There are billions to be made!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The criminal sex trade in Las Vegas is indeed an estimated multi-billion dollar industry. It\u2019s untaxed, unregulated, and it exploits children. The desire for pay-to-play sex in Las Vegas isn\u2019t going to go away \u2014 ever. Prostitution is as much a part of the DNA of Las Vegas as the city\u2019s gaming industry. So how do we cultivate a thriving Vegas economy and simultaneously stop sex trafficking? Well, America has made this mistake before. Remember Prohibition?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From 1920 to 1933 it was illegal to make or sell alcoholic beverages in the U.S.\u00a0 But did that stop people from drinking?\u00a0Heck, no. Instead, the Immutable Law of Good Intentions kicked in, meaning we made what was perceived as a bad situation worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once liquor became a crime, it didn\u2019t stop people from drinking.\u00a0Instead, criminals took over the business. It drove the consumption of alcohol by consenting adults in the freest country in the world underground, while giving rise to violent mobsters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bye-bye tax revenue; hello Murder, Inc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Has the prohibition of prostitution stopped sex work in Sin City?\u00a0 Absolutely not. Instead, we\u2019ve driven the world\u2019s oldest profession underground while giving rise to violent pimps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bye-bye tax revenue; hello child sex slaves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier in this decade, then-mayor Oscar Goodman advocated for discussing the possibility of\u00a0allowing legalized prostitution<\/span>\u00a0in Clark County. He was brave enough to admit that the city has a profound sex trafficking problem, and bold enough to suggest that legalization may be a good solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In light of this most recent study, I strongly feel that it\u2019s high time we reopen the discussion on legalizing prostitution in Clark County. I invite you, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, to meet with me and tour my Love Ranch brothel near Las Vegas, so that I can dispel any of your misconceptions about the merits of legal prostitution. Then, perhaps together, we can lead the charge against sex trafficking, and usher in a new era of regulated, safe, and lucrative sex tourism in Las Vegas.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m proof that Nevada\u2019s fifty-year legal prostitution experiment is an unqualified success. Let\u2019s stop child sex trafficking in Las Vegas, increase tax revenue, and provide the city\u2019s tourists with a safe and healthy adult entertainment experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Las Vegas visitors want prostitution. Let\u2019s give it to them, the right way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/span><\/p>\n

Dennis Hof<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Mayor Goodman, My name is Dennis Hof, and I\u2019m in the prostitution business. For nearly fifty years prostitution has been legal in many of Nevada\u2019s rural counties in the form of licensed and regulated brothels, where sex workers practice their trade safely, profitably, and free from coercion. I own seven brothel licenses, more than … Continue reading “An Open Letter to Mayor Carolyn Goodman about Las Vegas Child Sex Trafficking”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dennis-hof","category-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2734"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2736,"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions\/2736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bunnyranch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}