CODE RED ALERT FOR SEX WORKERS IN NEVADA
After posting our "Code Red" about what's happening to sex workers in Nevada - I got a correction from Daniel Bogden about how my "disparaging remarks" are not being clear enough about who is what and that I'm "lumping" people in together.
I should be more clear and specific. I certainly am also not trying to be "disparaging". But let me be more specific and clear then about what I have said. I have been on the phone for over 10 hours today taking crisis calls across the county and I need to go unplug a toilet. So I will go back and re-clarify my past statements when I can. In the meantime - let me be more clear.
Let's look at some recent examples of who has been harmed, attacked, murdered, abused, or who is in danger in the headlines of Nevada with respect to sex workers since our report in 2007 "Trafficking in Nevada".
I'm not sure where to classify this poor boy. He's a 13 year old boy that the soldier offered money to for sex thinking the boy was a sex worker by drunken mistake at Circus Circus. When he refused to sell it - he was raped in 2013. http://morallowground.com/2013/01/05/saudi-air-force-sergeant-mazen-alotaibi-accused-of-raping-13-year-old-boy-in-las-vegas-hotel/ I know for a fact that the Las Vegas Rape Crisis Center refused to give him services because they "had no groups for males because there's not a lot of demand". He was referred to a private counselor that was a three hour drive for the boy to reach. (If you ask me - Circus Circus should have paid to bring that boy the best private rape treatment in the world to come to his home to work with him - but what do I know?)
There has been Christy Mack. A porn performer whose relationship with War Machine had them once considered a "royal couple in Las Vegas" according to Brian Shapiro on Fox Sports 670 news. He said that her and War Machine were often "seen around town" together. She sustained massive injuries from the attack in Nevada - where War Machine escaped to California before being brought to justice. Somehow he managed to attempt to hang himself in his cell - but they did catch him before he died and saved him. I don't know much about her but I have not heard her mention having children. I have heard her talk about her home and she's so well off financially that she turned the $100,000 given to a domestic violence shelter that I'm sure needed the money pretty badly since donations have been down everywhere with respect to services for women. Christy has also said she is not leaving porn - and she is not a trafficking victim. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/12/porn-star-christy-mack-speaks-out_n_5672346.html
Another adult porn star, Cytherea, was attacked in her home. http://therealpornwikileaks.com/adult-star-cytherea-attacked-in-home-invasion/ Her home is in the "southwestern section of Las Vegas". I have not heard any mention of children nor is she a trafficking victim. It seems these three men who attacked her knew each other from detention.
Debbie Flores Narvaez, a fantasy dancer, adult female who also I've not heard discussion of having children, was murdered by her pimp/boyfriend. http://www.inquisitr.com/1805725/debbie-flores-narvaez-showgirls-dismemberment-cement-murder-will-debut-on-fatal-attraction/
Jessie Foster, was being pimped by Peter Todd. She was over 18 years of age, with no children, when she disappeared in Nevada - along with another escort and a madam who went missing the same evening that her mother never mentions whens she talks about Jessie's case. Police didn't search Peter Todd's home until two weeks after her disappearance. By then the carpeting had been torn up and put in the dumpster. The interior of the house had been completely repainted by Peter who said he was "redecorating" before moving 10 days later to Henderson, Nevada. (This is why we'd created www.pimpalert.com however.)
Christina Parreira, a social work student/prostitute, who did a report while working at a legal brothel, and who is married to Michael Whiteacre, a pornographer and attorney, lives in Henderson, Nevada. She's claimed more than one instance of domestic violence. http://publicfigurestoday.com/index.php/2015/02/24/jewish-felon-ari-scott-bass-gets-his-domestic-violence-case-dismissed-then-shoves-his-penis-into-his-wifes-mouth-live-on-webcam-nsfw/ She is over 18 years of age, and I have not heard any mention of having children.
Vince Neil assaulted a brothel prostitute. I'm not going to assume she's over 18 years of age because the legal age of consent in Nevada is 15 years of age. The Nevada brothel licensing laws allow for someone under the age of 18 to be granted a license as long as they are not HIV positive, and they have no criminal record. http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68003/vince-neil-faces-battery-trial
This is just female's in the sex industry. May Hagos, a convicted prostitute, states that Kenneth Cherry Jr. was not a pimp. However, many other people differ with that account. http://lasvegassun.com/news/2013/feb/26/girlfriend-rapper-shot-las-vegas-strip-says-he-was/ He was shot in Las Vegas, Nevada and was over 18 years of age.
The show "Gigolo's" on Showtime show a group of male escorts who are legal "companions". They are all male, and over 18 years of age. The current cast does not speak about having children - although one past cast member does speak out about having a disabled child he's now caring for full-time. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1898575/fullcredits/
Heidi Fleiss had a major car accident coming back from Celebrity Rehab filming. She was recently busted again for having 100's of marijuana plants illegally on her property. She has no children, is over 18 years of age, and has been billed as appearing at the Chicken Ranch run by Dennis Hof, who she was engaged to when she was filming a documentary about herself. She's been arrested multiple times now for drugs and with her latest arrest they didn't incarcerate her because there was no one who could care for her many parrots if she were to leave the property. She is clearly not getting help for her drug problem - especially if she can't leave the property even to be arrested. http://www.tmz.com/2013/08/13/heidi-fleiss-charged-marijuana-plants-grow-operation-nevada/
In a 2001 report, Alexis Albert wrote that the legal brothels encourage their legal prostitutes to have pimps because they make the women "work harder". http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the_business_of_desire/Content?oid=282289 In her research, Dennis Hof admits to using tricks (no pun intended) he uses to get the girls to spend their money faster so they'll work harder for his cut. This might also be why he's insisted he will not put up flyers for Sex Workers Anonymous anywhere for women thinking about leaving the field to find us. When I pressured him after this after Brooke Phillips was murdered that if she'd been given our number when she left pregnant - Dennis said "I work too hard to get them up here to make it easy for them to leave. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2825694/Gang-member-accomplices-arrested-Cathouse-murder-case-gunman-gives-names-suspects-shot-pregnant-reality-star-prostitute-three-dead.html
In 2013, Lisa Davis stabbed her pimp to death in self defense. http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/23686566/prostitute-claims-self-defense-in-pimp-boyfriends-slaying She was 42 years old - he was 45 years old. She was arrested for this despite the history of domestic violence - while "Heather" in W. Virginia shoots Neal Falls and is not arrested.
I think you're getting my point here about the amount of violence, brutality, rape, and even death that is higher for men and women in the sex industry in Nevada than any other state that I'm aware of. You'll note by the way that the majority of these victims would not consider themselves a "trafficking victim". May Hagos even denies Kenneth Cherry, Jr. was a pimp.
This not even close to a full list of the horrible things happening to sex workers in large numbers in Nevada getting worse every year. I'm just giving you an idea of headlines you'll remember.
So now let's turn to the page I said was a "tragedy because of the lack of resources" that appeared on the, let me be clear now, the Nevada Attorney General's page. Here it is - http://www.mediafire.com/view/8hkc3h10y66yypy/attorneygeneralnevada.pdf
Okay - the first phone number is to the National Trafficking Hotline. Who when you call them asks you if "you are a sex trafficking victim". If you say "no" then they basically can't help you. They are not there to help sex workers. But if you say "yes" then you will receive these phone numbers for Nevada. Now let me clarify something here - the phone number for Sex Workers Anonymous did NOT appear in their directory until April of 2015. I just want you to be aware that if you were to have called this hotline prior to April of this year - you would only have gotten our phone number after "begging" is what callers have told me in the past. Yes that has been changed but only recently.
You will note the other two numbers on there - Hookers for Jesus and Salvation Army Seeds of Hope.
In 2010, there was no "Destiny House". When I tried to place four victims who landed on my doorstep into the house they had said had opened - I was told it had not. It folded and Pastor Perez filed bankruptcy. Annie ran off to Africa for about six months. I have seen ads running to hire someone to work for Destiny House for about a year now. I don't know the status there except the voice mail is on when you call. I've had other victims tell me that "no one returns my phone calls". I've not gotten return calls. Reporter Tom Ragan asked Annie why she would not return my phone calls. She said "because I'm mean to her". I have good reason I've been mean to her and I go into that further on this post. http://traffickingandprostitutionservices.blogspot.com/2015/08/annie-lobert-hookers-for-jesus-pastor.html
So I have no idea what she's actually offering right now in the way of any program - but I do know if you're a male - the house is supposed to be for women only. If you're a minor - she doesn't offer services. If you need a ride - from what I'm aware she does not provide transportation to services. She is not a trained professional and I've not heard one testimonial out of her program. Pastor Perez has distanced himself from working with prostitutes - and is now preaching "prosperity messages" on tour.
I was told in 2013 that the SEEDS of Hope program had folded. I don't know their current status because no one there returns my calls even when I had four victims sitting on my couch begging them to help me find them emergency housing.
Okay - the Attorney General page goes like this:
The US Dept. of Justice will tell you they can't do anything "until a case is opened" and that you have to call the local police about sex trafficking. If you are a male or female sex worker who wants help to exit the industry, or if you're suffering from domestic violence in sex work - they do not have services for you.
Immigration is the same. If you are an American - they can't help you. If you're not an American - they will help you stay in the country if you file a sex trafficking report. However, if you're a sex worker wanting to quit, or to find help for domestic violence - they have no program or services. So unless you're an alien prosecuting a trafficker as they talk about below - they can't help you.
Shared Hope offers this:
When I have called them about Nevada victims of trafficking, or prostitutes who want to exit - they tell me "we do not offer direct services within the USA" and then hang up.
Hopelink:
If you're over 18 years of age - they can't help you. Since almost every stripper and brothel prostitute, and those working in massage parlors are over 18 years of age - that leaves out about 90 percent of the men and women we're reading about in the headlines who need help. They also offer no transportation to them. I've had to drive many a teen down there so I know.
Remember however Rick Rizzolo is on the Board of "Youth Charities of Southern Nevada" http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/880/880424171/880424171_200906_990EZ.pdf He was the owner of the Crazy Horse Strip Club that was drugging patrons and then ripping off their credit cards. Also, there's a patron paralyzed for life and now income tax evasion. http://mafia.wikia.com/wiki/Rick_Rizzolo
Salvation Army - we covered. But basically they're a shelter. They also usually have a drug treatment program and one for mental health. They are for adult women only. They don't take children or pets. They offer no storage for furniture. They offer no transportation to them. If you are a transgender or a lesbian they will refuse you because to quote them "they don't have accommodations" within the shelter for the showers and sleeping. If you are Jewish and require kosher they can't help you and will not partner with the local temples - I've asked. If you are Buddhist and ask to go to the local temple - they will also boot you out. I know - I've had to pick them up when booted. They have no services for males or transgenders.
That leaves Shade Tree:
If you are a female, with kids and a dog - they will take you. But if you have a home and/or furniture or a car - they have no storage. They are in a horrible neighborhood that I'm afraid to even drive through at night. No one would go there unless needing emergency shelter. If you are a man or transgender they can't help you. They have no programs for sex workers to exit the industry, no special programs for sex trafficking victims. If you are a sex trafficking witness - they will put you up, and get you job training. Job training last time I checked consisted of showing you how to teach English in other countries. They only take women over 18 years old and do not provide transportation to them. They are also in Las Vegas - so if you're in Reno, Carson City, Lake Tahoe, Pahrump, Mound, etc. then you're 900 miles away.
There was no Greyhound bus connecting northern and southern Nevada from about 2000 to 2010 by the way. We were using an RV to make the trip to go pick up anyone in northern Nevada and getting them services. For a few years, Sharnel Silvey had an alternative sentencing program and a drop-in center in northern Nevada, A Scarlet Covering The program was shut down in 2009.
Now in 2013, a group called the Cupcake Girls has appeared claiming they're there to "help" sex trafficking victims and sex workers. We have been helping this community since 1995 in Nevada. So when I read they had opened in Las Vegas - I asked to meet with them so I could find out more about their services to give out referrals as needed on our hotline. What we don't offer - I refer out. They refused to meet with me.
When Kamylla was worried the show she had filed for "8 Minutes" was going to air without her face blurred - I asked the Cupcake Girls to help me get an injunction against the show from airing to protect her and her children from exposure and shame. They not only refused - they blocked me and then proceeded to hold a fund raiser for this woman WITHOUT verifying who she was, and WHILE she was proclaiming she was still active in the sex industry and hanging out with active sex workers praising the sex worker industry.
Then, after saying they were "not a political group" - they went to the Nevada legislature claiming that they were "unable to find prostitutes work because of their criminal background and they wanted to have their records expunged". Which is strange because every casino in Las Vegas I'm aware of except one WILL hire those with a prostitute arrest in their background. As for expungement - we've helped many get record expungement either with a donated attorney, or without an attorney by presenting a package to the judge who has always accepted when we've done this. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/78th2015/Minutes/Senate/JUD/Final/1207.pdf
We then offered to give them the list of companies who do hire those with a record - for good jobs too - and they refused that list from us. So needless to say - I don't think they're main goal is to help sex workers find gainful employment outside of sex work if they refuse this list and further tell prostitutes they have to wait for a law change before they can find work rather than getting that list from us - or even asking around. Some even hire felons depending upon the charge. I'm not going to say who here does that because they might consider it bad publicity.
Now I ask you - if WE, Sex Workers Anonymous, is the ONLY program in all of Nevada offering:
1. Transportation to services.
2. Services to males and transgenders.
3. Services to non-sex trafficking victims who are just sex workers who want to quit.
4. Offer a hotline for sex workers in trouble to call for things like domestic violence who can't call the police for one reason or another, and we then transport to a domestic violence shelter, drug treatment, or the hospital.
5. Services all over Nevada - not just Las Vegas.
6. To non-Christians such as Jewish, Buddhist, Pagans, or atheists.
7. Help to leave legal sex work such as the brothels or the strip clubs or massage parlors or porn production companies -
Then can you please tell me WHY we are not listed on the Attorney General's resource page AND have had some kind of article done on our work in the Review Journal?
Tom Ragan, a reporter with the RJ for 12 years, interviewed us for a story. Then we were told when he and the photographer who took my picture "insisted" on the story running - they were fired.
THE ABOVE is what results. If these people don't know where to go for help - and the lists they are given don't apply to them - then I'm going to repeat that we have a CODE RED for Nevada.
Now who did we try and speak to when AB67, the so called "trafficking bill" was being passed in Nevada from the Attorney General's office? The Attorney General was Catherine Cortez Masto. This is her announcing the bill's passing http://ag.nv.gov/News/PR/2013/Human_Trafficking/Attorney_General_Masto%E2%80%99s_Sex_Trafficking_Legislation_Passed_by_Nevada_Legislature/
Now her assistant, Maria Couch, was the woman who was handling the announcements of the events being held in connection with that Bill. I kept not being invited to those events despite being asked repeatedly to be notified ahead of time so SWA members could get off work and attend. This is the letter we received from Maria. Whenever we'd ask to be notified about Ms. Masto's events - we were told Maria "handled the invitations and newsletter.
Maria then asked us to "remove her" from our list and stopped returning my calls and would not let me know when meetings on sex trafficking and AB67 was being held. When I'd ask to speak to Catherine directly - I was refused and given back to Maria. http://www.mediafire.com/view/x2mjagfnfyyvvzf/Gmail_-_RE__Prostitution_Bill.pdf So "technically" no it was not Catherine that blocked us -but it was.
If she's not calling us and then we're told we have to speak to Maria to find out about events and then Maria isn't returning our calls and telling me she wants off our mailing list so I can't email her - then you tell me what that is please. When I try and send things directly to Catherine - I'm told I have to send them to Maria who then tells me "not to send" anything. I mean what am I to think?
Yes this was Ms. Couch - not Ms. Masto blowing me off. However, when I'm told I have to go through Maria to get to Catherine, or events' listings - then you tell me what that is?
I have no idea who Adam Laxalt is because I haven't spoken to him yet. I've emailed him when I heard he was the new AG, and again about a month ago asking to be added to the resource page once I saw it had been updated without our name, and again this week with a copy of the "Code Red". I have not heard back from him.
Daniel Bogden is a United States Attorney with the Dept. of Justice at a different office than the Nevada Attorney General. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Bogden He told me today that I'm "not making a distinction between these offices". Okay he's right.
I go onto the page for the United States Attorney's Office for Nevada and I look for a page for resources to help sex trafficking victims and/or sex workers wanting help to leave the sex industry in Nevada - legal or illegal.
This is what I found. http://www.justice.gov/publications/resources
Enough said. If this is being "disparaging" - I don't think I'm the problem here. Nevada - since the FCC changed the law in 1995 - I can't run public service announcements all over Nevada TV and radio like I used to free before 1995.
Polaris has put up five billboards in Nevada. When I spoke to them this year - I was told not one sex trafficking rescue has come through those billboards.
When ATLAS spent $80,000 on a billboard off by Tropicana on the Freeway - they reported at the end of the year not one single sex trafficking rescue call came from that billboard.
I told each of them victims of trafficking don't call 800 numbers off billboards. They aren't allowed near phones usually in the first place. If in a car - they are being driven and aren't alone and can't write down the number if they saw it whizzing by at 55 mph. They are in PTSD mode - and not noticing billboards. That's NOT how you reach a victim. A victim honestly isn't going to even look on the Nevada Attorney General's page. Go ahead and ask a stripper or brothel prostitute in Nevada if they even know who the NV Attorney General or the US Attorney for Nevada is - and you will probably get a blank look.
I've asked to be notified of when the Southern Nevada Sex Trafficking Task Force meetings are being held - only no one will let me know when the meetings are. They are however held at the Metro police station. When I asked a woman on that task force if they could be held elsewhere so that some survivors could come that won't go near a Metro police station - they refused. I've asked if survivors could attend by Skype - and they're refused. So clearly they don't want to hear from Nevada survivors how to help other victims.
You want to find sex trafficking victims in Nevada? Not hard to find. I can easily show you where we find 100's of them in Nevada every year. Any time day or night if you go down on Tropicana Blvd. by the freeway by the Budget Suites of America and the Jack in the Box - you will always see at least one, if not a parade, of them going by. The most you'd wait to see a potential damsel in distress would be 15 minutes tops. Why? There's two adult stores right by there. One sells stuff but another actually has a theater with dancers. Then you have the motel and 24/ Jack in the Box - plus the truckers are parked over at the Wild Wild West. Do the math.
Now when ex-mayor Oscar Goodman was trying to get approval to put in a legal brothel in Las Vegas where the Mob Museum is now - he told everyone in Metro, probation and social services that they would "be fired" if they even "read the Trafficking in Nevada report or even speak to Jody Williams or Melissa Farley". Melissa Farley and reporter Ed Lawrence - who was then fired after hearing this - heard this. He meant it to - and people who did call us for help were fired.
Now - that was BEFORE when he was trying to get brothels in where the museum is. Then George, the brothel association lobbyist, lost the bid to expand into Las Vegas in the 2013 legislature. The deal's off. There is no official reason why anyone can't speak to us anymore. When I confronted Oscar on this - he said it was because he "didn't want images of strung out street whores to mess with the images of Las Vegas he was putting out there to attract tourists".
Okay fine - over. His wife is now Mayor of just the City of Las Vegas and it's over. She would never let a brothel be put in Vegas according to Oscar in an interview. So there's no reason why anyone in Nevada media or state services can't call us for help with a client now. http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada-legislature/prostitution-bill-not-nevada-legislatures-agenda
The DA David Schubert is now dead. Chief of Metro Doug Gillispie has now stepped down. Even the Limo company that was trafficking women has been shut down and the owners arrested. Thanks to Daniel Bogden, Rick Rizzolo was even arrested. Although I hear Crazy Horse III is opening now in Las Vegas.
All the more reason why Nevada needs to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. You want "love and light"? Call Annie Lobert at Hookers for Jesus and see what you can get for help. But if you want help to leave the sex industry and/or to get away from a pimp or trafficker and you don't fit into the guidelines of these above listed programs as to who they help - call www.sexworkersanonymous.com (702) 468-4529 24/7. Phone is answered by a survivor with at least 10 years recovery.
UPDATE: This phone call came in at 4:00 a.m. on August 11, 2015. The caller speaks about the Cupcake Girls and Hookers for Jesus in Las Vegas and her experience with them. Granted this is her experience with them, and her opinion, and I have no way of verifying any of this because neither of these programs will speak to me. But you make up your own mind - http://www.mediafire.com/watch/ikygm6xzb09frgk/LasVegasPhoneCall.mp4
Further update as of August 29, 2015 - I have now written to Daniel Bogden three times asking that he speak to me about sex trafficking I'm aware of, some of which involves children. I have not received a call or email yet. I emailed the Review Journal this Code Red Alert saying that they had an obligation to post our phone number so that victims could call and get help from a program that will actually go out and provide transportation as many victims can't drive. Either because they don't have a car - or because they're not old enough nor have a license. We got no response from them but they did write this lovely article - http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/2-las-vegas-men-convicted-sex-trafficking
I should be more clear and specific. I certainly am also not trying to be "disparaging". But let me be more specific and clear then about what I have said. I have been on the phone for over 10 hours today taking crisis calls across the county and I need to go unplug a toilet. So I will go back and re-clarify my past statements when I can. In the meantime - let me be more clear.
Let's look at some recent examples of who has been harmed, attacked, murdered, abused, or who is in danger in the headlines of Nevada with respect to sex workers since our report in 2007 "Trafficking in Nevada".
I'm not sure where to classify this poor boy. He's a 13 year old boy that the soldier offered money to for sex thinking the boy was a sex worker by drunken mistake at Circus Circus. When he refused to sell it - he was raped in 2013. http://morallowground.com/2013/01/05/saudi-air-force-sergeant-mazen-alotaibi-accused-of-raping-13-year-old-boy-in-las-vegas-hotel/ I know for a fact that the Las Vegas Rape Crisis Center refused to give him services because they "had no groups for males because there's not a lot of demand". He was referred to a private counselor that was a three hour drive for the boy to reach. (If you ask me - Circus Circus should have paid to bring that boy the best private rape treatment in the world to come to his home to work with him - but what do I know?)
There has been Christy Mack. A porn performer whose relationship with War Machine had them once considered a "royal couple in Las Vegas" according to Brian Shapiro on Fox Sports 670 news. He said that her and War Machine were often "seen around town" together. She sustained massive injuries from the attack in Nevada - where War Machine escaped to California before being brought to justice. Somehow he managed to attempt to hang himself in his cell - but they did catch him before he died and saved him. I don't know much about her but I have not heard her mention having children. I have heard her talk about her home and she's so well off financially that she turned the $100,000 given to a domestic violence shelter that I'm sure needed the money pretty badly since donations have been down everywhere with respect to services for women. Christy has also said she is not leaving porn - and she is not a trafficking victim. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/12/porn-star-christy-mack-speaks-out_n_5672346.html
Another adult porn star, Cytherea, was attacked in her home. http://therealpornwikileaks.com/adult-star-cytherea-attacked-in-home-invasion/ Her home is in the "southwestern section of Las Vegas". I have not heard any mention of children nor is she a trafficking victim. It seems these three men who attacked her knew each other from detention.
Debbie Flores Narvaez, a fantasy dancer, adult female who also I've not heard discussion of having children, was murdered by her pimp/boyfriend. http://www.inquisitr.com/1805725/debbie-flores-narvaez-showgirls-dismemberment-cement-murder-will-debut-on-fatal-attraction/
Jessie Foster, was being pimped by Peter Todd. She was over 18 years of age, with no children, when she disappeared in Nevada - along with another escort and a madam who went missing the same evening that her mother never mentions whens she talks about Jessie's case. Police didn't search Peter Todd's home until two weeks after her disappearance. By then the carpeting had been torn up and put in the dumpster. The interior of the house had been completely repainted by Peter who said he was "redecorating" before moving 10 days later to Henderson, Nevada. (This is why we'd created www.pimpalert.com however.)
Christina Parreira, a social work student/prostitute, who did a report while working at a legal brothel, and who is married to Michael Whiteacre, a pornographer and attorney, lives in Henderson, Nevada. She's claimed more than one instance of domestic violence. http://publicfigurestoday.com/index.php/2015/02/24/jewish-felon-ari-scott-bass-gets-his-domestic-violence-case-dismissed-then-shoves-his-penis-into-his-wifes-mouth-live-on-webcam-nsfw/ She is over 18 years of age, and I have not heard any mention of having children.
Vince Neil assaulted a brothel prostitute. I'm not going to assume she's over 18 years of age because the legal age of consent in Nevada is 15 years of age. The Nevada brothel licensing laws allow for someone under the age of 18 to be granted a license as long as they are not HIV positive, and they have no criminal record. http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68003/vince-neil-faces-battery-trial
This is just female's in the sex industry. May Hagos, a convicted prostitute, states that Kenneth Cherry Jr. was not a pimp. However, many other people differ with that account. http://lasvegassun.com/news/2013/feb/26/girlfriend-rapper-shot-las-vegas-strip-says-he-was/ He was shot in Las Vegas, Nevada and was over 18 years of age.
The show "Gigolo's" on Showtime show a group of male escorts who are legal "companions". They are all male, and over 18 years of age. The current cast does not speak about having children - although one past cast member does speak out about having a disabled child he's now caring for full-time. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1898575/fullcredits/
Heidi Fleiss had a major car accident coming back from Celebrity Rehab filming. She was recently busted again for having 100's of marijuana plants illegally on her property. She has no children, is over 18 years of age, and has been billed as appearing at the Chicken Ranch run by Dennis Hof, who she was engaged to when she was filming a documentary about herself. She's been arrested multiple times now for drugs and with her latest arrest they didn't incarcerate her because there was no one who could care for her many parrots if she were to leave the property. She is clearly not getting help for her drug problem - especially if she can't leave the property even to be arrested. http://www.tmz.com/2013/08/13/heidi-fleiss-charged-marijuana-plants-grow-operation-nevada/
In a 2001 report, Alexis Albert wrote that the legal brothels encourage their legal prostitutes to have pimps because they make the women "work harder". http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the_business_of_desire/Content?oid=282289 In her research, Dennis Hof admits to using tricks (no pun intended) he uses to get the girls to spend their money faster so they'll work harder for his cut. This might also be why he's insisted he will not put up flyers for Sex Workers Anonymous anywhere for women thinking about leaving the field to find us. When I pressured him after this after Brooke Phillips was murdered that if she'd been given our number when she left pregnant - Dennis said "I work too hard to get them up here to make it easy for them to leave. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2825694/Gang-member-accomplices-arrested-Cathouse-murder-case-gunman-gives-names-suspects-shot-pregnant-reality-star-prostitute-three-dead.html
In 2013, Lisa Davis stabbed her pimp to death in self defense. http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/23686566/prostitute-claims-self-defense-in-pimp-boyfriends-slaying She was 42 years old - he was 45 years old. She was arrested for this despite the history of domestic violence - while "Heather" in W. Virginia shoots Neal Falls and is not arrested.
I think you're getting my point here about the amount of violence, brutality, rape, and even death that is higher for men and women in the sex industry in Nevada than any other state that I'm aware of. You'll note by the way that the majority of these victims would not consider themselves a "trafficking victim". May Hagos even denies Kenneth Cherry, Jr. was a pimp.
This not even close to a full list of the horrible things happening to sex workers in large numbers in Nevada getting worse every year. I'm just giving you an idea of headlines you'll remember.
So now let's turn to the page I said was a "tragedy because of the lack of resources" that appeared on the, let me be clear now, the Nevada Attorney General's page. Here it is - http://www.mediafire.com/view/8hkc3h10y66yypy/attorneygeneralnevada.pdf
Okay - the first phone number is to the National Trafficking Hotline. Who when you call them asks you if "you are a sex trafficking victim". If you say "no" then they basically can't help you. They are not there to help sex workers. But if you say "yes" then you will receive these phone numbers for Nevada. Now let me clarify something here - the phone number for Sex Workers Anonymous did NOT appear in their directory until April of 2015. I just want you to be aware that if you were to have called this hotline prior to April of this year - you would only have gotten our phone number after "begging" is what callers have told me in the past. Yes that has been changed but only recently.
You will note the other two numbers on there - Hookers for Jesus and Salvation Army Seeds of Hope.
In 2010, there was no "Destiny House". When I tried to place four victims who landed on my doorstep into the house they had said had opened - I was told it had not. It folded and Pastor Perez filed bankruptcy. Annie ran off to Africa for about six months. I have seen ads running to hire someone to work for Destiny House for about a year now. I don't know the status there except the voice mail is on when you call. I've had other victims tell me that "no one returns my phone calls". I've not gotten return calls. Reporter Tom Ragan asked Annie why she would not return my phone calls. She said "because I'm mean to her". I have good reason I've been mean to her and I go into that further on this post. http://traffickingandprostitutionservices.blogspot.com/2015/08/annie-lobert-hookers-for-jesus-pastor.html
So I have no idea what she's actually offering right now in the way of any program - but I do know if you're a male - the house is supposed to be for women only. If you're a minor - she doesn't offer services. If you need a ride - from what I'm aware she does not provide transportation to services. She is not a trained professional and I've not heard one testimonial out of her program. Pastor Perez has distanced himself from working with prostitutes - and is now preaching "prosperity messages" on tour.
I was told in 2013 that the SEEDS of Hope program had folded. I don't know their current status because no one there returns my calls even when I had four victims sitting on my couch begging them to help me find them emergency housing.
Okay - the Attorney General page goes like this:
The US Dept. of Justice will tell you they can't do anything "until a case is opened" and that you have to call the local police about sex trafficking. If you are a male or female sex worker who wants help to exit the industry, or if you're suffering from domestic violence in sex work - they do not have services for you.
Immigration is the same. If you are an American - they can't help you. If you're not an American - they will help you stay in the country if you file a sex trafficking report. However, if you're a sex worker wanting to quit, or to find help for domestic violence - they have no program or services. So unless you're an alien prosecuting a trafficker as they talk about below - they can't help you.
Shared Hope offers this:
When I have called them about Nevada victims of trafficking, or prostitutes who want to exit - they tell me "we do not offer direct services within the USA" and then hang up.
Hopelink:
I've worked with them many times. You have to have ID by the way or you get no help. They give you referrals to other programs that can help you move into an apartment, get food, get utility help, and they often run out of money. You have to call these programs during office hours, apply for services, and if they have funding they will help you. You can be anyone - and if you need help they will offer it to you. They offer no special counseling programs for sex workers, those trying to leave the sex industry, nor for sex trafficking victims. They also offer no transportation to them or any of the programs you have to apply for help with. They strictly are a referral agency to funded programs.
Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth:
If you're over 18 years of age - they can't help you. Since almost every stripper and brothel prostitute, and those working in massage parlors are over 18 years of age - that leaves out about 90 percent of the men and women we're reading about in the headlines who need help. They also offer no transportation to them. I've had to drive many a teen down there so I know.
Remember however Rick Rizzolo is on the Board of "Youth Charities of Southern Nevada" http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/880/880424171/880424171_200906_990EZ.pdf He was the owner of the Crazy Horse Strip Club that was drugging patrons and then ripping off their credit cards. Also, there's a patron paralyzed for life and now income tax evasion. http://mafia.wikia.com/wiki/Rick_Rizzolo
Salvation Army - we covered. But basically they're a shelter. They also usually have a drug treatment program and one for mental health. They are for adult women only. They don't take children or pets. They offer no storage for furniture. They offer no transportation to them. If you are a transgender or a lesbian they will refuse you because to quote them "they don't have accommodations" within the shelter for the showers and sleeping. If you are Jewish and require kosher they can't help you and will not partner with the local temples - I've asked. If you are Buddhist and ask to go to the local temple - they will also boot you out. I know - I've had to pick them up when booted. They have no services for males or transgenders.
That leaves Shade Tree:
If you are a female, with kids and a dog - they will take you. But if you have a home and/or furniture or a car - they have no storage. They are in a horrible neighborhood that I'm afraid to even drive through at night. No one would go there unless needing emergency shelter. If you are a man or transgender they can't help you. They have no programs for sex workers to exit the industry, no special programs for sex trafficking victims. If you are a sex trafficking witness - they will put you up, and get you job training. Job training last time I checked consisted of showing you how to teach English in other countries. They only take women over 18 years old and do not provide transportation to them. They are also in Las Vegas - so if you're in Reno, Carson City, Lake Tahoe, Pahrump, Mound, etc. then you're 900 miles away.
There was no Greyhound bus connecting northern and southern Nevada from about 2000 to 2010 by the way. We were using an RV to make the trip to go pick up anyone in northern Nevada and getting them services. For a few years, Sharnel Silvey had an alternative sentencing program and a drop-in center in northern Nevada, A Scarlet Covering The program was shut down in 2009.
Now in 2013, a group called the Cupcake Girls has appeared claiming they're there to "help" sex trafficking victims and sex workers. We have been helping this community since 1995 in Nevada. So when I read they had opened in Las Vegas - I asked to meet with them so I could find out more about their services to give out referrals as needed on our hotline. What we don't offer - I refer out. They refused to meet with me.
When Kamylla was worried the show she had filed for "8 Minutes" was going to air without her face blurred - I asked the Cupcake Girls to help me get an injunction against the show from airing to protect her and her children from exposure and shame. They not only refused - they blocked me and then proceeded to hold a fund raiser for this woman WITHOUT verifying who she was, and WHILE she was proclaiming she was still active in the sex industry and hanging out with active sex workers praising the sex worker industry.
Then, after saying they were "not a political group" - they went to the Nevada legislature claiming that they were "unable to find prostitutes work because of their criminal background and they wanted to have their records expunged". Which is strange because every casino in Las Vegas I'm aware of except one WILL hire those with a prostitute arrest in their background. As for expungement - we've helped many get record expungement either with a donated attorney, or without an attorney by presenting a package to the judge who has always accepted when we've done this. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/78th2015/Minutes/Senate/JUD/Final/1207.pdf
We then offered to give them the list of companies who do hire those with a record - for good jobs too - and they refused that list from us. So needless to say - I don't think they're main goal is to help sex workers find gainful employment outside of sex work if they refuse this list and further tell prostitutes they have to wait for a law change before they can find work rather than getting that list from us - or even asking around. Some even hire felons depending upon the charge. I'm not going to say who here does that because they might consider it bad publicity.
Now I ask you - if WE, Sex Workers Anonymous, is the ONLY program in all of Nevada offering:
1. Transportation to services.
2. Services to males and transgenders.
3. Services to non-sex trafficking victims who are just sex workers who want to quit.
4. Offer a hotline for sex workers in trouble to call for things like domestic violence who can't call the police for one reason or another, and we then transport to a domestic violence shelter, drug treatment, or the hospital.
5. Services all over Nevada - not just Las Vegas.
6. To non-Christians such as Jewish, Buddhist, Pagans, or atheists.
7. Help to leave legal sex work such as the brothels or the strip clubs or massage parlors or porn production companies -
Then can you please tell me WHY we are not listed on the Attorney General's resource page AND have had some kind of article done on our work in the Review Journal?
Tom Ragan, a reporter with the RJ for 12 years, interviewed us for a story. Then we were told when he and the photographer who took my picture "insisted" on the story running - they were fired.
THE ABOVE is what results. If these people don't know where to go for help - and the lists they are given don't apply to them - then I'm going to repeat that we have a CODE RED for Nevada.
Now who did we try and speak to when AB67, the so called "trafficking bill" was being passed in Nevada from the Attorney General's office? The Attorney General was Catherine Cortez Masto. This is her announcing the bill's passing http://ag.nv.gov/News/PR/2013/Human_Trafficking/Attorney_General_Masto%E2%80%99s_Sex_Trafficking_Legislation_Passed_by_Nevada_Legislature/
Now her assistant, Maria Couch, was the woman who was handling the announcements of the events being held in connection with that Bill. I kept not being invited to those events despite being asked repeatedly to be notified ahead of time so SWA members could get off work and attend. This is the letter we received from Maria. Whenever we'd ask to be notified about Ms. Masto's events - we were told Maria "handled the invitations and newsletter.
Maria then asked us to "remove her" from our list and stopped returning my calls and would not let me know when meetings on sex trafficking and AB67 was being held. When I'd ask to speak to Catherine directly - I was refused and given back to Maria. http://www.mediafire.com/view/x2mjagfnfyyvvzf/Gmail_-_RE__Prostitution_Bill.pdf So "technically" no it was not Catherine that blocked us -but it was.
If she's not calling us and then we're told we have to speak to Maria to find out about events and then Maria isn't returning our calls and telling me she wants off our mailing list so I can't email her - then you tell me what that is please. When I try and send things directly to Catherine - I'm told I have to send them to Maria who then tells me "not to send" anything. I mean what am I to think?
Yes this was Ms. Couch - not Ms. Masto blowing me off. However, when I'm told I have to go through Maria to get to Catherine, or events' listings - then you tell me what that is?
I have no idea who Adam Laxalt is because I haven't spoken to him yet. I've emailed him when I heard he was the new AG, and again about a month ago asking to be added to the resource page once I saw it had been updated without our name, and again this week with a copy of the "Code Red". I have not heard back from him.
Daniel Bogden is a United States Attorney with the Dept. of Justice at a different office than the Nevada Attorney General. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Bogden He told me today that I'm "not making a distinction between these offices". Okay he's right.
I go onto the page for the United States Attorney's Office for Nevada and I look for a page for resources to help sex trafficking victims and/or sex workers wanting help to leave the sex industry in Nevada - legal or illegal.
This is what I found. http://www.justice.gov/publications/resources
Enough said. If this is being "disparaging" - I don't think I'm the problem here. Nevada - since the FCC changed the law in 1995 - I can't run public service announcements all over Nevada TV and radio like I used to free before 1995.
Polaris has put up five billboards in Nevada. When I spoke to them this year - I was told not one sex trafficking rescue has come through those billboards.
When ATLAS spent $80,000 on a billboard off by Tropicana on the Freeway - they reported at the end of the year not one single sex trafficking rescue call came from that billboard.
I told each of them victims of trafficking don't call 800 numbers off billboards. They aren't allowed near phones usually in the first place. If in a car - they are being driven and aren't alone and can't write down the number if they saw it whizzing by at 55 mph. They are in PTSD mode - and not noticing billboards. That's NOT how you reach a victim. A victim honestly isn't going to even look on the Nevada Attorney General's page. Go ahead and ask a stripper or brothel prostitute in Nevada if they even know who the NV Attorney General or the US Attorney for Nevada is - and you will probably get a blank look.
I've asked to be notified of when the Southern Nevada Sex Trafficking Task Force meetings are being held - only no one will let me know when the meetings are. They are however held at the Metro police station. When I asked a woman on that task force if they could be held elsewhere so that some survivors could come that won't go near a Metro police station - they refused. I've asked if survivors could attend by Skype - and they're refused. So clearly they don't want to hear from Nevada survivors how to help other victims.
You want to find sex trafficking victims in Nevada? Not hard to find. I can easily show you where we find 100's of them in Nevada every year. Any time day or night if you go down on Tropicana Blvd. by the freeway by the Budget Suites of America and the Jack in the Box - you will always see at least one, if not a parade, of them going by. The most you'd wait to see a potential damsel in distress would be 15 minutes tops. Why? There's two adult stores right by there. One sells stuff but another actually has a theater with dancers. Then you have the motel and 24/ Jack in the Box - plus the truckers are parked over at the Wild Wild West. Do the math.
Now when ex-mayor Oscar Goodman was trying to get approval to put in a legal brothel in Las Vegas where the Mob Museum is now - he told everyone in Metro, probation and social services that they would "be fired" if they even "read the Trafficking in Nevada report or even speak to Jody Williams or Melissa Farley". Melissa Farley and reporter Ed Lawrence - who was then fired after hearing this - heard this. He meant it to - and people who did call us for help were fired.
Now - that was BEFORE when he was trying to get brothels in where the museum is. Then George, the brothel association lobbyist, lost the bid to expand into Las Vegas in the 2013 legislature. The deal's off. There is no official reason why anyone can't speak to us anymore. When I confronted Oscar on this - he said it was because he "didn't want images of strung out street whores to mess with the images of Las Vegas he was putting out there to attract tourists".
Okay fine - over. His wife is now Mayor of just the City of Las Vegas and it's over. She would never let a brothel be put in Vegas according to Oscar in an interview. So there's no reason why anyone in Nevada media or state services can't call us for help with a client now. http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada-legislature/prostitution-bill-not-nevada-legislatures-agenda
The DA David Schubert is now dead. Chief of Metro Doug Gillispie has now stepped down. Even the Limo company that was trafficking women has been shut down and the owners arrested. Thanks to Daniel Bogden, Rick Rizzolo was even arrested. Although I hear Crazy Horse III is opening now in Las Vegas.
All the more reason why Nevada needs to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. You want "love and light"? Call Annie Lobert at Hookers for Jesus and see what you can get for help. But if you want help to leave the sex industry and/or to get away from a pimp or trafficker and you don't fit into the guidelines of these above listed programs as to who they help - call www.sexworkersanonymous.com (702) 468-4529 24/7. Phone is answered by a survivor with at least 10 years recovery.
UPDATE: This phone call came in at 4:00 a.m. on August 11, 2015. The caller speaks about the Cupcake Girls and Hookers for Jesus in Las Vegas and her experience with them. Granted this is her experience with them, and her opinion, and I have no way of verifying any of this because neither of these programs will speak to me. But you make up your own mind - http://www.mediafire.com/watch/ikygm6xzb09frgk/LasVegasPhoneCall.mp4
Further update as of August 29, 2015 - I have now written to Daniel Bogden three times asking that he speak to me about sex trafficking I'm aware of, some of which involves children. I have not received a call or email yet. I emailed the Review Journal this Code Red Alert saying that they had an obligation to post our phone number so that victims could call and get help from a program that will actually go out and provide transportation as many victims can't drive. Either because they don't have a car - or because they're not old enough nor have a license. We got no response from them but they did write this lovely article - http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/2-las-vegas-men-convicted-sex-trafficking
Comments
Post a Comment