The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear oral arguments in a groundbreaking case, Charleston v. State of Nevada, on December 9, 2020.
This case threatens to hold Nevada responsible for enabling the sexual abuse and slavery of countless women because of their prostitution laws.
We invite leaders in the #EndExploitation Movement to this briefing for an insider’s update on the case.
One plaintiff, Bekah Charleston, was a 17-year-old runaway who came under the control of her trafficker who swiftly brought her from Texas to Nevada to be sold in Las Vegas and into brothel. She was held in virtual captivity in a Nevada brothel, regularly raped, and forced to perform sex acts upon fear of beatings and other abuse. The other plaintiff is Angela Delgado-Williams, a survivor who has a similar story of being preyed upon, lured, abused, controlled, and then eventually sex trafficked in Las Vegas.
These survivors have sued the state of Nevada for creating the sex trade environment that makes this abuse not only possible, but virtually certain. Nevada’s sex tourism industry, bolstered by the unquenchable demand, requires more and even younger girls each year. Girls are brought to Nevada across state lines to be prostituted and trafficked, in violation of federal law.
Federal anti-trafficking laws are predicated on the Thirteenth Amendment’s ban on involuntary servitude, enacted after the Civil War. It prohibited the states from re-establishing new forms of servitude through abusive economic practices. Yet this is what Nevada’s scheme is producing. It commodifies women for sale, preys on the most vulnerable and economically helpless, and holds them in sexual servitude.
This will certainly impact our movement—especially our efforts to combat the full-decriminalization of prostittution—and we need a game plan for educating the public!
The lawsuit seeks an order that would:
- Void any county ordinances licensing brothels
- Invalidate the state law permitting prostitution
- Provide exit services and resources to women prostituted through Nevada’s legal brothels
Featuring Panelists:
- Bekah Charleston, Survivor of Sex Trafficking in Nevada
- Jason Guinasso, Attorney, Hutchison & Steffen
- Christen Price, Legal Counsel, National Center on Sexual Exploitation
- Melissa Holland, Founder, Awaken
- Julie Bindel, Author and Advocate
We hope to see you there!
