Nevada brothels dodged an attempt to close them down when a group opposing legalized prostitution in Nye County failed to gather enough signatures to put the issue to a vote in November.
The group needed to submit 1,963 signatures by Friday for a referendum to go forward, but the effort failed to do so, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Proponents could try to get county commissioners to agree to put the brothel elimination measure to the November Ballot before July 16, but this could prove to be tricky.
According to Nye County spokesman Arnold Knightly, the board’s chairman was not willing to bring the item forward before the deadline, which means that at least two other commissioners would have to call a meeting before then.
And, while those talks are in progress, Salli Kerr, executive director of the Nye County nonprofit No To Abuse said it was a really tight time frame to work around.
NBC News reported that there are about 20 brothels operating in the state, although it is hard to establish an accurate figure as many owners do not openly publicize their venues.
Jason Guinasso, a Reno-based attorney involved in the anti-brothel campaign, said many of the women working in the industry were not there by choice and were sent there by illegal pimps.
He and others involved in the campaign believe the measure could protect these women, however, human rights organization Amnesty International argued that the criminalization of brothels makes sex workers less safe.
"Amnesty International firmly believes that those who exploit or abuse sex workers must be criminalized," the organization said on its website. "But the reality is laws which criminalize 'brothel-keeping' and 'promotion' often lead to sex workers being arrested and prosecuted themselves."
In Lyon County, the same group of proponents campaigned for a similar motion but the county’s Board of Commissioners opted to place an advisory question on the ballot in November.
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