0:00 NARRATOR: It's an illegal workforce... ...that's an Internet connection and a phone call away. Amanda: I don't have sex for money; I spend time with men for money. Photographer: You nailed it. Amanda: The sex is always free. NARRATOR: The world's oldest profession has moved online and indoors. Davo: It's all about the glamour and making money. Sarah: It starts with two hours for 1,000, three hours for 1,300. NARRATOR: I'm Mariana Van Zeller and we're going behind the supply and demand of the escort industry. Mariana: And what kind of work am I supposed to do? Is sex involved or not? NARRATOR: Many are caught in an abusive underworld... Escort: He almost killed me. He made me think I was going to die. NARRATOR: ...while others fight for the freedom to simply work.
0:48 Jenny: Police officers, please don't arrest sex workers! NARRATOR: This is the American escort industry. Rosetta: The reality is whether you suck bleep in the plaza or suck bleep in the bowery, you're still suckin'! NARRATOR: The Las Vegas airport. This is Sarah. She's flown from across the country to meet a new client...
1:34 a man who booked her on the Internet. Sarah: My specialty is what they call GFE, girlfriend experience... I am your girlfriend, I am your lover I'm your girlfriend, I am really, really good at it. NARRATOR: Sarah won't show us her face because some of what she does is illegal. She works as an escort, part of a booming underground workforce. We've come here to learn how the escort industry operates. Sarah: Four hours, 2,400... NARRATOR: Sarah got divorced and needed money. Sarah: And this would be me... NARRATOR: So she joined the sex industry.
2:19 Sarah: Starts at two hours for 1,000, three hours for 1,300. NARRATOR: Like many women, she turned to the Internet. Sarah: Twelve hours for 3,000 or 12 hours plus breakfast in bed 3,500. NARRATOR: She works independently. No agencies, no pimps, just a laptop and a cell phone. Mariana: Sarah is her name. She offers all sorts of different consultations as she calls it. You can spend a full day with her for $6, 000... or you can go for something simpler, which is four hours dining and dessert for 1600. NARRATOR: The Internet. The backbone of the 21st century sex industry. Prostitution is illegal in most of the United States. But if you look online, countless Web sites appear
3:07 to sell sex. Mariana: One after the other after the other after the other. You can have your pick of blondes, brunettes, redheads, couples, strippers, party girls and of course escorts. And we basically want to find out who these girls are and, uh, how this whole escort business operates. Amanda: Well, I don't have sex for money. I spend time with men for money. The sex is always free. NARRATOR: This is Amanda Brooks-escort and author of the Internet Escort's Handbook. Amanda teaches women how to break into the business of independent escorting. Amanda: First of all, selling your time for money is not illegal.
3:53 Doctors and lawyers do it every single day. What is illegal is prostitution, which is selling sex for money. So, no, you can't go and advertise and say, I'll give you a blow job for $50. No, that's totally illegal and if you get arrested for that, you kind of walked into it. NARRATOR: In the online market for prostitution, thousands of escort Web sites are carefully worded. Sex is rarely offered, and clients are expected to read between the lines. For women who want to stick out from the pack, there's plenty of competition. Amanda: Girls have to be very competitive no matter what niche they're in right now, being on top of your business, being on top of your marketing and advertising. I don't think I've ever done anything this sophisticated,
4:38 actually. NARRATOR:Today, Amanda's getting new photos for her Web site. Photographer: One, two, three...that was beautiful. Amanda: The demand for escorts is huge and we're talking the entire gamut. Photographer: That's beautiful. Amanda: But generally, 80 to 90 percent of the clients are married. Photographer: Oh, that was great! One, two, three... Amanda: Marriage is great for business because the men realize that they're missing something...and, we're a lot better than an affair because we're not going to go in there and, you know, try to take him away from his kids. We're not going to try to go in there and try to make him marry us. We're very safe. Spitzer: I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard that I expected of myself.
5:24 I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family... CNN Reporter: Moments ago Eliot Spitzer announced that he will step down effective next Monday...forced from office after he's linked to a pricey prostitution ring. NY 1 Reporter: A judge refuses to dismiss the indictment against alleged Manhattan madam, Kristin Davis. NARRATOR: When New York governor, Eliot Spitzer, was caught patronizing high-end escorts, agency owner Kristin Davis went down with him. NY 1 Reporter: Davis was arrested in March after police say a neighbor tipped them off. Kristin: What interested me in particular about the sex industry is the economics of it. I came from a business background and it is a recession-proof industry. There's a reason why it's called the world's oldest profession. NARRATOR: Kristin didn't set out to be a madam.
6:10 She was introduced to the sex industry while working at a multi-million-dollar hedge fund. Kristin: Within my week number two, I was asked to book a VIP trip to Vegas for the portfolio manager and to get strippers and to talk about body rub places they could go after hours...and sometimes that included having to book their escorts and that sort of thing. NARRATOR: Kristin started one of New York's most successful escort agencies, and became known as the Manhattan madam. She says her agency earned millions each year. Kristin: High-end prostitution is seen as glamorous. People cannot fathom why someone would pay over a thousand dollars an hour for somebody's time.
6:57 Once they hear that, now their next question is: What's the girl like? Or, what are they getting for that amount? Sarah: Lube. Good lube. Lots of it. Odorless tasteless...the necessities...condoms. Mariana: Condoms, lots of condoms. Sarah: Lots of condoms. Sometimes we use rope. Large portable vibrator, rechargeable for the ladies. NARRATOR: As an escort, Sarah sees both men and couples who come to Las Vegas looking for a good time. Sarah: Yeah, cuffs,.... Mariana: So this is your mental checklist. This is what you bring in your briefcase? Sarah: Exactly. Mariana: The vibrator, the condoms, the lube, the handcuffs, the rope. This is in your briefcase? Sarah: This is in my briefcase.
7:43 Mariana: You enjoy what you do? Sarah: Absolutely. Oh, yeah. Mariana: When I was talking about you, I said prostitute before, do you not like that term? Sarah: It doesn't bother me. It's technical like accountant. Yeah, it doesn't bother me. I mean, I know what I am, it doesn't stir me. NARRATOR: Sarah's privileged in the world of prostitution. As an independent escort, she calls the shots and commands big money from her clients. But for many women who set out to become escorts, a much different reality awaits. The escort industry thrives in cities throughout the United States. But Las Vegas is ground zero.
8:30 Married men... bachelor parties... couples looking for adventure. Tourists from around the world come here looking for pleasure. Although prostitution is illegal here, there's a thriving black market. Mariana: So I just walked two blocks down the strip and this is the amount of cards and flyers that I got. I have over 50 here, and it's everything from, you know, Las Vegas girls, full service, fully nude, direct to your room. I mean, it's crazy to think that this is actually, you know, prostitution is actually illegal here. I like the 69 dollar special.
9:18 NARRATOR: Escort agencies send girls to hotel rooms for private lap dances. As long as they don't advertise prostitution, they're protected by free speech laws. Kristin: An escort agency is legal as long as no sex is involved. The problem is that there's really not any business unless there's at least the implication or the fantasy that sex will be involved. NARRATOR: Agencies like these are a cottage industry, booking escorts in and out of hotel rooms for quick turn arounds. Kristin: The high-end agencies set an unrealistic expectation for everyone because you look at the sex industry as being glamorous and all of this money and cars and boats and parties
10:04 and this glamorous lifestyle, and it's by and large, you know, two percent probably of the overall industry. Chris: I wonder what people think that escort companies look like. NARRATOR: Detective Chris Baughman investigates pimps for the Las Vegas Police Department's vice squad. He sees the other 98 percent the darker side of the escort industry. Tonight, he's investigating a man who violently beat women and forced them to work for an online agency. Mariana: What's the biggest misconception you think people have of escort agencies? Chris: The idea that, you know, the phone rings and, you know, there's some free spirited women on the other end in her high
10:51 rise, that's all in people's heads. We've never seen that. NARRATOR: We're just a few blocks from the Las Vegas strip. Chris and his partner, Al Beas, are doing surveillance. Just below is a building with blacked out windows and security cameras along the perimeter. It's home to two dozen escort agency call centers. Mariana: So you are just trying to sort of gather information here on this case that you're working on right now. Chris: So this is a really good spot for us to sit back with the binoculars, pick up license plates. See if there are any familiar faces that we notice that are hanging around these escort services. Mariana: And it's interesting because you see cars constantly stopping in front of the doors and going by, right?
11:39 Chris: Oh, yeah. Yep. That's what you'll see. Mariana: And girls going in and out. Chris: You look a little closer, you'll start seeing the pimps, too. Al: There's a female walking in now. Chris: Yep, goin' in. NARRATOR: Pimps are a little known part of the escort underworld. Some hang outside this building and try to recruit women. For the majority of women who work as escorts, this is the reality. Calls from one hotel room after another. At the end of the night, they return here to drop off a cut of the money. Mariana: And this is what many people call high-end prostitution. Chris: That's your high-end escort going in to a shady little call center to go drop off her service fee.
12:27 Mariana: Good looking girls. NARRATOR: We're about to go inside the escort underworld to find out how it all works. The Internet. Much of the sex industry has moved online and flourished. Hundreds of Web sites are devoted to helping escorts and clients find each other. Sarah: If they wanna be with someone who's a runway model, they choose that. If they wanna be with somebody who's PSE, or porn star experience, they choose that. There's something for everybody here. NARRATOR: On a good week, Sarah spends 15 hours at appointments.
13:13 She also lies to her family about her double life and says that the risks will make anyone paranoid. Sarah: It's terrifying. Living with the knowledge that I could be busted because of what I do. It's absolutely terrifying. I worry a lot about it, so I screen the hell out of people. They have to tell me everything about them. Their real first and last name, they have to tell me where they work. They have to tell me how old they are. They have to tell me where they live. Thanks to the Internet, I can tell if they're a real person or not. It they are a ghost, I don't see them. They could be Jack the Ripper, they could be law enforcement, they could be lying about anything and if they're not completely straight up with me, I don't see them.
13:58 NARRATOR: Tonight, Sarah's meeting her new client. He's passed her screening, so she's convinced she'll be safe. Sarah: There still is a bit of a risk of violence. But, really anybody's biggest weapon is just paying close attention at all times and if somebody comes in and something doesn't feel right, you trust your gut. There's a lot of girls that get in and try it. Even the ones who are enthusiastic. They'll get in and try it. If it were easy, everybody would stick with it. It's not. It's just not. Not even at my level is it easy.
14:43 NARRATOR: Every weekend, hundreds of escorts work the hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas strip. The night is just getting started. Former escort Annie Lobert is about to begin a night of outreach. Annie: I was the top call girl at the escort services that I worked. I considered myself a high-class prostitute, but I never said the word prostitute. High-class call girl is what I said. People think that sex work is so glamorous and that girls love it, but it's a lie. Once you have that first rape, the first beat down. I've had clients try to kill me and leave me for dead in the room. NARRATOR: Annie worked as an escort for 16 years. She left the sex industry and started a ministry called
15:31 Hookers for Jesus. Her mission is to help women leave the business. Annie: Be safe tonight, be safe girls, okay? K, God bless you girls, have a good night. Most of them are in the casino, you're not going to see them a lot of them on the strip. They're in the casino going up and down the elevators turning tricks. Mariana: What will happen if they see the camera? Annie: They will get very upset. NARRATOR: Annie agrees to take us inside a casino to show us how high-end prostitution works. There are security cameras everywhere, and no filming is allowed,so I'm wearing a tiny hidden camera. Annie: Ready? Let's roll. If I was working still, I would come here. Because this place has a lot of high rollers.
16:17 It's one of the higher-class casinos on the strip. I see a girl. She's with an older guy. Doesn't look right. She's working. She's probably in her 20s. He's probably in his 60s. He's definitely not her dad. She's Asian; he's a white man, gray hair. She's laughing and sitting there with that guy like it's like the best day of her life, 'cause she's probably thinking about all the money he's going to give her. Right there, oh, right there, they're working. These two girls right there. Oh wow, right there. NARRATOR: Annie spots two women making the rounds. Annie: Hey girls, come here! Come here!
17:07 So what are you guys doing here? You guys just hanging out? Girls: Yep, yeah. Annie: You guys like watching your back right now? I know the security is not that bad right now. Everything's fine. Girls: No, yeah. I think there's about to be a shift change. Annie: There's a lot of girls that just came out just now. Just be careful. Well, no, I mean, I saw a bunch. But...I hope you guys like stay safe and everything. Are you guys okay? Girls: Uh huh. Well, thank you. Annie: Anyway, you girls have a good night. See you later. Bye! NARRATOR: No more than five minutes later, the same girls appear to be negotiating with several men. Men: I'll take you up to my room...full service, $600?
17:52 NARRATOR: One man offers $600, but they don't seem to come to an agreement. Soon after, the girls move on. Mariana: Do you think the casinos know that this is happening? Annie: Yes, absolutely. Mariana: And why don't they do anything to stop it? Annie: If a man loses $100,000, you're gonna want to comfort him right? Send him a girl, take care of him, woo and coo him, send him some alcohol so when he wakes up, he'll pull out another 100,000 and gamble it at your casino. You gotta keep 'em happy. NARRATOR: We contacted several casinos. They all said that they don't support illegal activity and employees could be fired for promoting prostitution. Annie: Don't let the casinos fool you with their nice
18:37 security systems. There's people on the take all over the place. Think about it. Everybody was on the take that I knew: the valet drivers, the cab drivers, the limo drivers, the bartenders, the hotel concierge, the hosts, casino hosts. You name it...pimpin'. Pimps are all around us. NARRATOR: Prostitution is illegal throughout most of the United States. But the escort industry operates in a legal grey area. In Las Vegas, agencies are known as outcall promoters.
19:26 Officially, they're in the entertainment business. They have licenses to send girls to hotel rooms for private lap dances. We're trying to reach them to find out how it all works. Mariana: Hello, my name is Mariana, I am calling from National Geographic. We are doing a documentary about the escort services and I was wondering if there is anyone there that would be willing to talk to me. No? My name is Mariana Van Zeller. I was wondering if there is anyone there who would be willing to talk to us? You really doubt it? Hello, my name is Mariana, and I'm doing a documentary about the escort services... I was wondering if anyone there would be willing to talk to us ...no comment? They hung up on me. Hi, I am calling from National Geographic. No? No. No comment. Hm. Calling again. This is the one.
20:12 Yeah, do you think he will agree to talk to me? Or she? No, hello? So we have had no luck getting anyone from the escort services to talk to us so I am going to go undercover, I am going to pretend that I am applying for a job, trying to dress the part, wearing high heels, something that I haven't done in a long, long time. And I am taking this purse that has a little secret camera right here. I am Vanessa, a Brazilian that just moved into town, and just looking to find out more about how the escort services work. Feeling a little nervous right now. I think I just blew a red light. We will see how it goes.
21:04 NARRATOR: Dozens of escort agencies in Las Vegas are registered to this office building. Mariana: We're here. Oh, you see girls going in and out of the building? Okay, wish me luck guys. Mariana: Excuse me... So I'm new to town... and I wanted to know are you guys-do you have an office here?
21:51 Woman: Yeah. Mariana: Thank you ma'am. Sylvia: So what questions can I answer for you? Mariana: So...I'm looking for a way to make some money. Not sure how comfortable I feel about it... Woman: Um hum. Mariana: ...and I wanted to know what is involved. Sylvia: When you're sent out on a call...basically, like, say you were working for us...we would call you and say we have a call...and you have 20-25 minutes...to get to the hotel...from wherever you're at, if you accept the call. In the meantime, whoever we're sending you to...at least with us...we check, check, and double-check...to make sure they're on the up and up. You know...we want people to be safe.
22:37 Mariana: And, what kind of work am I supposed to do? So again, I've never done this before and I want to know... is there...am I...is sex involved or not? Woman: Legally, we're not allowed to tell you... what to do on that...because prostitution is illegal. Mariana: But I could do whatever I want? Woman: You can do whatever you want...as a person... because that's your own individual...thing. But legally we can't tell you what you can and can't do... what you should and shouldn't do Sylvia: Yeah, it's like in our eyes...you're being hired as a private dancer and nothing else. And... if somebody chooses to do more...they're consenting adults. We don't know what goes on in hotel rooms. Don't wanna know what goes on in hotel rooms. You know, it's like Woman: And we will never tell somebody that you will do
23:24 something...ever. Sylvia: No. 'Cause that is Woman: Legally we can't say that Sylvia: No. Woman: Always good to have new dancers. NARRATOR: Sex isn't exactly discouraged. But the agency sets up firewalls to protect itself. They hand me a contract that spells out the official policy I can be fired if I'm caught having sex. Mariana:Okay so I am an independent contractor for bleep I'm contracted to go out and perform...nude striptease for entertainment purposes only...and agree to never solicit sex from customers. Okay. Great. Thank you so much. Woman: Very nice to meet you! Sylvia: Have a good night. Mariana: Thanks so much.
24:13 NARRATOR: On paper, sex isn't allowed, but what's it like to go on a call for one of these agencies? Escort: They sell you, just they sell you like a piece of meat, you know, they just don't say it in those exact words. NARRATOR: This woman worked as an escort until very recently. She's a single mother, so she's asked us not to show her face on camera. Mariana: We're gonna go in.... NARRATOR: The agency she worked for was in the same building I visited. Mariana: If I went in there and I said, look, I'm interested in the escort service, I wanna sign up. I wanna work for you guys, but I don't wanna have sex. Escort: They just might not ever call you. I mean, if they go as far as hiring you, they just won't call you. Mariana: They would just never call me? Escort: Yeah.
24:59 Nobody's gonna pay thousands of dollars for a strip tease, to see a boob or something. Mariana: So, how many calls were you getting a day? Escort: I'd say about like 15 calls. I worked until 5 a.m. I was running crazy, up and down the strip to all these casinos, um, like I started working that much when I, um, met my, my guy. Mariana: Pimp, you mean? Escort: Yeah. He knew the owner of the escort agency that I, that was part of his sweet talk, so he got me what was called being a priority girl, which was being the top four girls, escorts, to get called out, like, it's like being an A-lister.
25:48 Mariana: Why did you stop? Escort: It became physical and he was abusive. Mariana: Your pimp? Escort: Mm-hmm. He almost killed me; he made me think I was going to die...like he grabbed me by my neck and dragged me all the way across the room, and slammed me on the ground, and just kept kicking me and... Mariana: Why? Escort: Because I said, No, because I didn't...he wanted me to go somewhere and I didn't want to go. Mariana: How many girls do you know don't have a pimp, and are in the escort service? Escort: Umm...I only met, like, two the whole time. Mariana: Out of dozens that you met? Escort: Oh yeah, hundreds of girls.
26:35 Chris: And here they are on the site. So you'll click on one of them. NARRATOR: Vice detective, Chris Baughman, works on the Las Vegas vice squad's pimp investigation team. Chris: This file is about a case... NARRATOR: The pimp investigation team just closed a case on a man who was trafficking women through high-end agencies. He lured a woman to Las Vegas by promising to get her a job as a dancer. But then, he makes the pitch. Chris: You can work for me. I'll set you up with dates with, with really nice gentlemen. You do whatever they want for money. But when you're done with that money, that money all has to come back to me, and then I'll take care of you. Mariana: And these dates would go through escort services. Chris: Yeah, yeah. Here in the city. This is the 911 call. 911 Operator: 911. Man: You're fine.
27:21 Man: I'm not touching you. I'm not touching you. Come here. Listen, listen, listen. I'm sorry. Listen listen listen. Listen listen listen. Woman: No! Man: Please don't. I haven't come to kill ya, ok? Woman: No! Get out! Man: Ok, I'm moving, Goddamn. I'm not doing nothin' to ya. 911 Operator: Where you at, ma'am? Hello? Hello? Mariana: Oh, my. What happened? What happened after this? Chris: After this, she managed to fight her way out of the apartment and get down the stairs, um, all the way to security. Mariana: And it was through this 911 call that you came about this case. Chris: That's how we got this case. That's how we came on to learn about the individual that we work... Mariana: So these are all photos that were posted on actual escort sites. Chris: Mm-hmm, on escort sites, exactly.
28:06 Mariana: But they were actually all working for him. Chris: Right. Mariana: The money was going to him. Chris: Money goes back to him, 100 percent. Mariana: So why are the girls doing it? That's, I don't understand that. Chris: Well, you just heard the 911 tape, right? Why would someone do it? If he threatened to cut up this girl's face, and she wasn't even working for him, imagine what he's doing to some of the other women. Mariana: Do the escort services themselves know that there are pimps behind these girls? Chris: In my experience, they do. They know who the girls' pimps are. They'll say that we don't know, we don't know anything about that. We make them sign a contract saying that they can't have sex when they go on their dates. But they know exactly what's happening. Mariana: We're on our way to meet with a man who owns an escort service.
28:51 He's agreed to meet with us outside of his office at this bar, and he's uh, he said he'd be wearing sunglasses to partially obscure his identity, but that he would tell us how the escort services really work. Davo: I have local politicians here that, you know, use the service. And uh, I want to be as discreet as possible. You know, for me to do this, I'm really going outside the box and I'm going to piss off a lot of people. Mariana: So why are you doing this? Why did you agree to talk to us? Davo: I think your audience should know the reality of the business. Mariana: What is the reality of the business? Davo: Well, its' not all glamour. Mariana: Is it a profitable business?
29:37 Davo: Oh, very profitable. Modern technology has really increased my business, you know, when somebody wants to see pictures... I can do a little slideshow. Well, this is what we have on the menu, uh, tonight. Mariana: She's beautiful. Davo: Yes, uh, some are really beautiful. And some are not so beautiful. But the customer can pick and, you know, these are real pictures. She's very popular. Men have these, uh, instinctual drives. Base instincts and they have to be satisfied. Okay? Mariana: So basically what you're saying is that this is prostitution. Davo: There may be things that go on that's none of our business. Wink-wink. But the girls sign a contract.
30:30 And we do not solicit prostitution period. I cannot emphasize that enough. Mariana: A lot of people have told us that the majority, the vast majority of these girls are actually working for pimps, through these escort agencies like yours. Davo: Okay, that's um, very true. And I just cannot stand that part of the business. A lot of girls come to work with black eyes for instance. Mariana: Because they've been beaten by their pimps? Davo: Well, that's the assumption, you know. Getting beaten up is very common. There's a lot of drama in the business. But, the unfortunate fact is that they all have men.
31:19 And I need to make money. So what am I gonna do? I need girls. Look at me as a broker of commodities, and the females are a commodity. I'm doing a service. Not only for men that have these desires for entertainment, but for the girls. So, it all works out. A nice little family network.
32:09 NARRATOR: Las Vegas. Prostitution is the city's biggest open secret. Escort services cater to tourists looking for sex and companions. And they have an underground army of promoters to help bring in clients. Mariana: We hear that a lot of the escort services rely on taxi drivers to bring them customers, clients. So...today our producer Darren here is going to be geared up with a hidden camera, and he is going to try and talk to some of these taxi drivers and, uh, you know, see how it all works.
32:57 Darren: How ya doing? Driver: Hi, how are you? Darren: Pretty good. What's going on? Busy night tonight, huh? Driver: Yeah it was good. Darren: Hey, can I ask you a question? Driver: Sure. Darren: Do you know...how I could go about getting a lady? Driver: Girls? Darren: Yeah. Do you know how to go about getting a lady in this town? Driver: I do. You know, there is some agency... that can send you girls about this...straight to your room. Darren: Okay. And the girls... what do they do? Anything? Driver: They start doing...like they're doing in a private room at strip clubs. Darren: Oh, okay. Driver: But some of them they do more...you know what I mean? Darren: Yeah. Driver: Escorts. They come to your room. They'll work things out. Darren: Is this...a definite for sure thing?
33:43 Driver: That's a definite, umm...bleep, if you will! Just call that number...then they'll ask you for a reference number. Just give them that number. Darren: Okay. Full service? Driver: Yeah, yeah, you just don't talk. You know what I'm saying... cause it's nude entertainment to your room. What the girl does after...is not the service. Do you know what I'm saying? Darren: Right. Drivers: You know what I mean? You know what I'm sayin'? NARRATOR: One driver after another...cards and brochures for escorts, with a reference number at the bottom. If a call goes through, the driver gets a cut for steering clients to the agency. Driver: Just go ahead and call that number...and say, Yeah, bleep #22589...and they'll go ahead and take care of you. Darren: Alright. NARRATOR: Taxi drivers can lose their jobs for getting kickbacks from the agencies.
34:30 All of the taxis here have security cameras for safety, so this driver steps outside. Driver: When you call you got to make sure you're in the room. You know what I'm saying? Darren: Okay. NARRATOR: And then...he makes the pitch, but not for an escort agency. Driver: What do you think about her? I drive this girl. She's 21. She sent me nude pictures. NARRATOR: This driver offers to set him up directly with a 21-year-old girl that he drives himself. Darren: Yeah, she's cute. Driver: She's 21. Darren: Oh, wow. Driver: If you're gonna spend money in the town... you might as well get...some decent pleasure out of it.
35:17 NARRATOR: In Las Vegas, an entire underground economy profits from the illegal sex industry, but those who have sex for money are considered a criminal class...and they take on the most risk. Jenny: Sex work in all of its glorious forms will never go away. I hope it never goes away, because I'd be out of a job! NARRATOR: This is Jenny. Graduate student...and sex worker. Jenny: Vegas has become very successful at selling an image of sex and often an image of female sexuality.
36:05 Corporations make a lot of money off of these images. Unfortunately, workers in the sex industry are not afforded the same rights as others in the service industry. In fact, we're arresting them and spending millions of taxpayer dollars on arresting them and throwing them in prison NARRATOR: Jenny heads the Las Vegas Sex Workers Outreach Project, fighting for the rights of prostitutes who work illegally in the city. Jenny: I accept the reality that there are young people, old people of all genders, of all sexual orientations forced into the sex industry. I don't think that it means we need to criminalize people in
36:51 the sex industry. Slut Walkers: A ho can say no! A ho can say no! No means no, yes means yes! No means no! NARRATOR: This is the Vegas Slut Walk. Hundreds of activists have gathered on the strip to protest sexual violence. The provocative clothing is a part of the message. Jenny: Be nice to sex workers! NARRATOR: For countless illegal sex workers, rape and sexual violence are common. Jenny: If a woman is raped, she's asked if she's a whore. If a whore is raped, she's asked, what did you expect? As if selling erotic services somehow meant that she couldn't actually be raped.
37:37 Crowd: A ho can say no! A ho can say no! Jenny: People in the sex industry who are working illegally are not able to um, go to law enforcement when they need help. For instance, if a customer becomes violent, they can't go to law enforcement and ask for protection. Hello kind police officers, please don't arrest sex workers, thank you! NARRATOR: This is the Clark County Detention Center. Each year, thousands of prostitutes come through this door. Mariana: It's just past midnight. We're here at the jail and they just brought in this woman who is a suspected prostitute. They're checking her for any weapons or drugs and they say
38:24 that this is when this place starts getting busy. Chris: By the end of the night if they are double squads working or depending on how many detectives that are out working streets or enforcement, by 3:00 or 4:00 in morning this whole back row could be full. NARRATOR: Vice detectives routinely arrest prostitutes in undercover stings in hotels and casinos. But the escort services are more difficult to target. Chris: The problem with the escort services are, one, how do we prove that these guys know that this is going on, because they'll tell them, oh, you're not allowed to have sex. And they will hide behind their little flyers and their waivers and the fact that they're a, you know, that they have a general business license in the city. But they know what's going on. They all know.
39:11 Not just in Vegas but you name the city, they know. NARRATOR: In major cities throughout the United States, escort agencies and law enforcement play a cat and mouse game. DA Press Announcement: Today we announce a 144-count indictment against members and associates of High Class NY. NARRATOR: In New York, an alleged high-end prostitution ring is busted. Authorities believe High Class NY made over seven million dollars in three years providing escorts to Wall Street bankers. Some clients spend more than 10,000 dollars in a single night
40:00 The owners and the prostitutes all face charges that could land them in jail. But the clients? So far they have gotten off clean. Kristin: The way that it's being done now where you go after the person running the agency-somebody else will pop up and start an agency. Girls still work independently. It doesn't address the problem at all. Kristin: Girls won't work if there are no clientele. So, you have to address the demand. Rosetta: I want you to look at me. Not like that, you nasty. Fifty-three years old. Twenty-seven years with HIV. Speaker: They are going to see your picture; they're going to see your name... NARRATOR: This is Brooklyn's John School. Woman: Most of you probably did tell your family's where NARRATOR: Most of these men were busted trying to buy sex from
40:46 an undercover officer. The district attorney's office is trying out a new approach: targeting demand for prostitution. Their secret weapon: Rosetta... Rosetta: My introduction to sex was not all lovey-dovey with a boyfriend... NARRATOR: a 53 year-old former prostitute who's now HIV positive. Rosetta: ...you know, when I was 10 years old. NARRATOR: The John School teaches men that prostitution is not a victimless crime. Rosetta: Disassociation means that physically I am there, right, but emotionally I'm not there. I am trying to play Tic-Tac-Toe on the ceiling; I'm trying to think about anything about except where I'm at. The reality is I was not even thinking about you, it was all a dream. It doesn't often serve me, to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and talk about something that caused a lot of
41:32 shame and pain in my life, but I'm willing to do that if it can help somebody. So, yeah, I started with the escorts, you know, agency making good money, to eventually because of the drugs, ending up at a street level. You'll hear like girls that work in the escort service, saying, I'm not like that nasty bleep. You know, what I mean? I work in an escort service. I'm not on the street giving head for $20 or 15. And they put each other down, but the reality is whether you suck bleep in the plaza or suck bleep in the bowery, you still suckin' bleep! Right? I think a lot of people involved in the sex trade industry will say that they're fine with it and that there's no kind of side effect emotionally for them and I think that they say that
42:18 because they have to justify being in that. But what else would she say if she's still doing it? So... Annie: I do think there's sex workers that do it because they like it in the beginning. They're in the honeymoon phase. They're lying to themselves. NARRATOR: Some researchers claim that nearly two-thirds of prostitutes have some form of post traumatic stress disorder. We met many women in the escort industry. And there are plenty of mixed feelings about the work itself. Mariana: They carry guns? Annie: You don't know if it's gonna be a good day or a bad day Paranoia, low self-esteem, fits of rage, massive depression. There's voices in your head that say, Just end it.
43:06 You, you're just an ex-prostitute. You'll never be anything but a whore. Mariana: What did it feel like the first time you had sex for money? Escort: I had to get drunk. The very first time, it was just, ugh, gross to me. I just remembered just feeling disgusting. Jenny: I think that many sex workers experience some kind of um, psychological effects from the job. But I think that those effects are mainly because of social stigma and whore stigma and people shaming them for the work that they do. Amanda: You just have to learn to deal with it in your own individual way, and some women never learn and some do. Some shut off the emotions completely,
43:52 which I don't feel is healthy. But if you're getting hurt all the time, it's not healthy either, and it's probably a sign you need to re-evaluate whether you want to be an escort anymore or if you need to change the way in which you approach it. Uh, it's just, it can be tough, yeah. NARRATOR: It's 2 a.m. Sarah's returning from an appointment with a client. Sarah: I feel exhausted, tapped, completely tapped. There is an expiration date for how long I feel I can do this. I do think that there is going to come a time that my allure just wanes and it's inevitable. Not being able to do this does scare me because it is my
44:40 profession and there really isn't anywhere else to go. NARRATOR: Tonight, her client left her 1, 600 dollars in an envelope. Sarah: Men come and see girls like me because their wives are not having sex with them. It's really that simple. Part of why we do well is because we are able to keep secrets and keep them really well.
