LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Texas native Rebekah Charleston says she was forced into prostitution at a Nevada brothel.
At the time, Charleston was not living in the state. Which is why she's now filled a lawsuit in federal court in Reno.
Citing a nearly century old law prohibiting the transport of women across state lines for prostitution.
Research finds that nearly half of the women that applied for prostitution work cards in Lyon County don't actually live there which could put the brothels in violation of that federal law.
Charleston is also asking a judge to order Nevada to pay 2 million dollars into a fund each year to help people wanting to leave the sex trade.
But with 21 brothels in the state in 7 counties, this lawsuit is getting push back from the opposing side.
A brothel owner in Northern Nevada argues that the women who work for him are well taken care of and they choose to be there.
He also says the conditions of working in a brothel are not the same as prostitution.
This isn't the first push to end prostitution in the state, last year, two ballot measures that would have banned brothels in Lyon and NYE counties, failed.
