A VERY GOOD NAME: "THE CITY OF SIN".

The United States is a country of extreme contrasts. It is common to find societies of total permissiveness in sexual matters, and others of a very puritanical and repressive character with regard to carnal matters. In the first of these extremes we naturally place the famous "Mecca of gambling"... and of sex. And by the way, sex work in Las Vegas has many particularities.

Variety and quantity

This city where "everything that happens in it stays", according to the popular saying, presents a sexual offer as varied as that of the game: practically infinite.

The specialized site https://www.wikisexguide.com indicates that sex work in Las Vegas is illegal. But it is so tolerated that if it were legal you wouldn't know the difference. It lists so many sex services that it's dizzying. Prostitution, escorts and female and male escorts, sex webcams, legal brothels, red light districts, sex shops, cabarets and erotic clubs. All of them.

On paper, sex work in Las Vegas is illegal unless it takes place in licensed brothels. That's the case in 10 of the state's 16 counties. But in day-to-day reality, the picture is very different.

A striking fact is the large number of legal brothels located in smaller counties around the city. There are more than 30, some of them huge and quite famous, in towns like Reno, Carson City and Nye County.

Thus a circuit of brothels is formed around the great capital. Almost as many visitors circulate through it as among the gigantic hotel-casinos that have made it world famous.

From the room to the club, by Limousine

There are many companies that we could call "thematic inbound tourism", and that offer "combos" with services such as:

• Packages for bachelor parties
• Packages for a "singles' night out" (obviously dedicated to married men)
• Birthday party packages
• Bottle service (VIP entrance to discos and clubs for adults, without waiting in line. With a reserved table or booth and a bottle of premium champagne, plus unlimited beer for two hours. There is also access to the "pool parties" frequently organized by these clubs).
• There are packages for women, especially on the occasion of bachelorette parties, with male strippers shows, obviously.

Always, or almost always, limousine transfers, a "VIP" host, and a la carte dinners are included, depending on the chosen location. All in about eight hours of service, on average.

Sex Not Included

None of this includes escort services. But each visitor can make arrangements with Las Vegas sex workers, whether they be female escorts or independent male sex workers, "outside" of the packages. The multiple attractions of this "entertainment capital of the world" attract both sex workers and those who demand their services.

This is why it is a major destination for bachelor parties, and it is common to hire dancers, strippers and other entertainers for private parties in hotel suites. Each companion sets his or her own price, and there is usually a fee to be paid in advance for them to go to the hotel rooms. The rest of the services are agreed upon there.

One scandal, two books, several truths

In 2012, the top-level sports scene in the United States was rocked by a scandal of major proportions. It was about a prestigious athlete who had represented the country in three Olympics and with seven medals in track and field. She confessed to having worked in a luxury escort agency in Las Vegas. She was among the escorts living those stories about Nevada and the famous parties in Las Vegas.

Suzy Favor-Hamilton acknowledged her addiction problems, bipolar and mania that made her both hyper-competitive and hyper-sexualized. And she recounted it in her best-selling book "Fast Girl: A life spent running from madness". She worked for the luxury escort agency "Haley Heston Primate Collection" under the pseudonym of Kelly Lundy.

Shortly after, another book shed more light on these matters. It was the one by the manager of the escort agency where the athlete was employed, Jami Rodson. Published "The Las Vegas Madam: the Escorts, the Clients, the Truth".

This book recounts her experiences and opinions as one of the most important "madams" in the world of sex work in Las Vegas. And she adds a sociological point of view with data that unveils veils on these places and professions so particular, in a special city.

Without naming names, he said that to find out who his clients were, all you have to do is look at a "Fortune 500" or "Forbes" magazine, and they will appear there. He said they were all rich and powerful.

Raised in a very conservative Oregon family, she studied anthropology and sociology, and went to "sin city" on a vacation. But she was tempted by sex work in Las Vegas and stayed for 10 years. She was a waitress, stripper, escort and finally director of a "Top" agency.

In her book she explains how escorting was naturalized among young girls in Nevada. "For my friends and me, escorting was more logical and often safer than having an affair. We were young and lived in a city where one-night stands were normal after a party. We knew powerful and wealthy men who treated us well and respected what we did."

"They look for escorts instead of having mistresses because it's safer and cheaper. And it didn't seem like a bad career choice: You make a lot of money for dating, going to expensive restaurants and wearing nice clothes," she concludes, with total logic. It's one of the best stories in Nevada about Las Vegas and its parties.