John Locher / AP
In this Oct. 16, 2018, file photo, a sign advertises the Love Ranch brothel in Pahrump.
Friday, April 24, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Sandi Benks has worked at the Love Ranch, a legal, licensed brothel seven miles outside of Carson City, for the past two years. She sees many clients on a regular basis — a relationship she’s been creative in maintaining during the coronavirus pandemic.
Like all nonessential business, Nevada’s brothels are shuttered out of virus concerns. A week into the closure, Benks started an OnlyFans account, where subscribers pay models and influencers a small fee for content too provocative for other social media sites.
“I did it not just because I like making money,” she said. “It’s my job to my people, my guys, who get joy from having interaction from me, so I like to keep myself available.”
While the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was expanded to include gig and independent contractors, Bents still hasn’t been able to receive unemployment benefits because the state has yet to set up a way for independent contractors to apply. She’s been self-employed in the industry for two decades.
Sex industry businesses are also facing a disadvantage in obtaining emergency funding from the federal government as stimulus funds for small businesses exclude operations of a “prurient sexual nature.”
The pandemic sheds light on the importance of human intimacy and connection in people’s lives, as well as the role industries like sex work play into it, said Barb Brents, a UNLV sociology professor whose research specializes in political sociology, gender and sexuality.
“A lot of people in this economy are starting to realize how bleak the (federal) supports are for income support and social support for businesses when we have these kinds of downturns,” Brents said. “I think the sex industry has always realized that, which is why it’s highly adaptable.”
Sex worker Sandi Benks is making ends meet during the coronavirus shutdown by communicating with fans online.
The transition online wasn’t difficult for Benks, who already had a strong social media following before the pandemic. Before meeting her clients in person, she would build relationships with them online or over the phone.
“I’m the type of person that when someone books a date with me, I like to talk with them on the phone before they see me if they want to,” she said. “It makes me feel like I’m creating a kind of buildup you get from just flirting.”
Lyon County sex worker Alice Little is also finding success in online spaces, promoting a “virtual girlfriend” experience on her website. From dinner dates to monthly workout packages, Little is offering companionship through her webcam.
“It’s been really interesting exploring all the different ways we can use technology to connect with people and help them get their social needs met during a time of extreme social distancing,” she said.
Although already well-versed in marketing herself online before the pandemic, Little said a lot of sex workers aren’t as equipped to make a quick transition online.
“The biggest learning curve is getting all the technology set up and established,” she said. “I’m lucky because I already had a webcam at home and just needed to plug it in and reinstall, whereas there is a limit in high-end webcams available. Last I checked, they were back-ordered several weeks due to the increased demand.”
Gentlemen’s clubs also face a digital barrier, as much of the experience they provide isn’t easily translated online.
“We’ve worked with a couple of internet-based companies to try and give people who used to perform the option, but no one has really signed up for it,” said Jason Mohney, who operates 200 exotic dance clubs, including Déjà Vu and Little Darlings in Las Vegas. “Trying to be internet models is a whole lot different than being a waitress or a dancer in a club. Some ladies do cross over, but for the most part they don’t.”
Alice Little, a Lyon County sex worker, promotes a “virtual girlfriend” experience on her website.
Sex workers who do work online also have to be aware of cybersecurity and the safest, most efficient way to process payments through a service that’s friendly for sex work. Additionally, anti-sex trafficking legislation like Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) has had far-reaching implications in inhibiting sex workers to have an internet footprint since both pieces of legislation have caused a chilling effect on explicit content on social media.
Camming and other forms of virtual sex work aren’t as lucrative either, with online subscription services like OnlyFans taking a 20% cut from what content creators earn.
Communications professional Jeremy Lemur, who represents several sex workers in Nevada, said the market for virtual sex work right now is oversaturated from new content creators who lost their regular jobs and need to make up for lost income.
“There are a lot of people who are not sex workers who are turning to virtual sex work and camming,” he said. “A lot of these women are having difficulty making enough money through camming to be as OK as they would be if they were still at the brothels.”
Some, like Roxanne Price, a licensed sex worker based in Pahrump, say they are unsure whether they want to explore the virtual route, given the barriers and the drastically different experience it offers clients.
“I don’t have any experience in online sex work,” she said. “When you’re starting any kind of new business, it takes a year or two to get your feet off the ground. And that market has so many entertainers already established in that space. It’s a lot of work.”
Even the few who do find success in virtual spaces say they can’t rely on it for their income. Benks, who is among the top 5% of content creators on OnlyFans, still isn’t making nearly as much as she did in full-service sex work.
“It’s like an 80% cut,” she said. “I guess I just know that when it starts back up, I’ll make up for it.”
But some in the industry aren’t convinced that things will go back to normal anytime soon, particularly if there isn’t a vaccine or adequate testing for COVID-19.
Price said she had the best week of her career at Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump before the pandemic forced the brothel to close its doors. Now she’s finding herself in limbo and wondering if it’s even safe to return to sex work once the brothels reopen.
“Would it be ethical to start working again? I don’t think so,” she said. “It seems like the right thing to do would be to halt that.”
