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“I just thought it was a quick nude here or there,” Mary nervously laughs.

For many businesses, coronavirus has been a disaster. Amidst stay-at-home orders and a faltering economy, spending is plummeting and tens of millions of people have lost their jobs. The unprecedented circumstances, however, has led one industry to thrive. A surge in demand for digital sex work means that cam girls are finding that their services are increasingly being sought out as even the most intimate and physical parts of our lives move online.

When Nevada began shutting down in early March to help control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the state’s legal brothels stayed open. As late as March 17, a day before Governor Steve Sisolak ordered all non-essential businesses closed, the Nevada Brothel Association (NBA) issued guidelines on how to keep operating—safely.

Before Maya was a sex worker, she worked in retail. She hated it — long hours on her feet, difficult customers and low pay. Once, while she was making $10 an hour as a sales associate at a women’s clothing store, she had to supervise a group of undocumented immigrants her manager hired to deep clean the entire store.

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.

Mention the phrase “sex tourism” in conversation and most people will cringe in disgust.

A proposed amendment to a Nye County ordinance that would restrict the hours when legal prostitutes are permitted to leave licensed brothels has renewed a debate about the rights and working conditions of sex workers in Nevada.

Far up South Las Vegas Boulevard, past the glitzy resorts and mega-casinos of the city's strip, you will find an unassuming brick building with a boarded-up fire door at the front.