In parts of Nevada, prostitution is legal - the only such state in the US. The 'live and let live mentality' is a hangover from the gold rush days and in certain counties, brothels have been officially licensed since 1971. Today no fewer than seven of them are owned by one man, Dennis Hof, a gun-toting restaurateur, entrepreneur and reality TV star. He calls himself the "Trump from Pahrump," - after a town where he recently won the Republican primaries for the Nevada State Legislature. Now though, there is a backlash from religious and social activists who have managed to get a referendum on the ballot during this November's mid-term elections. Voters in Lyon County will be asked if the legal brothels there should be allowed to continue to operate - and ultimately, the campaigners aim to end legal sex work across the whole state. They say it is an exploitative, abusive trade and prevents other businesses from investing in the area. But some sex workers are worried that a ban could push them onto the streets where they would face potential danger. Lucy Ash talks to Dennis Hof, the women who work for him, and those who are pushing for change. Producer Mike Gallagher.
Kultur & Gesellschaft
Crossing Continents Folgen
Stories from around the world and the people at the heart of them.
Folgen von Crossing Continents
405 Folgen
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Folge vom 06.09.2018Nevada's Brothels Face the Axe
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Folge vom 30.08.2018Uganda's Prison Farms'He was using prisoners like oxen for ploughing for his own gain'. An ex-convict recalls the prison officer in charge of the prison farm he worked on in Uganda. The country has one of the most overcrowded prison systems in Africa. It also has one of the continent's most developed systems of prison labour. For Crossing Continents, Ed Butler reports from Uganda where most of the country's 54,000 inmates are now serving an economic purpose, working for the benefit of an elite collection of private farmers and other business interests - even though half of them have not been convicted of any crime. He speaks to current and former prisoners, to find out how the system works, and asks: is the country breaking its international pledges on prisoner treatment? Presented and produced by Ed Butler.(Image: Prisoners at Patongo Prison, Uganda. Credit: David Brunetti).
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Folge vom 23.08.2018'Gone to Foreign' from JamaicaWhen someone in Jamaica emigrates to the UK, it is said they have 'gone to foreign'. Over the past 70 years several hundred thousand Jamaicans have done this, following in the footsteps of the so-called 'Windrush generation' who first arrived in Britain in the late 1940s. But the spirit of adventure and optimism those early pioneers bought with them has changed over the years and a recent political scandal now finds some of them unwanted and rejected by Britain. Following changes to immigration law and failing to comply with citizenship requirements, they have been designated illegal immigrants. On returning from holiday in the Caribbean, some of the children of the Windrush generation (now in their 50s and 60s) have been refused entry back to Britain, and others have been deported from Britain back to the Caribbean. For Crossing Continents, Colin Grant travels to Jamaica to meet two men who, despite having lived in the UK for decades, working and paying taxes, find themselves in limbo, trapped and unable to return to the place they call home. What happens when you are stranded in a place you were never really familiar with, an island which you have little memory of, and may not have returned to for half a century? Grant hears of their endeavour to return to the UK and how they have struggled to keep up hope in the face of a very painful and public rejection. Colin Grant reporting and producing.
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Folge vom 16.08.2018Seaweed, Sex and Liberation in ZanzibarSeaweed is liberating women in a conservative corner of east Africa. Thousands of women have gained more control over their lives thanks to Zanzibar's seaweed farms. In a traditional island village there is a surprisingly high divorce rate and women have safeguarded their interests with earnings from this salty crop which has given them a much needed income and new independence. At first the husbands were outraged - they complained that seaweed farming made women too tired for their matrimonial duties. The women eventually prevailed but their hard won freedom is now threatened by climate change. Lucy Ash meets the seaweed farmers of Paje village and looks at the ways they are fighting to save their livelihood and raise their families. Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou.