A coalition of women's advocacy groups in Nevada - the only state in the US where prostitution is legal - is pushing a referendum to ban brothels in Lyon and Nye counties, where about half of the state's bordellos legally operate. In 1971, the Nevada Legislature adopted a law prohibiting brothels in counties with more than 700,000 residents. Seven of the state's 16 counties have licensed fewer than two dozen legal brothels, while prostitution remains illegal in populous Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, and Washoe County, where Reno is. "Legalized prostitution in Nevada has done nothing to stem victimization within the illicit sex trade," the campaign's website says. "The girls deal with terrible treatment in there," said Rebekah Charleston, 36, who says she worked at Nevada brothels.