Providence, R.I. -- In Rhode Island, erotic service ads have been a driving force in the prostitution business even before the recent Craigslist attacks.

Prostitutes in Providence said what they're really worried about is a proposed change in state law.

"Most females in my position are more scared of the law than the person that could attack you," said Nadia, a Providence area prostitute.

Nadia told Team 5 Investigates Rhondella Richardson she used to have her Craigslist customers meet her in hotel rooms up and down the East Coast, but now she owns a Providence home that she uses as a brothel.

Being close to home is safer, she said, and prostitution indoors is legal in Rhode Island.

"It's illegal if it's done out on the street but if it's done indoors it is not," said Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney.

"You don't have a crime committed until something bad happens," McCartney added.

After a Boston University medical student was last month charged with killing a masseuse he met on Craigslist, Team 5 Investigates found women still traveling to Rhode Island from New York, Nevada and other states offering erotic services.

"I hate to be sarcastic but I think they see a great business opportunity in Rhode Island," said McCartney.

"I had a guy call the other day and say I didn't even know you could look up a girl on Craigslist. (He said) 'I saw the Craigslist killer and right away looked it up and called your number,'" said Nadia recalling a recent conversation with a prospective craigslist customer.

Five women work from Nadia's Providence home. They bring their children to play upstairs in the living room while the women are working downstairs. Nadia said neighbors have never complained about the foot traffic because the operation is discreet.

"Maybe a couple in the morning, a couple in the afternoon. Believe it or not we shut the house down for dinner and I cook and some of the girls help me cook. We are just a family," said Nadia.

Women say they're safer connecting with clients online than on the street. Still, they take precautions. The service room where they meet paying men, has a panic button. The ladies have Taser guns and outside cameras watch the clientele. Despite the risk, despite the headlines business is booming in brothels.

"We don't want this to be Rhode Island's newest economic development," said Representative Joanne Giannini, who's pushing for a change in state law.

The Providence state representative wants to make sex for a fee criminal no matter where it occurs. She's been pushing legislation for three years and for the first time her bill passed in house chambers, next is the Senate vote.

Team 5 Investigates asked if Giannini thinks the Craigslist attacks were the impetus for getting this passed?

"People are more aware now and don't like it," said Giannini.

"I would like to see the law changed,"said Giannini. "At some point Rhode Islanders are just going to have to standup and make up their mind," she added.

When Team 5 Investigates asked Nadia what she'd say to lawmakers who want to close the loophole and make prostitution indoors illegal too, she took a deep breathe.

"The loophole is the only thing that keeps me open when that's gone I'll re-evaluate everything."