How to spot an illicit massage parlor - AL.com

[massage]

Alabama’s attorney general recently announced the closure of four North Alabama massage parlors in the first civil action under a new provision of the state’s human trafficking law.

The businesses, operating in Huntsville as Health Massage and Massage Foot Care, and in Madison and Decatur as Massage Foot Care, were allegedly fronts for human-trafficking enterprises. According to AG Steve Marshall’s office, workers at the massage parlors were forced to work “incredibly long hours during which at least some of them were expected to engage in sex acts” with customers. Workers seemed to have little freedom of movement and were kept in houses owned by the business owners where they were “left to eat and sleep in terrible conditions,” the AG noted.

The shutdowns raises awareness of human trafficking enterprises – especially those linked to massage parlors.

According to PolarProject.org, a group dedicated to stopping human trafficking, illicit massage businesses often obtain legally required permits in an effort to blend in with other legitimate operations.

There are warning signs, however. Potential customers should be on the lookout for:

• Massage prices significantly below market-level value
• Women asking for large tip or expressing distress if they do not receive a tip
• Massage businesses that are open later hours or those that say workers are on-call at any hour
• Women appearing to be living at the business
• The location serves primary male clientele
• A locked front door that customers can only enter if buzzed in or entrance through a back or side door.
• An excessive amount of security or video cameras
• Covered or darkened windows
• Regular rotation of workers; new women coming in every several weeks
• Advertising on commercial websites that offer sex services

Alabama law prohibits massage parlors from being used as a dormitory or place of sleep or providing massages behind locked doors. Anyone giving a massage is also required to be clothed from the shoulder to the knees and no massages are allowed in sexually oriented businesses.

According to Polaris, illicit massage, health and beauty businesses often appear to be single storefronts but are typically controlled as part of a larger network. There are as many as 7,000 storefront illicit businesses operating as massage parlors in the U.S., with most of the victims being women in their mid 30s to late 50s from China and South Korea. Victims in another segment are typically younger females, mid 20s and older, from Southeast Asia.

The workers are often recruited through fraudulent ads that misrepresent pay and hide the sexual nature of their jobs, the experts said. Once at the establishment, they work excessive hours and are paid less than minimum wage, if anything at all. Many of the workers report being threatened with arrest or deportation.

There were more than 5,100 human trafficking cases reported in 2018, according to Polaris. Thirty-six reports were made in Alabama.

If you suspect any illicit activity at a massage business, call the Alabama Board of Massage Therapy at 334-420-7233. You can report suspected human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.



Huntsville-area massage parlors were ‘fronts for human-trafficking,’ AG says

'Employees' at some Huntsville-area parlors were forced to engage in sex acts with customers, prosecutors say.


Let's block ads! (Why?)