The Proposal Doesn't Work

Some of the reference materials may be a little out of date. This page was developed in 2020-21.

We started off with the insanity quote because the proponents of the ordinance are trying the same old intervention that doesn’t really work. And it harms massage therapists in the process by making massage therapists collateral damage in a war against human traffickers. It’s not right to help one group of women at the expense of another. We should find a solution that addresses the problem without harming an entire healthcare profession.

Has establishment licensing been tried elsewhere?

Yes, and without enforcement, they don’t work – just like what will happen with this proposal.

Here are just a few examples:

  • Columbus, OH
    The problem came back because they weren’t constantly enforcing the law.1 And the same article points out that the business in the neighboring town didn’t bother to get the local permit
  • Tampa, FL
    In early 2018, Tampa enacted an ordinance, but six months later, Brothels disguised as massage businesses (BDAMBs) ignored the local law and didn’t get local permits.2 The mayor vowed to crackdown, but, another 8 months later and still nothing.3 Again, nothing happens without enforcement.

    And when news outlets revisited the issue in January 2020, the police chief talked about how problematic enforcement is: ““The issue we have is there’s not a lot of teeth in anything that law enforcement does,” said Chief Dugan.”… ““The people who run illicit operations like this know that we have to play by the rules,” he said.”4 While the mayor says that enforcement is working, more laws need to be enacted and enforced. The police chief says that so far, the law hasn’t eradicated all of these places.

    This proposal isn’t nearly as comprehensive with enforcement, with only code inspectors and no law enforcement. So no matter how you slice it, the bad actors will ignore the law here too.

  • Texas (Houston)
    Texas has a state establishment licensing law in place. Few are getting the permits. In Houston, only 9 of 240 BDAMBs had the permit. Houston decided NOT to institute establishment licensing because if BDAMBs didn’t get the state license, it’s unlikely they’d get the local one.5

    The city decided that they needed to file 24 civil lawsuits using public nuisance laws to shut the businesses down.6 This is yet another example of how establishment licensing does not work, this time on the state level. These types of permits are complaint driven – just like local ordinance would be. And if people don’t file the complaint, it won’t be enforced.

Establishment licensing: A solution without studying the problem

Locally, they didn’t bother to look for any other solutions. The history of the ordinance shows that the only thing considered was establishment licensing. The problem wasn’t studied and no alternatives were explored.7

The city hasn’t allocated any money for enforcement. Yet, proponents somehow believe that passing an ordinance without enforcing it will do the trick. They thought that about SB 149, passed during the 2019 Montana legislative session8 We’ve never seen any evidence that an unenforced law works – because they don’t.

There are plenty of solutions that the city has ignored, like landlord education. San Jose9 and Missouri10 are using this method, and it’s effective – up to 75% in some areas. 11 Heyrick Research (now the Network), a nationally prominent anti-trafficking research arm agrees.6 Every location has developed what works for them: Some like Tacoma12 used electrical  and building codes. Rockland County, NY13 used public nuisance laws like Houston.14 And here, we have our own home-grown solution.

You can see our solution here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/gysh1m32u5qdz78/New%20HT%26P%20Proposal%20ver.2021_01_27.pdf?dl=0

It targets the illicit businesses specifically and doesn’t punish massage therapists in the process. We think it’s a win-win.              

Please tell the city council you agree with and support the massage therapists’ solution.

Contact the City Council Today

Put Contact info for all local politicians here.

  1. The Stubborn Cycle of Massage Parlor Trafficking. (2015, May 7). Columbus Monthly. Retrieved from https://www.columbusmonthly.com/lifestyle/20150507/stubborn-cycle-of-massage-parlor-trafficking[↩]
  2. Douglas, M. (2018, June 27). Massage spas ignore Tampa’s Bathhouse crackdown. WFLA. Retrieved from https://www.wfla.com/8-on-your-side/investigations/massage-spas-ignore-tampas-bathhouse-crackdown/[↩]
  3. Rogers, G. (2019, February 27). Column: Tampa’s new mayor must battle sex trafficking. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved from https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/column-tampas-new-mayor-must-battle-sex-trafficking-20190227/ [↩]
  4. Saeidi, M. (2020, January 28). Illicit activity still happening in some of Tampa’s spas and massage parlors, police chief says. News Channel 8 on your side. Retrieved from https://www.wfla.com/8-on-your-side/illicit-activity-still-happening-in-some-of-tampas-spas-and-massage-parlors-police-chief-says/[↩]
  5. Driessen, K. (2015, December 2). City strengthens law to crack down on illicit massage businesses. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/City-strengthens-law-to-crack-down-on-illicit-6671734.php[↩]
  6. ibid[↩][↩]
  7. Council Work Session. (2021, January 19). Massage therapy business license ordinance. Retrieved from https://destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=24568&mt=ALL&get_month=1&get_year=2021&dsp=agm&seq=7820&rev=0&ag=1147&ln=30397&nseq=7815&nrev=0&pseq=7758&prev=0#ReturnTo30397[↩]
  8. “That [SB 147] gives law enforcement one important tool, but that has not forced IMBs to leave town yet.” The Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force. (2021, January 14). Retrieved from https://destinyhosted.com/bilmtdocs/2021/CCWS/20210119_1132/7820_YCA_Trafficking_-_Trafficking_Prevention_Spa_Ordinance_One_Pager_-_1-14-2021.pdf [↩]
  9. Lauer, K. (2019, August 28). Was San Jose’s massage parlor crackdown a success? San Jose Spotlight. Retrieved from https://sanjosespotlight.com/was-san-joses-massage-parlor-crackdown-a-success__trashed-2/[↩]
  10. Schmitt, E. (2020, December 15). Attorney General Schmitt announces more illicit massage business evictions through the hope initiative. Retrieved from https://ago.mo.gov/home/news/2020/12/15/attorney-general-schmitt-announces-more-illicit-massage-business-evictions-through-the-hope-initiative [↩]
  11. Singleton, C. (2020, May 3). Criminals and COVID-19: How we stop sex traffickers from exploiting the crisis (opinion). South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved from https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-singleton-massage-parlors-covid-19-20200503-jo2jgq4tyneuxn6b3idyo3dfyy-story.html[↩]
  12. Glenn, S. (2016, September 4). Nine massage parlors in Lakewood, Tacoma busted in prostitution stings. The News Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article99552747.html. 
    A video accompanying the article by a police spokesperson says the buildings were boarded up due to code violations. They were electrical violations and construction or non-permitted changing of the interiors of buildings.[↩]
  13. Brum, R. (2017, December 11). Inside Rockland’s prostitution crackdown. Lohud. Retrieved from https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/2017/12/11/inside-rocklands-prostitution-crackdown/874971001 [↩]
  14. ibid. – Driessen[↩]