Human rights abuses, including human trafficking, are taking place across the United States in over illicit massage businesses IMBs. IMBs are massage establishments or spas that are often fronts for commercial sex. Also known as erotic massage parlors or Asian massage parlors, these sites are scattered across the country in urban, rural, and suburban areas.
Human trafficking is the commercial exploitation of one human being by another by way of force, fraud, or coercion. The purpose of the exploitation can be commercial sex, forced labor, or a combination of the two. The exploitation that occurs at IMBs is a combination of both labor and sex trafficking. Labor trafficking happens when victims are deceived into situations where they are compelled to work long hours for little or no pay, and are often forced to live and remain on site.
Clusters of IMBs are often owned by the same individual or network. Most employ middle-aged Chinese and Korean women as massage providers. These women are immigrants looking for a better life who are often deceived and cruelly exploited. Cultural norms can be manipulated by traffickers to ensure that the women stay under their control out of a sense of duty or obligation. Many suffer through the abuse in order to send remittances back home to their families in China or Korea.
Similar to other forms of commercial sexual exploitation, IMBs use the internet to facilitate transactions. Customers search online for details about specific sex acts offered, provider nationalities and body types, and prices on many different IMB review websites.
Ohio was the first state in the country to regulate the practice of massage. This loophole has allowed IMBs to spread across the state.
