ddg search for “urban institution illicit massage parlor”
Comes up with this study based on interviews with 116 Chinese and Korean women in the illicit massage parlor business in NYC and LA from October 2014 through July 2016.
https://aaari.info/20-12-11chin/
From the event page:
This report, from researchers at Hunter College of the City University of New York and University of Southern California, aims to shed light on the experiences of Chinese and Korean immigrant women working in illicit massage parlors in Los Angeles County and New York City. Media accounts have documented raids, mass arrests and undercover stings of illicit massage parlors in US cities and suburbs. Often lost in these accounts are the daily experiences of the women workers from their own perspectives. Why are women working in these establishments and under what conditions do they labor? What is the arrest process like for them? What solutions can be offered that do not further penalize, traumatize, or victimize an already vulnerable population? This report aims to answer some of these questions, and offer recommendations for policy and practice, based on in-depth interviews with 116 women working in illicit massage parlors.
This is the part that’s giving me insomnia
Massage parlor workers’ fear of arrest for prostitution almost always superseded their fear of being robbed or assaulted by clients. Most women, when asked about threats to their safety, first answered in terms of their fear of being arrested.
And a second part
Illicit massage parlor work as a labor rights issue
The wide range of experiences reported in our study, including both negative and positive experiences, suggests that addressing illicit massage parlor work as a labor issue may be fruitful from both research and practice perspectives.
With a labor-oriented perspective, the use of blunt regulatory tools – such as criminal prosecution of workers and the use of municipal codes to thwart illicit massage parlor businesses – can evolve towards a more nuanced understanding of why illicit massage parlor businesses proliferate, why immigrant women continue to work in them, and the consequences for cities, neighborhoods, and the workers. A focus on labor rights can also extend the trafficking lens to include not just sex trafficking but also broader forms of labor trafficking and exploitation. From a practice point-of-view, an immigrant labor framework allows for addressing the day-to-day hardships of illicit massage parlor workers as workers. A labor framework can begin to examine ways of improving daily working conditions by addressing wages, work hours, safety and access to healthcare for the many women who choose to continue working in the sector.
Some notes for me from the report (parts I’m thinking over)
These recommendations offer incremental ways to address the most immediate issues of overly aggressive policing, as well as some of the root causes of exploitation, such as the lack of economic survival alternatives. Given the highly politicized nature of the debate on whether the provision of commercial sexual services should be legalized, decriminalized, or eliminated – these recommendations seek to move beyond the stalemate and create change that is attainable.
Leaving
As discussed earlier, many illicit massage parlor workers had limited job options because of language barriers and undocumented immigration status, and some study participants noted a lack of job training or job counseling as another reason. One study participant, who wanted to pursue a job in education, suggested that community centers could help provide job training and counseling. Without this type of support, she found herself returning to illicit massage parlor work multiple times: “Although I want to quit this job and try to look for other work, there are few options I can choose from. In the past, I quit several times but eventually came back to this industry after spending all the money I had saved while working [in massage parlors].”
Safety
As before:
Massage parlor workers’ fear of arrest for prostitution almost always superseded their fear of being robbed or assaulted by clients. Most women, when asked about threats to their safety, first answered in terms of their fear of being arrested.
As described earlier, this confusion is fueled when police arrest all the women in a massage parlor, regardless of what they were doing, and on the other hand, when police engage in sexual activity with massage parlor workers without making arrests
very much the last part should not be a thing (again: realities on the ground vs realities at a high level)
Although most study participants were in agreement that experiences with the police ranged from negative to abusive, some reported having more benign experiences with police officers, even when arrested.
That is not the “most” you want… There are some truly sad anecdotes about interactions with the police.
Immigration
“If she presses charges, the defendant’s lawyer will say she seduced the defendant to have sex. She said she wants to get the green card so she cancelled the charges.”
Language barriers
Study participants were unable to communicate effectively with the police and sometimes unwittingly admitted to crimes they did not commit.
Court process language barriers
Issues of “legal literacy” are compounded when language interpretation services are inadequate, as described earlier
Same topic
Illicit massage parlor workers’ ability to assess their own legal risks was often compromised by their lack of understanding of the law and of arrest and court procedures
Negative Lawyer Interactions
Some participants believed that their lawyers manipulated them into a guilty plea for either expediency or to prolong the need for legal services (and thereby additional legal fees). At the very least, participants felt that proceedings and decisions were not adequately explained to them, leaving them feeling unsure if they received appropriate representation.
Immigration and Diversion Programs
Study participants valued being able to avoid a criminal conviction through these alternative court programs. Having a criminal record was not only a source of shame, but also an impediment to acquiring documented immigration status and future employment outside of the illicit massage parlor industry
Raids
Both advocates and workers believed that raids and arrests did not serve the goal of ending illicit activity and exploitation. Instead, many women were further victimized, and employers, clients, and other actors leveraged this fear of law enforcement to exploit the women further.
Raids pt 2
Increase collaboration between law enforcement and legal/social service providers: Given that illicit massage parlor raids and arrests are likely to continue, law enforcement should at least work in close coordination with legal/social service providers when making arrests
Justice
Ultimately, many study participants felt the arrests were merely token efforts to address prostitution without delving more deeply into the root causes of the issue by targeting illicit massage parlor owners and clients. As a result, participants felt unjustly targeted and disproportionately penalized
Currently, it appears that some local neighborhood groups are working with their local police and leveraging community policing mechanisms to target certain segments of their community that they deem “foreign” and “unwanted,” such as immigrants or those working in illicit massage parlors. Lost in those efforts is an understanding of the ways in which undocumented immigrant women are exploited through illicit massage parlor work and then further victimized through the legal process
Rather than arresting illicit massage parlor workers for prostitution or unlicensed massage, agencies would instead focus on the business practices of their employers. Law enforcement would focus on extreme cases of exploitation, such as human trafficking. This approach shifts effort to the more prevalent concerns of labor rights and worker and consumer health and safety.
What has changed since 2016? I will watch the video to find out. (I’m hoping that in NYC and LA the diversion courts and police training / shifting of focus has happened).
Toread
Vera Institute of Justice and the US Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services also published a series of reports (“Police Perspectives Guidebook Series: Building Trust in a Diverse Nation”), written by law enforcement officers in collaboration with Vera Institute’s research team.
Homeless Initiative
For example, in New York City, police officers, mental health workers, lawyers and other providers visit homeless encampments together, rather than relying solely on police officers to respond to complaints.35 Understanding how this initiative has worked can be instructive for implementing a collaborative approach to policing illicit massage parlors in New York City and Los Angeles County.
Carrot
In light of these realities, social services should include a wider range of programs focused on economic and financial security. Social service providers could offer more economic/skills-based training that track women into jobs that offer living wages
More carrot
There may be opportunities through social media and other means to develop support networks where former illicit massage parlor workers can provide guidance to help other women to move out of the illicit massage parlor industry.
A number of our study participants indicated that their models for financial success were other illicit massage parlor owners, whom they aspired to emulate. Mentorship by former illicit massage parlor workers who have moved out of the industry may open up alternative paths.
These social and support networks could be expanded to include more formal arrangements with willing employers and business networks to establish pipelines to living-wage employment
thoughts
so how does this affect my research?
it’s a bit questionable to help with classifying individual businesses as legal or not, in order to help them get shut down, from complaints by police or local neighborhood groups, using nuisance laws.
There is a lot of creativity about use of stick, not so much creativity about use of carrot.
Fortunately the report basically provides a list of carrots!
Things I can do in collaboration more ethically:
- Estimate activity at county level: View google sites review text as ”traces” of IMB activity, as well as RM review count directly
- (qualms: could be used by law enforcement to focus parlor raids; pros: could be used by non profits or social services or e.g. outreach to churches to focus outreach)
- Address health literacy – but not sure what about this would be research that could be published that could get me a job…
- ???
oh heavens sleep it’s 5 am
