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There are an estimated 9,000+ illicit massage businesses open in the United States that are estimated to make $2.5 billion, according to Polaris. On a national scale, IMBs (illicit massage businesses) is an industry that comes in second behind escort services for the prevalence of sex trafficking. This illicit business is rife with exploitation to the most extreme degree in the form of both sex and labor trafficking. On a national level, IMBs are alarmingly prevalent, and North Carolina is not immune this industry that is always shifting and changing. Let’s look at the victims and indicators of illicit massage businesses …. |
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Who Are The Victims?Most victims of human trafficking who are found in the IMBs are women from China and South Korea (with some from Thailand and Vietnam) between the ages of 35 to 55 years old. It is important to look at the demographics of the victims because it addresses the challenges by service providers and law enforcement to offer services to victims. Cultural understanding is paramount in addressing IMBs. Traffickers use cultural coercion and shame to control and recruit their victims. Culturally, it is normative to trust people in or from your village in China. That trust translates into accepting recommendations of employment that may result in exploitation in an IMB. A key guiding principle for social interactions in Chinese culture is the term renqing, which sets the social norms all members of society should follow in order to secure social harmony. It is a concept of empathy and community with a strong focus on integrity and reciprocity. Renqing is a positive cultural ideal, but it can quickly turn against victims who feel they must continue working in an IMB to repay an impossible debt or to not forget that they were given a job when they needed one. The age group speaks to multi-generational trauma that these women likely endured. In China, between the years of 1966 to 1976, there was the Cultural Revolution. That revolution resulted in incredible social disruption and violence. Before that time, 45 million Chinese died of starvation over a three-year period during the Great Leap Forward. Understanding where victims come from on a cultural and historical level is incredibly important in understanding why they do not leave, how they were tricked and how vulnerable they are to exploitation. It also illuminates how service providers and law enforcement can effectively communicate with a possible victim. Because many victims of trafficking in illicit massage businesses are mostly immigrants from China, South Korea and partially from Thailand and Vietnam, we can address the issue of trafficking in IMBs through culturally relevant programs and outreach. |
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Recruitment and Retention |
Human trafficking is determined by the presence of force, fraud or coercion. In the case of the IMBs, it is the coercion and fraud aspect that plays a heavy role in recruitment and retention of victims.Recruitment:Referrals within the community: Traffickers exploit cultural ideals and trust within the community to recruit through referral within their own community. Coercion:Debt bondage: In many instances of human trafficking at IMBs, the victims are under the heavy burden of debt bondage. This debt is often acquired to get the job — where by the time the victim arrives to the IMB — they must repay for transportation and in some cases, visa brokers. Once they arrive, the debt continues to accumulate because they must pay for lodging, food and transportation. Because of cultural ideals of paying off debt, Chinese victims are further bound to the IMB until the debt is paid off. It will never be. This is further complicated by the fact that the women are only paid through tips. Therefore, traffickers sometimes offer the false option of not performing a sexual act. The reality is, for them to escape the bondage of debt, they don’t have an option. Shame: Victims often feel shame by their victimization and do not reach out for help or come forward. They often see themselves not as victims but people who have fallen on hard luck. Traffickers perpetuate that feeling. Fear: Victims are often afraid of deportation, afraid for their families or of law enforcement. This fear keeps them under control. |
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Indicators of Illicit Massage Businesses |
There are tell-tale signs that a massage business is illicit. A few of those indicators include:Advertised prices are significantly below market value. |
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N.C. Human Trafficking Arrests Involving IMBs |
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IMBs in North Carolina |
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According to the 2018 analysis from Polaris, North Carolina’s top industry for sex trafficking is illicit massage businesses. There were 24 human trafficking cases reported from IMBs in North Carolina in 2018. As the problem of IMBs becomes more prevalent and recognized in the state, organizations have been working to mitigate the issue. In 2017, North Carolina passed a law that required more stringent licensing requirements for massage and body work businesses. READ LAW HERE. And though there are NGOs, law enforcement and government bodies working to dissolve the businesses, it has become clear that as one IMB is raided and closes, it reopens under a different name. https://encstophumantrafficking.org/ |