I’ve been in this industry a while now. I love what I do, and I love helping my clients. There is ONE THING that always ruins my chi and makes me angry though.
I hate it when people joke about “extra services” some establishments offer.
So, here we go! I’m going to get real. I’m going to talk to you about human trafficking.
We all have those places in our towns that seem sketchy. Maybe they’re in a strip mall, or maybe they offer to come to your hotel. They offer more than a massage. You can find them advertising in Back Page. Yes, they are brothels disguised as a massage business.
What many people don’t realize is that a lot of these young women and men are victims of human trafficking. Many are undocumented. They wanted the dream of coming to America and got suckered into believing that the person smuggling them in was a stand up person. Instead, they are held prisoner and have to sell themselves. Others are kidnapped.
I don’t think the average person thinks about this dark side of massage, and why it’s so upsetting to legitimate businesses who give therapeutic massage to those in pain.
When men call me and ask me if I do give extras, it angers me. Not just because they are associating me with illegal practices and insulting my integrity. They piss me off because I think of all those young women and men who are being forced into being slaves. I can say no when asked. I can tell them I’ll be forwarding their information to the police. Though, those people who are stuck in those brothels cannot say no. We should do better in America! We really should!
So, what can we do then?
Help educate people. When that one guy from the office starts joking about “happy endings,” shut them down. Remind him that he’s part of the problem. Tell him he’s contributing to human trafficking if he goes to those places.
Report suspected establishments to the authorities. If you’re in Fort Worth, contact the Human Trafficking division of the FWPD. Here’s their information here: FWPD
Support those who are trying to end human trafficking. There are several organizations that help canvas hotels and serve as an outreach to rescue victims of trafficking.
Locally, in Fort Worth, here is a great organization: Rescue Her Do you love essential oils? Well this company donates a portion of their proceeds to end human trafficking: Simply Earth. Finally, nationally, you can donate to Thorn. They help develop technology to make it easier to stop the human trafficking and exploitation of children.
I normally keep this blog light and friendly so thank you for listening to my rant! I wanted to talk about this because I got a weird phone call over the weekend inquiring about such services and it just really made me mad and almost ruined my Sunday!
Would you do me a favor? If you want to help do your part to end human trafficking, share this blog post and help educate others.
