Massage parlours: when the lights are still on after hours

A lack of coordinated efforts to beef up enforcement and the absence of a strong regulatory framework have fuelled concerns that well-known, illicit activities at some massage parlours are staying under the radar. This sentiment has been conveyed both through the official channels, from which information is scant, as well as through law enforcement sources. According to police records, in the last three years, just 17 “inspections” have been carried out in massage parlours, resulting in 15 arraignments on charges of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and breaches in employment law. However, police sources admit that these numbers probably do not reflect the true picture of the situation. “While enforcement is being hindered by the fact that these places are largely unregulated, it is also an open secret that at times enforcement is being done superficially or only on the strength of reports filed by the victims or suspicious neighbours,” said sources close to the police. The proliferation of massage parlours in several towns and villages is a relatively recent phenomenon. Mostly operated by Eastern Europeans and Asians, they have mushroomed in the last decade, fuelling...