Illegal massage businesses also known as brothels and houses of prostitution doing business as a massage therapist abound in every city, town, county and state. Our licensing laws only license massage therapists who practice massage making it difficult for enforcement to catch and stop these businesses from operating. Our massage establishment licenses in some states have made it so massage businesses are not clearly separated from these places of business.
Websites like www.rubmaps.com and www.backpage.com plague the profession constantly by someone often adding legitimate massage businesses. The NCBTMB does not allow CE classes on human trafficking, which is part of this topic, to be part of their approved list of courses. (List of Unacceptable Courses)
Our professional associations hide their head in the sand and avoid dealing with the issue.