City grapples with growing prostitution problem
CITYWIDE “Mr. Parlor” wants you to get laid.
On his Web site and others like it, experts on sexual services offer scores of reviews on shady massage parlors across Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties — Santa Monica included.
Each review is thorough, including everything from which massage parlors offer free parking to how much one should tip for a happy ending.
In Santa Monica, plenty of opportunities exist for male clients willing to pay for sex. Within the city’s 8.3 square miles, there are 57 massage establishments and 575 massage therapists. City officials estimate that about 15 percent of those therapists operating within Santa Monica are prostitutes, and that’s not even counting those who haven’t bothered1 filing for permits from City Hall and the Santa Monica Police department.
“This has been an ongoing problem for years in this city,” said SMPD LT. Marianne Fulllove, who uses sites like Craigslist.org, along with tips from residents and customers who have been solicited, to weed out the therapists providing deep-tissue rubdowns and then some.
“People have found little loopholes and ways to work around the law,” Fulllove added. “If a girl is arrested, they are simply replaced by someone else. If the operators are cited when a violation occurs, they just transfer the business to another family member or friend and continue operating... It’s frustrating.”
Over the past decade, the problem in Santa Monica seems to have exacerbated. In 2006, the number of people applying for permits to operate a massage establishment more than doubled the previous two years combined, according to Pamela McGarvey, revenue operations supervisor for City Hall, who is in charge of issuing permits and business licenses.
While many of those applying are legit, the increase suggests that Santa Monica is becoming a trendy place to set up shop for the sex trade.
STEMMING A ‘VICIOUS CYCLE’
In July 2005, federal and local law officers raided suspected brothels in San Francisco, the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, Redondo Beach and Santa Monica. The raids resulted in 18 arrests of people believed to be involved in the smuggling of hundreds of Korean women into the United States as prostitutes.
“The majority of the women here are from Korea,” said Fulllove. “They range in age. I’ve seen them as old as 55 … and as young as 18. Most times, they are victims themselves. They are brought here from foreign countries and are promised a good job in a legitimate business. When they get here, they learn otherwise and are forced into prostitution to pay off a debt that can be as high as $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 — money they paid to come over here.
“It’s a vicious cycle, so instead of focusing on the women, we try to apply pressure to the business and property owners,” Fulllove said. “People don’t want to lose their land.”
The problem has become a growing concern for both residents and elected officials, so much so that the City Attorney’s Office is currently working on changes to the permit-ting process that would force all massage technicians in the city to be fingerprinted, submit health records and pass a series of tests to show that they have been trained by an accredited organization.
The SMPD and City Attorney’s Office have also increased their use of a state law commonly referred to as the “red light abatement” law, which allows city officials to target property owners who rent to those who are operating illegal massage establishments, according to Deputy City Attorney Linda Mills.
If a parlor is cited several times for illegal activity, the City Attorney’s Office can shut the building down for one year and force the owner to pay damages to the city equal to the fair market value of one year’s rent for the space. The courts can also order a civil penalty of up to $25,000 and attach a lien to the property.
“These are pretty substantial penalties,” Mills said.“They are among the tools that we have, including jail time. Our goal is compliance. We want to have the nuisances abated. That’s our goal.”
The proposed changes under consideration include requiring all massage technicians to show they have anywhere from 300 to 500 hours of education. Currently, technicians only need 150 hours, McGarvey said.
“The prostitutes aren’t the one’s paying for an application.” — PEOPLE HAVE FOUND LITTLE LOOPHOLES AND WAYS TO WORK AROUND THE LAW.” Marianne Fulllove SANTA MONICA POLICE LIEUTENANT
Those with only 150 hours currently have to also submit medical certification that they are free of communicable diseases and must pass an exam on the art of massage therapy and the city’s massage ordinance.
“The city does not require (liability) insurance at this time, but that would be one of the provisions under the ordinance,” McGarvey said.
The changes are expected to come before the City Council by the end of February.
“The education of the landlords, in general, is a challenge that we are working on,” said Chief Deputy City Attorney Betty Haviland.“We had a relatively small number of massage establishments in Santa Monica 10 years ago and we’ve seen a rapid increase... since then. This enforcement effort is really about educating the land owners about what we believe is going on at their location and asking them to be responsible.”
Progress is being made. A former massage parlor at the corner of Lincoln and Pico boulevards has been converted into a tax preparer’s office because of the efforts of the City Attorney’s Office and the SMPD.
A FEW BAD APPLES RUIN BUNCH The hundreds of massage technicians in Santa Monica who do provide legal services to their clients have mixed feelings about the new requirements being proposed.
Many feel that the ordinance would help in changing perceptions about their profession, which has received a bad rap because of a small number who use massage parlors as a cover for prostitution. However, there are those who believe stricter enforcement of the current laws would go a long way towards weeding out those who are not legitimate.
In the end, most therapists would like to see regulation come from the state, so that it is uniform. At present, therapists must obtain permits from every city they work in. Each city has different requirements, which can be confusing, costly and time-consuming.
“In 37 states, massage therapy is licensed by the state. California has not jumped on that bandwagon,” said Jean Robinson, government relations director for Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals, a national trade organization. “This can be very cost-prohibitive and insulting. Most of these therapists have gone through school and have anywhere from 150 to 1,000 hours.
Robinson said she still cannot understand why therapists are required to submit their health records.
“We are fine with background checks, but these therapists are professionals,” Robinson said.“They have trained in the art of healing. They are not going to be sleeping with their clients. It just seems crazy.”
Robinson said attitudes are changing across the country when it comes to massage therapy. Technicians are commanding more respect following years of being lumped together with adult entertainment.
That said, there are still clients who will ask for sexual services from a therapist.
“I have stories from therapists that totally creep me out,” Robinson said.“The therapist is often placed in a horrible situation that has them scared to death. Many are freaked out and run out of the room after being confronted by a client looking for sex.”
A ‘SORRY’ STATE The perception that spas and massage establishments offer sex is so pervasive that even the most well-known locations occasionally have customers who come in asking for something extra.
At Burke Williams in Santa Monica, General Manager Brian Layne said therapists are trained in how to deal with clients who go too far.
“Basically, you give a warning and let them know that this is not that kind of establishment,” Layne said. “Most of them are guys and they say, ‘All right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it,’ and it’s a done deal. It can be very scary for some of our therapists. No matter what you need to do to get out of that room safely and to feel comfortable while giving treatment, we support that.”
Layne said that “97 percent” of people who get into the industry do so with the best intentions, but the industry is still plagued by the bad image that prostitution creates. While the perception of therapists may have changed over the years, it appears there is still a long way to go.
“I think it’s just the nature of putting one person in a closed room without clothes on, with another person,” Layne said. “I guess it opened the door to questions being asked. I really don’t know, but this industry in particular seems to be stigmatized.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 27, 2007. Read the original PDF.