Asian Women Working in Massage Parlors in New York City and Los Angeles County, 2014-2016

Media coverage has highlighted raids, mass arrests, and undercover stings of illicit massage parlors in United States cities and suburbs. This study defines "illicit," as a sub-set of massage parlors that purport to operate as legal businesses but where sexual services are illegally bought and sold. Although some media accounts have highlighted linkages between illicit massage parlors, human trafficking, and the fact that many of the workers are Asian immigrant women, the daily experiences of workers in illicit massage parlors are rarely reported from their own perspectives. To fill this gap in knowledge, researchers interviewed 116 Chinese and Korean women who reported that they had provided sexual services in a massage parlor setting in New York City or Los Angeles County. This data collection includes anonymized responses from these women about their demographic background, path to working in massage parlors, working conditions, social networks, sexual health and access to healthcare, victimization by clients and managers, and trust in law enforcement.