413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Erotic Massage Parlors
Another primary venue in the Atlanta UCSE is erotic massage parlors. As illustrated in figure 4.9, there
have been minimal changes to massage parlors locations and only a slight increase in the overall number
of parlors. Most parlors are run by Korean nationals; however, there are some run by other Southeast
Asian nationalities, such as Indonesian and Thai. The main concentration of Asian massage parlors
(AMPs) is in the Chamblee and Doraville area, northeast of Atlanta proper. They also tend to operate near
strip clubs or at truck stops, with locations often advertised on highway billboards. As one federal law
enforcement officer noted, “And then of course the truck stops. We’ve identified areas along the I-75
corridor from 285 South toward Macon, and it’s wide open. If you travel down I-75, you just look at the
billboards and … this spa, that spa.” Some cities in the Atlanta area have stopped investigating the
massage parlors due to ongoing litigation issues involving permits.
Figure 4.9 Erotic Massage Parlors in the Atlanta Metro Area
Similar to massage parlors set up in other cities, there is usually a house fee of $60 that the client is
charged upon arrival. The women will then negotiate a tip with the client depending on what desired
sexual service. Tips range from $120 to $500. Women are allowed to keep their tips; however, most of
that money is used to pay off their smuggling debt. Law enforcement has also seen cases where “the
women will give them all their money for safe keeping to the madam, but then those monies are never
used to pay off their debt” (Federal Law Enforcement Officer).
Women at the massage parlors are brought to the United States with a variety of tactics. Some were sex
workers in their home country and some are enticed with promises of better life and work in the United
States (and then forced into sex work to pay off debts). Many women are smuggled through Canada and
initially brought to New York, where they are then filtered down the East Coast or sent to the West Coast.
According to law enforcement, women who work in massage parlors are older and they have not found a
juvenile working in one.
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