Dishonest Article About Massage

In a busy strip mall at Glendenning and Pharmacy avenues, a bright neon sign at Oriental Falls Spa flashes: 'MASSAGE, FACIAL, RMT.' Well into the night, the black curtains are drawn. The parking lot is dark and empty, but the red 'Open' sign continues to flash.

Massage parlours are an open secret in Toronto. Toronto Police Services and various city councillors estimate that, in addition to the 25 city-licensed massage parlours, another 1,400-3,330 are illegal. Approximately 500-700 are located in Scarborough, particularly in the area just south of Markham.

Considered the 'East Scarborough Chinatown' for its large population of Chinese immigrants, the area is known by 'johns' around the web as a hub for Asian massages.

Jim Karygiannis, city councillor for Ward 39, has been trying to remove illegal massage parlours since he was federal MP for the Scarborough-Agincourt riding.

'We need to control these things,' Karygiannis says.

Chapter 545 of the Toronto Municipal Code requires that massage parlour attendants not lock the door when with a client, and refrain from any kind of sexual activity, as per the definition of 'body rub.' The parlours also must close at 9 p.m. But Tim Lambrinos, executive director of the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada, says that activity in Scarborough parlours peaks between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m, when a range of 20 to 60 minute sexual services are on offer.

'There is a by-law in place, but all of them violate it,' he says.

But why Scarborough?

Lambrinos says their surge stems from the development of the area as a suburb in the early 1960s.

'It's basically the design of the neighbourhood that has drawn them there,' he says, adding that suburban Scarborough allows parlours to make use of abandoned industrial spaces and strip malls. 'The units are not being rented and in strip mall shops they can monitor direct outside activity, so massage parlours take advantage of that – very low start up costs and low rent.'

Adult classifieds in NOW Magazine, the Toronto Sun, and websites are littered with sexual meet-up ads at Warden and Steeles East, a highway relief route on the border of Markham. Lambrinos' research, in collaboration with 42 Division, found that most 'johns' came from '905' areas such as Brampton, Markham, and Woodbridge.

Online ads boast beautiful Asian women between the ages of 19 and 22. 'Just OFF Plane Girls!!' an ad says. 'NO HAPPAY NO MONEY,' says another. Men congregate on internet forums to review women like electronic gadgets.

'Went back to Asia Studios yesterday. Sasa's learned some new tricks,' says 'Censored,' a user on a Toronto escort forum. 'Incredible explosive release. And a decent massage too. Well worth a visit.'

'What a beautiful Chinese girl I was able to get,' says another user. 'She was cute and petite with a tight ass body. She was stacked for a Chinese girl. Nice big b cups and a really sweet ass.'

But with parlours boasting young, foreign women, there is a serious trafficking concern.

'It's hard to say how many are trafficked, but if the attendants are young women, have major language barriers, and are pushed into a room with the door locked behind them, then it seems that way,' Lambrinos says.

Last year, Agincourt Community Services began its pilot Massage Parlour Outreach Project to address the number of women working in the ward's parlours. Funded by the City of Toronto, their 2013 Annual Report states the project visited 96 massage parlours, and distributed 20,734 harm reduction supplies.

'Tiffany,' 26, an escort from Brampton and student at Sheridan College, has also heard trafficking rumours. 'They come here, and realize that their work is actually sex work,' Tiffany says in a phone call. 'My heart goes out to them.'

While 42 Division has raided several massage parlours in recent years, they often re-open elsewhere under new names, with rescued women returning to work. Lambrinos says this makes the police hesitant to take action.

A new citywide by-law was drafted in March 2013 to bring the illegal parlours within regulation by including sexual services in the definition of 'body rub.' Karygiannis and Lambrinos want the city to charge the owners of the buildings rented to parlours. 'As ward councillor, Jim's gonna have a lot more leverage to put the preventative measures in,' Lambrinos says.

For Andrew Lewarne, CEO of Registered Massage Therapists' Association of Ontario, the draft would help protect Registered Massage Therapists, whose title is protected by Ontario's Regulated Health Professions Act. 'However the term 'massage' is not a protected title and can therefore sometimes mislead the public,' he says in an email.

While there is no consensus yet for councillors, police, or the city on how to deal with the mess, there is no denying one thing: While a treat for 'johns,' Scarborough's massage parlous continue to rub everyone else the wrong way.



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