Great discussion from the Edmonton journal about Edmonton's massage parlours
Xworker
I am a former massage parlor worker and owner. I am shocked at how Edmonton has laxed its laws on advertising in the Sun to say how much sex was. Are they not living off the avails? Does the city not see itself as living off the avails when they bust some parlors for bawdy house and yet continue to license them. well maybe its because the customers are politions, police, lawyers, etc... You argue it should be a womens right to sell her body but do you ever stop and think what that does to a woman. Most of the woman in the sex trade have been abused, molested, raped, even killed. Most have had childhood abuses. All this impacts ones mental health negatively. Brain researchers say negative stress affects the organs negatively.The business causes chemical and alcohol dependancies. I as many beleived getting into this trade was a good way to make money but its not. Before long you find out you dont always have a choice of which customer, john, trick you gotta make money for yourself or for your pimp. Yes they do exist in the indoor industry and it will not make the criminals go away by legalizing it. The ones who cannot work inside wll still have to work outside. You still get abused inside and I say this out of experience. I became a counsellor and went back to counsel sex workers and not one of them liked what they did nor did they want to do it if they had a choice to do something else but lack of education, opportunity, addiction issues, low self-esteem, poverty kept them in it. There are some women who will say they like the work but they actually like the money they feel it gives them control and power. Women should be given a better choices and there needs to be more money for exiting for these women and there needs to be more emphasis put on busting the men who are purchasing sex. It seems to have gotten out of hand in your city from when I worked there and maybe the city council should put their money where their mouth is and give the police more funds to do their job. A half hour massage is only $20 not $200.
February 09, 2010
11:41 AM
Dont forget about the Asian massage parlours in Toronto.
shane
the celabration of the mediocre does not make a great country
February 04, 2010
3:00 PM
Bill
Hey this is a note to "AL" heads up pal and I hate to break it to you but you drive past a message parlor every single day of your life if you drive down Jasper Ave and 104 as there is one right there. ON JASPER AVE. Your examples of what happens near parlors are as stupid as this councillors ideas. Lets try and move forward this decade. Forward... say to yourself a few times every time you have an idea.
January 30, 2010
6:48 AM
BornTwoBeeFree
Might I add, it's not slime visiting these massage parlours. It is your brothers, your fathers, your sons. Men with good jobs who can afford three hundred bucks an hour, every week or two. Sexy relaxing massage followed by adult fun with a lady they've likely gotten to know quite well and in many cases, friendships formed. Having said all this, I do not believe these places of recreation should be located in residential areas, or in popular areas. Put them in industrial areas for all I care. Many of them already are away from the busy centers, in remote little strip malls around the city.
January 30, 2010
1:37 AM
HEY
@ CASE, welcome to the 70's bro, you're the last tory goof
January 30, 2010
1:11 AM
Erin
Case and Rob, I believe you have misinterpreted Scott McKeen's brilliant use of the modes of language. "Honest, there's nothing to see here but a nice, comforting illusion." Furthermore, Case, Henderson did not say he wants it to be illegal, rather, to "restrict the location." Scott McKeen is right. It is an illusion, so that we can maintain a sense of false righteousness (based on ignorance) when in fact we merely turn away from reality. Doing nothing changes nothing. In my humble opinion, brothels i.e. massage parlors - the ones that sell sex that is - should be legalized and regulated. Prostitution for that matter. This is not simply because sex will always be a 'commodity', but more importantly to protect the women and men that are involved in these activities. Henderson is making a worthy first step, and I just hope he has the right end in mind.
January 29, 2010
8:57 PM
Al
Here's the problem with massage parlours: they don't exist in a nice, convenient, cultural vaccuum. Their business permit applications slide under the radar because they are submitted in poor, crime-ridden communities -- where apathy is the norm. Once installed, it is incredibly difficult to get rid of them. And while these shops are in place, the johns/customers/pimps that hang out in the area make the women and children feel like pieces of meat, while walking in their own neighbourhoods, No more letting your kids walk to 7-Eleven -- not after they come home the first time, with a story about the man who pulled over and asked if they were looking for a good time. No more sending your wife to grab some last-minute groceries -- after she comes home, unsettled, and talking about the slowing cars and leering looks. No more taking a brisk walk at night to clear your mind -- after seeing the suspicious looks from women and teens who don't recognize that I am merely a neighbour, not a creep who is planning to make a demeaning proposition or comment. I'm not against prostitution in principle. Sex for money is the oldest exchange in history... But the reality is that prostitution, and the problems with which it is often correlated, is really quite ugly in practice.
January 29, 2010
8:51 PM
Bill
If a women has the right to abort a life, then you'd think she would have the right to charge money for sex? Don't ya think? I mean it is 2010 people....
January 29, 2010
8:00 PM
Brandy
Too funny! I also have harsh feelings towards these places in Edmonton, especially after leaving a dog training class and seeing a 'massage therapist' standing naked waiting for her next 'client'. However, I do take offense to stereotyping a person by their name and if they may have piercings or tattoo's. My name is Brandy, I have my ears pierced (no tattoo's yet...) and two years of formal education at Grant MacEwan. I have never been approached inappropriately during my massage sessions due to my professionalism and rapport with people. But thank you for reminding all of us how easy it is to pigeonhole.
January 29, 2010
6:51 PM
Get a grip
If you don't like strippers and "massage" parlours, move to Utah.
January 29, 2010
5:27 PM
Robin
The problem is not the fact there is "massage parlors" but that they are regulated under the same licensing as registered massage therapists who work in professional settings and are members of a provincial or national association. As a manager of a massage clinic I have no problem with the brothel type setting but the city must wake up and realize they can not regulate them the same as registered massage therapists. The city needs to realize that they are at fault for the issues that arrise do to this confusion.
January 29, 2010
3:35 PM
Emily
Amen Rob, I agree with your points entirely. There are other things to be concerned with, in my humble opinion. Henderson needs to pay attention to the pressing needs of the city (taxes, homelessness, heck...snow removal!) and quit looking at the "fancy" issues that will get him more headlines and more press heading into an election. Nobody can honestly think that it is a coincidence that he is starting to talk about diversive issues around this time of year? That's fairly transparent, in my view!
January 29, 2010
2:28 PM
Jimbo J
Laws against prostitution are one of those "moral" laws, like marijuana. What's wrong with a licensed sex worker getting paid for a service (as long as they aren't forced in to it)? We need to take sex out of the proverbial closet it's in and stop having our various religions dictate the norms of a secular society. Porn is legal isn't it? They get paid to have sex as well but they aren't prostitutes they're "actors."
January 29, 2010
1:50 PM
Gordon
Case - you might not like it, but making prostitution illegal won't stop people from trading money for sex. All it will do is make criminals and gangs richer off of women, and make this "industry" harder for the police to monitor and control. Same thing with strip clubs - strippers all need to apply for and buy licenses to strip in Edmonton. This gives police a tool to monitor the industry and bring the hammer down if abuses are occurring. Tolerating the sex industry is much less harmful to the women and society than completely outlawing it, and giving the criminal element full reign over it.
January 29, 2010
1:40 PM
Leslie
If Shaun thinks Canada is less than "great", he needs to travel more. Having lived in the US and visited numerous other countries, I have yet to find one for which I would swap my Canadian citizenship. Yes, we're far from perfect, but we're closer than any other country I've been privileged to visit.
January 29, 2010
1:22 PM
Shaun
I lost all faith in this article when you stated Canada as the greatest country on earth.
January 29, 2010
11:46 AM
Tim S
If u shut down these parlours,would u not just drive them underground,or onto the streets...u will never stop it,so why not legalize it,and set up brothels? then we could tax,and protect sex workers...
January 29, 2010
11:39 AM
Case
Scott so your theory is What you don't know won't hurt you? I agree with Henderson I think Massage Parlours need to be stop and prosititution should be made illegal. Same with Stripclubs, Stripclubs are another form of Prostituation, your still giving money to women to take off their clothes. Us Canadians need to change our views on how we view women, Women are still underpaid compared to the their equal male counterparts. In Hollywood the Message is 'Sex Sells' (Great message to pass onto our daughter BTW) In parts of the world Women are still consider less human than Men and is treated like such. Maybe if we changed our views we could end things like Domestic abuse, Human Trafficking, Prosititution. If we could all stand up and Say No and require change for a better world of tomorrow Look at what Martin Luther King JR did. We change acheive that if we stand up and say no this is wrong.
January 29, 2010
11:23 AM
I am a Therapist Not Prostitute
A woman or man who attends school to obtain a license to offer therapeutic massage will hardly be driven underground by pimmps to proffer sexual release instead of muscle release to their 'clientele'. Seriously, get the bawdy houses shut down and quit with distributing city licenses for prostitution under the guise of "massage" in our neighbourhoods. It is offensive on so many levels, including the harm it does for the reputation of legitimate massage therapists and clinics.
January 29, 2010
11:05 AM
Thanks
I dont believe pot smoking is legal in the Netherlands, they simiply dont enforce it.
January 29, 2010
9:49 AM
Rob
I agree with Scott McKeen here, it is better for Henderson to just to leave things as they are. This debate is going to get very ugly. He might as well have just started talking about abortion clinics.What I would ask Henderson: What does it matter if these nondescript businesses are near schools or daycares? I seriously doubt we have a problem with young children and teenagers using these places. A few "massage" places get busted for human trafficking or "pimping", but that just shows that police keep an eye on this industry. The last thing I want to see are more prostitutes walking the streets because of a bunch of new feel-good, do-nothing massage parlour restriction laws.
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Excellent stuff, dont you think?
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