Unless I’ve misunderstood something brothels are illegal but I’ve walked past some “parlours” advertising services that heavily imply what they really are.

37 comments

  1. Do you have proof they’re doing anything illegal?

    Neither do the police. They’re not going to storm into every massage parlour unless they get a tip.

  2. Exchange of sexual acts for money is completely legal, street prostitution is not

  4. Prostitution is legal, but running a brothel is not. Some of these places are pretty on-the-nose (or elsewhere) about what “extras” they offer.

    I don’t have any proof to back this up, but I get the feeling that the police tolerate their existence so long as everything is consensual, i.e. nobody is getting trafficked over from the Far East to work in these places, which is a much more serious crime than the odd hand shandy. Arguably, it’s the sort of exploitation that the distinction between prostitution and running a brothel is meant to tackle.

    I figure it’s easier for them to keep an eye on something that’s out in the daylight than hidden in the shadows.

    Would be interested to hear more because they can be pretty blatant in Liverpool.

  6. In Edinburgh they have been effectively decriminalised. From a Daily Record article:

    >In the early 1980s, Edinburgh was awash with heroin and the spread of a new and deadly disease ensured the city would become known as the ‘Aids capital of Europe’. Street prostitution centred around the Leith area, with many women walking its streets to earn cash to feed their drug habit. City leaders were searching for a way to cope with these growing social problems and their liberal approach meant the sex industry would soon flourish. It was 1982 when Edinburgh became the first city in the UK to effectively decriminalise brothels by granting “saunas” and “massage parlours” entertainment licenses. The move meant these premises would be subject to regular fire and police checks. The number of saunas more than doubled from around 1990 to 2000, rising from 12 to 27, with as many as 15 women working at one time in some establishments. The local authority had essentially agreed to turn a blind eye to the obvious fact that sex was being sold behind closed doors.

  9. Because the ‘rooms’ in the “parlours” are leased from the parlour owner.

    It is illegal to run a brothel, but it is not illegal for people involved in the sex work industry to hire a room by which to ply their trade.

    If it was, many hotels would go out of business.

    Brothels do get shut down but it has to be proven that the owner is running a brotel as opposed to just renting out rooms.

    The police are very aware of what is going on but there is no public interest in shutting the parlour down unless there is a concern for human trafficking.

  11. I’d guess that a combination of things like child and drug trafficking being on the rise, a failure to fund the service properly and a systemic breakdown in their ability to keep up with cyber crimes of any sort means they don’t really care about some old perv getting his end away with a consenting adult.

  12. Paying for sex is not a crime, nor should it be in my humble opinion.

    The crimes are things around it such as forcing women to offer sex as a service. Actually regulating sex work would do far more to protect women than anything else. They would be empowered to report anything criminal that took place if they were sure they weren’t going to somehow get embroiled in legal trouble themselves, despite not technically doing anything illegal.

    The obvious answer to this is to regulate parlours. Enforce minimum hygiene standards and allow women to explicitly state what services they offer, how much they cost and what the limits are. You then also wouldn’t have the current problem where you’ve got to read the Google reviews before you go for a massage in case you go to the wrong place. I work away and suffer from back pain and I reckon at least 50% of reputable looking places offer extras if you read the comments.

  13. You are able to make a deal with the masseur for extra services. The owner of the “parlour” is not allowed to charge you and then pay the lady. I think.. it must be the opposing strip clubs where you pay for tokens and they give those to the girl. Or so I’ve heard😜

  14. I accidentally went to one once! I was just looking for an actual massage and when I went in there was a sign up saying not to ask for sex so I was reassured. Then when I got to the room instead of a massage table there was a bed and a bath. Beautiful lady walks in and immediately starts reeling off her price list starting with a nude bath together and going up to bringing in another “masseur” for a threesome!

  16. Sex Work isn’t illegal, outright prositution isn’t illegal.

    Running a brothel is illegal, but if you and another consenting adult happen to have sexual relations. That’s between you two, and the notes you handed over as a gift.

  17. As long as the women aren’t trafficked I don’t care. It’s safer for sex workers to be in a brothel than on the streets or as a lone worker going to peoples homes and hotel rooms. Any thing that stops these women getting assaulted while going about their job is ok with me.

  18. There’s a place near me – it’s not a massage parlour, it advertises itself as a men’s grooming salon. It’s an open secret what they’re business really is and no one cares so long as it’s discreet and no one’s being forced into working there.

  19. Weirdly I was talking with a police officer about Winston’s in Leeds, it’s a straight up brothel and everyone knows that’s what it is and it’s been there years.

    Essentially he said they unofficially look the other way as they’d prefer that sort of business to happen somewhere they know and for it to be safe.

    Edit: here’s a news article which go into a bit more detail on this brothel:

    https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/winstons-massage-parlour-near-family-22219312?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

  20. If the place is operating as a brothel then yes it would be illegal but they aren’t.

    They’re operating as a massage parlour, there may be some private arrangements about extras but that’s a legal loophole.

    Police and the Home Office turns these places on a fairly regular basis if there is even a sniff of exploration or human trafficking.

  21. These “massage parlours” are disgusting! Does anyone know where one of them is located so I can be sure to avoid it?

    Also can anyone tell me what time they’re open? Just so I don’t accidentally walk into one

  22. I come from a police family and their reality is about trying to achieve the most ‘good’ with the resources they have available. It’s not like they’re going around arresting everyone that is committing any sort of crime – they have to target their time and effort.

    They might target massage parlours if they are involved with trafficking and human slavery (which, by the way, is a good reason for never visiting them). But, if they don’t have any evidence of that then, in most cases, I doubt that raiding them would be considered a reasonable use of resources.

    I think a lot of people would be shocked by how limited a response the police actually have to deal with things any how many of these judgement calls they make. They might have one officer whose role it is to cover the non-emergency issues of 10,000 people.

  23. I went to one by accident once!

    My partner loves a massage and there’s a particular asian one in Cardiff which she and her friends have visited several times. I’ve never liked the idea of a massage, but for years she had been telling me to go.

    So one year, for my birthday, we went to Cardiff for a day out and she told me to go in, she had booked a slot for me and if I didn’t enjoy it she wouldn’t bother me about it again. She would go window shop whilst I was in there. I figured it’s booked, so why not?

    Well, I was told to strip down, so I figure just to my boxers? And lie down, the lady comes in and laughs and says I’m supposed to be naked, and that’s what the towel is for, she leaves so I can get sorted properly and comes back.

    It was an hour booking and the first half was completely normal, and much more relaxing than i was expecting. I was asked to flip over and did so awkwardly so the towel doesn’t fall off and expose me, however again the massage is completely above board. That is until she moved to my thighs and all pretence was lost, she slid her hand under the towel and just grabbed my disco stick and asked if I wanted any extras?

    I froze for a second, looking at her in shock and just yelped no. She apologised and attempted to carry on. I told her it’s fine but I’ve clearly come to the wrong place, got dressed and left in a hurry. I told my partner, and she thought it was hilarious. I guess being women, the masseuses had never tried anything with her or her friends before, but a man coming in on his own was fair game?

    Either way, it rendered the ‘relaxation’ I had felt from the massage useless.

  24. There’s a Thai massage place around the corner from me. I thought it was a brothel so have been avoiding it. Turns out it’s genuine. Their websites states ‘no extras available so please don’t ask’. Will be visiting soon.

  25. – It is extremely hard to prove anything illegal is going on.
    – From a council point of view it’s ‘tidier’ to have brothels than loads of sex workers on the streets.
    – They are then more regulated than someone using a house.
    – They have to pay business taxes.
    – If they get shut down they just move lots.

    I used to work in domestic violence and we had sex workers we’d support, some in brothels, some out, brothels tended to be much much safer, and the police tend to crack down on the ones where sex trafficking is evident.

  27. Edinburgh city council and the police got together decades ago to take prostitution off the streets to protect the women. The brothels aren’t legal but the women are reliable informants for what’s occurring on the street so the cops generally look the other way.

  28. Prostitution is legal. Brothels are not. A brothel is considered a building with 2 or more prostitutes/sex workers in it.

    So you can have the happy ending, as long as only one person in the building at a time offers it.

  30. Better a girl/man working indoors with someone to watch them than out on the streets alone

  31. Oooh I’d love to know about these places! There is one near me – it looks fairly respectable from the outside. The only thing that gives it away is the sign in the window with the opening hours… something like opens from 4pm to 2am or something equally as bizarre.

    I wouldn’t want to go to one, but I always wonder how they get away with it , how it all works, etc..

    Maybe they should do an ‘open day’ for the locals to have a nose around the place…

  32. Some of these types of calm but very dubious massage parlours are run by very savvy former escorts without criminal records who will only hire healthy adult citizens who are willing to provide their best clientele with both massages & intimate sexual services and highly skilled in both lines of work.

    The proprietors/brothel keepers often cultivate good relationships with senior police officers & many members of vice squad that involve discretely sharing/finding useful information about serious criminality in the neighbourhood.

    Sometimes also trading cash payments for a guaranteed blind eye from the boys in blue. Or freebies of a massage style nature- as long as the sex work element of the business stays very discrete and does not involve any violence, illegal narcotics or unwilling participants.

  34. So you saying that massage parlours are brothels? Someone has to explain because when I was young I thought they were a type of brothel. I then come to conclusion that they are massage parlours and my dirty little minds was running off into the dark places of society.

  37. A great deal comes down to allocation of resources. Yes, the Police know what goes on but unless they get significant numbers of complaints from local residents, they mostly tolerate it. The Police have to use their resources dealing with criminality and social disorder on a priority basis. These massage parlours are typically in areas of high crime levels.

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