New regulations for massage clinics that legislators hope will crack down on human trafficking and prostitution are slated to take effect on July 1.
The new measure (HB 197) — which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed this week — requires the state to suspend the licenses of massage therapists and massage establishments if any employee of a massage therapist or establishment is arrested for any of spate of offenses, including having sex with minors, prostitution, kidnapping or false imprisonment.
There are approximately 36,178 massage therapists licensed to practice in Florida, and there are about 8,966 licensed massage establishments in Florida. That's according to Department of Health (DOH) Division of Medical Quality Assurance data for Fiscal Year 2022-23.
State regulators conducted 9,513 massage establishment inspections in that year and filed 229 administrative complaints against massage therapists and massage establishments. Of those, 30% related to sexual conduct.
In the same year, DOH issued 20 emergency orders against massage establishments, and 23 emergency orders against individual massage therapists.
According to state regulators, those orders don't all stick, in part, because there is inconsistency in the treatment of massage therapists and the establishment where they work. While DOH is required to issue emergency orders suspending the licenses of any health care practitioner, including massage therapists, who have been arrested for committing or attempting certain crimes, it is not mandated in law to do the same for licensed massage establishments.
The mandated emergency suspension for establishments doesn't occur until there is a condition or a licensee has pled guilty or no contest.
The inconsistency has hampered the state's ability to further crack down on illicit massage businesses (IMBs), a primary venue for sex trafficking.
There were 51,073 substantive signals to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2021, 6% of which, or 2,894, came from Florida. That put the state behind California (10%) and Texas (7%) for the most number of signals.
More than half of the 2,894 signals came from victims or survivors. Of those signals, 781 cases involving 1,253 victims were identified.
Cases are defined as "distinct situations of trafficking reported to the hotline. A case can involve one or more potential victims of trafficking and can be reported through one or more signals. The use of the word case is not an indication of law enforcement involvement in the situation," according to the hotline.
When appropriate demographic data on victims and survivors is collected. That data show that most human trafficking in Florida in 2021 involved female adults.
The Legislature already has passed a number of provisions aimed at cracking down on IMBs, some of which have licenses to operate and purport to operate legally but provide the venue for the sale of sexual services. For instance, massage establishments cannot operate between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. and they are required to include their license number of the therapist or the establishment.
Health regulators and members of law enforcement are also authorized to require massage center employees to produce government identification.
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