SEX AND THE CITY
Exclusive: Rub and shrug as ‘massage’ industry booms
POLICE issued only 12 prostitution offences on the Gold Coast last financial year despite a boom in illegal brothels masquerading as massage parlours.
A Bulletin investigation has found 428 Gold Coast businesses with “massage” in their names, almost three times as many per person than Greater Brisbane. While industry bosses were quick to defend legitimate businesses, they said “many are clearly a front for illegal prostitution”.
Southport councillor Dawn Crichlow yesterday said she was dismayed the dodgy illegal “rub and tug” industry continued to grow among a lack of police action. Her division has 49 massage businesses, ahead of Surfers Paradise with 48.
POLICE prosecuted just 12 prostitution offences on the Gold Coast last financial year despite a boom in illegal brothels masquerading as massage parlours.
A Gold Coast Bulletin investigation has found 428 Gold Coast businesses with “massage” in their names – almost three times as many per person than Greater Brisbane.
While industry bosses were quick to defend legitimate businesses, they said “many are clearly a front for illegal prostitution”.
Southport councillor Dawn Crichlow yesterday said she was dismayed the dodgy illegal “rub and tug” industry continued to grow in a climate of lack of police action. Her division has 49 massage businesses, ahead of Surfers Paradise with 48.
Cr Crichlow said she was being swamped with complaints from neighbouring business owners and foreign students who were stuck working in the parlours.
There has even been a complaint from a Christian Brother who was offered a “happy ending” at a massage place in Southport.
Both the Prostitution Licensing Authority and brothel owners cite the growing illegal trade as a major threat to the safety of the regulated sex industry. The Gold Coast is home to four legal brothels.
Online forums such as Forum Aus 99 and Punter Planet reveal massage parlours offering sexual services.
On these sites customers give detailed reviews of the girls, their services and the “extras” on offer.
The parlours on the Gold Coast are constantly referred to as cheaper than those in Brisbane.
Parlour and masseuse advertisements on other sites show pictures of scantily clad girls, sometimes
naked, with descriptions of their breast and bottoms.
The addresses of the parlours are usually listed, along with the prices and a list of “young girls’ ” nationalities.
“They are brothels,” Cr Crichlow said. “The girls don’t have health checks and just about every one one of them has a cash machine for customers.”
Last October, Queensland Police Operation Papa Validate raided 12
Gold Coast parlours.
The last city-wide raids on the illegal sex trade was in 2014 when police raided 50 parlours.
Asked if police were doing enough, a spokeswoman for Police Minister Mark Ryan said the service was “internationally renowned as an authority with some of the world’s best officers and they have the Police Minister’s full support”.
The Prostitution Licensing Authority’s annual report names illegal brothels as the biggest concern for the legitimate sex industry.
“While there is of course the legitimate remedial and therapeutic massage clinic, many are clearly a front for illegal prostitution which must be addressed, despite the inherent difficulty in acquiring the necessary evidence to secure a conviction,” said chairman Walter Tutt.
Legal brothel Silks at Bundall madame Jenny Rogers told the Bulletin last week that between state regulations, unregulated massage parlours and dating apps such as Tinder, times were tight.
“There are at least 300 massage parlours operating on the Gold Coast as illegal brothels,” she said.
“There is no safety for either the worker or the client and they undercharge because they don’t have to meet all the regulations we do.
“Yet they continue to get away with it.”