Senator: Block sex trafficking loophole
State Sen. Mark Montigny, a top anti-sex trafficking crusader on Beacon Hill for more than a decade, is urging House members to finally back his bill that helps target sex trafficking of women and girls.
The bill, unanimously backed by the Senate last week and before the House this week, closes the socalled “bodyworks loophole” that prosecutors say is used to hide human trafficking.
Montigny’s bill would subject “bodyworkers,” bodywork therapy and bodywork facilities to the state’s licensing structure overseen by the Division of Professional Licensure.
Under the current law, the practice of bodyworks therapy is not licensed, unlike massage therapy.
“People have asked me ‘Do we really have modern-day slavery?’ We do and it’s happening on the local level,” said Montigny. “If this was a bunch of 14-year-old cheerleaders from the suburbs, this
would have been solved.
“We need to close this loophole to help protect vulnerable women and girls,” the New Bedford Democrat told the Herald yesterday. “We don’t have the Combat Zone anymore, but lots of bodyworks centers.”
He’s calling on House members to give this law a chance as the opioid crisis has seen more women
used for sex as they fight their addiction.
Attorney General Maura Healey, Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration and police chiefs are all backing the bill.
If approved, the Board of Registration of Massage Therapy would include two bodywork practitioners and a law enforcement representative specialized in human trafficking. Public
hearings would also be part of it.
Bodywork therapy would also include a license and application process, advertising standards and allow officials and police to “inspect and investigate complaints,” the AG’s office said.
“This time, we have a fighting chance to get this passed,” Montigny said. “People need to wake up. It’s disgusting. We know what women and children need to survive. With trafficking, you die all over again every time. They’re being raped.”
The state’s anti-sex trafficking law, a long-fought victory for Montigny, isn’t perfect, the state senator said. Now he’s after his colleagues in the other chamber to help him out.
“This legislation will allow law enforcement to better hold accountable those who make a profit off the sexual exploitation of others,” said Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes, president of the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs Association. “The Massachusetts Major City Chiefs are happy to partner with these stakeholders on this important bill.”