Carnation is part of a boom across Portland of massage parlors that appear on websites where men review their sex purchases. In , according to data from a nonprofit that combats human trafficking, Portland had 36 of what it calls illicit massage parlors. Five years later, the watchdog says, that number has tripled to at least Those parlors, the nonprofit and state regulators claim, are criminal operations that use undocumented sex-trafficked women, often from China.
Unlike strip joints, which can be magnets for rowdy behavior, drunkenness and shootings, illicit massage parlors are discreet and unobtrusive, except for their LED lights.
But experts say that behind the quiet exteriors are victimized women who often have no choice in their occupation or, isolated by language and cultural barriers, the means to escape it. Muller-Tabanera says illicit massage businesses in Oregon have spiked at twice the national rate. Some metro-area cities are taking action, with high-profile busts this year in Lake Oswego and Newberg.
But Portland police have not conducted such busts. And unlike other cities, Portland is not pursuing business license fixes that could deter illicit massage parlors. Jeff Van Laanen, the compliance and licensing manager of the Oregon State Board of Massage Therapists, says his agency gets several complaints every week about illicit parlors in Portland, most of which are unlicensed. The board lacks law enforcement authority, so all it can do is conduct investigations and send findings to the Portland Police Bureau.
Van Laanen says his agency rarely gets a response. Oregon has long taken a permissive attitude toward sex work. Strip clubs are ubiquitous, and there have been movements toward legalizing prostitution. Carnation Spa is located 13 blocks from the optometry practice of state Rep. Thuy Tran D-Portland. It troubles her. Typically when the women come to the U.
