As a business owner who rents out office space, you are part of the solution too. How you can insure you rent your commercial space to legitimate, professional self-care businesses, and continue to provide the public with the service businesses they want safely and within the laws. Sexually Oriented Businesses are often disguised as Asian Massage, Foot Massage, Thai Massage and Spas so it is important that you learn some of the warning signs and also learn to build relationships with your local law enforcement agencies to ensure that you are renting to law abiding, licensed massage therapists. Many states have laws that require licensed massage therapists to have their license number on advertising and they may be required to hang their massage license on the wall of the office. States also have a massage license verification system on the state board of massage websites. You can find a list of the states below to find your state requirements.
Asian Massage is probably the most obvious disguise that is used by these businesses. There are very legitimate forms of Asian Massage and the massage therapists that are trained in types of massage from Asia use their exact names like (taken from the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia®):
- Acupressure
- Jin Shin Do®Bodymind Acupressure®
- Amma
- Amma Therapy®
- Chi Nei Tsang
- Jin Shou Tuina™
- Nuad Bo ‘Rarn (Traditional Thai)
- Tuina
- Medical Qigong
- Five Element Shiatsu
- Integrative Eclectic Shiatsu
- Japanese Shiatsu
- Macrobiotic Shiatsu
- Shiatsu Anma Therapy
- Zen Shiatsu
- Shiatsu
SOB’s will also have some of these signs:
- Open 24/7 or open very early and very late
- Cash only
- Neon signs
- Windows/doors covered so you can’t see into the business from the sidewalk or street
- Websites without massage licenses and with scantily clad females
