What happened to Iowa City's massage parlor policy? - Iowa City Press Citizen

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Hillary Ojeda Iowa City Press-Citizen

Published 5:53 PM EST Dec 20, 2018

It's been more than three months since the Iowa City Council passed a massage business ordinance aimed at reducing human trafficking, however the Iowa City Police Department has not yet begun enforcing it.

Cities across the state have been passing policies intended to crack down on people who use illicit massage businesses in order to sell sex, which in many cases has been from victims forced into the trade. Iowa City's ordinance passed on Sept. 4.

The city of Des Moines passed an ordinance this week requiring any massage businesses to have a state massage therapy license or they'll be forced to cease operation. Coralville passed their policy just weeks before Iowa City did and put up a cease order not long after.

READ: Des Moines will begin to regulate massage therapists; parlors will need state license to operate

As for Iowa City, the "Massage Business Information Requirement" in the ordinance doesn't require massage businesses to have a license but instead calls for them to have readily available employee data and other documentation if City staff requests it. If the information isn't provided, the businesses risk receiving an order to cease operation.

After meeting with local massage therapy businesses for input on the ordinance, the City decided to pursue this strategy instead of requiring licenses as it is less onerous for the businesses.

Sgt. Jorey Bailey said the police department is still developing a strategy.

READ: Under a new ordinance targeting human trafficking, Coralville issues its first cease and desist order against one massage parlor

"In reference to the massage ordinance, we are still working on developing the advocacy handout and there has been no action taken," he said via email.

Bailey added he had no time to explain what he meant by "advocacy agency handout."

Advocates for victims of human trafficking have expressed concern about how the ordinance might be enforced, worrying that in some cases, trafficking victims could be portrayed as criminals. Lata D'Mellow, who is assistant director of an immigrant advocacy group called Monsoon Asians & Pacific Islanders, shared with Council her experiences serving human trafficking victims in the region the night the vote was taken in September.

At the meeting, D'Mello expressed concern that although the policy is being implemented with good intentions she felt that more time to work out its details would benefit victims.

When asked about updates on the policy on Thursday, she said she didn't know what happened with the ordinance since it was approved by the City Council.

Council member John Thomas, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said upon hearing from advocates such as D'Mello, he would have preferred for their input to have been considered by the police department sooner.

"I'm not sure why the police haven't continued that dialogue," he said, referring to D'Mello. "But I'm expecting them to."

The Iowa City Press-Citizen filed a records request with the Iowa City Police Department to get a better understanding of the policy's progress over the past three months.

Reach Hillary Ojeda at 319-339-7345, hojeda@press-citizen.com or follow her on Twitter at @hillarymojeda

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