On September 18th, the Lebanon County Human Trafficking Task Force executed a search warrant and subsequently shutdown “New New Spa” after receiving complaints from residents. As part of the investigation, the task force arrested two women who purportedly worked and lived at the spa.
Prior to executing the search warrant, the Task Force sent an undercover agent into “New New Spa,” who was offered sexual acts in exchange for monetary payment. The woman who offered sexual acts to the undercover agent was one of the women arrested during the raid, according to law enforcement. During the raid, the Task Force discovered condoms, more than $2,000 in cash, and a handwritten log of customers served.
Previously, on July 2nd, the Task Force executed a search warrant at a different business, “Smile Spa.” Officials received reports of male customers allegedly paying for sexual acts in addition to massages and eventually confirmed the business was a front for commercial sex. During this previous search warrant, the Task Force arrested two other women who also worked and resided at the spa.
According to Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf, the women traveled from China “under the guise of a better life,” then were “deposited at various Asian spas” upon arriving. When asked about the women arrested in the raids, DA Hess Graf said, “if we take them off the street, even for a brief time, at least I know every day they’re not continuing to be trafficked, and they are not continuing to give any type of sexual favor for whatever amount of money a man or woman is willing to pay.”
Illicit massage businesses are common throughout Pennsylvania and provide a legal facade for commercial sexual exploitation. The women who are trafficked in illicit massage businesses are typically immigrants from China or South Korea. The complex vulnerabilities associated with race, ethnicity, immigration, and class often prevent victims of exploitation from immediately self-identifying as trafficking victims to law enforcement or service providers.
The CSE Institute is disappointed by DA Hess Graf’s decision to arrest women in systems of prostitution, who she admittedly recognizes are most likely victims of sex trafficking. Criminalizing survivors of sex trafficking for their own victimization is regressive, and the polar opposite of victim-centered trauma-informed prosecution. Similar to here, women who are trafficked in illicit massage businesses are promised work opportunities and a better quality of life but are then trapped in a cycle of cultural manipulation, fraud, and coercion. DA Hess Graf’s stated goal for the Lebanon County Human Trafficking Task Force is to “protect those victims who cannot help or save themselves.” However, what good can come out of arresting survivors to “protect” them from being victimized by exploiters just for them to be revictimized by the criminal justice system?
Furthermore, in stating that she and the Lebanon County Human Trafficking Task Force are “trying to save women” who “cannot help or save themselves,” DA Hess Graf perpetuates a harmful narrative that victims of sex trafficking need saving. This savior complex ideology undermines survivors’ autonomy and reinforces the disempowerment the victim has already experienced.
It is imperative that DA Hess Graf and the Lebanon County Human Trafficking Task Force understand that persons in prostitution should not be arrested during investigations to end the sex trade. Instead, the CSE Institute encourages law enforcement to arrest the traffickers and investigate the sex buyers who were soliciting sexual services from these illicit massage parlors. Arresting persons in prostitution does nothing to eradicate the sex trade. It is the traffickers and buyers who perpetuate sexual exploitation and keep the commercial sex trade alive.
The CSE Institute instead advocates for the Equality Model to combat commercial sexual exploitation. The Equality Model seeks to reduce the demand for commercial sex by criminalizing sex buyers and traffickers and decriminalizing persons in prostitution. The four pillars of the Equality Model are: (1) decriminalization of the person who is selling sex, (2) criminalization of sex buyers and facilitators, (3) educating the public about the harms of prostitution, and (4) funded, holistic exit services for victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The decriminalization of prostituted persons recognizes that those who are bought and sold for sex are exploited, not perpetrators of a crime.
Ultimately, while the CSE Institute applauds the Lebanon County Human Trafficking Task Force for launching a human trafficking investigation into these illicit massage businesses, we are disappointed in their decision to arrest the four women. Combatting commercial sexual exploitation requires holding sex buyers accountable, identifying victims, and providing them with support. We hope that law enforcement and the Lebanon County District Attorney’s office will use their power to do justice for victims, rather than perpetuate their victimization.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates on this matter.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.