News That Matters Support us. Read our related coverage:. At least eight massage parlors in Honolulu have no record of a license to practice, as is required by law, Civil Beat has found. Civil Beat looked into the licensing of massage parlors because law enforcement officials say the establishments are sometimes used as fronts for prostitution and can be linked to human trafficking. A cursory search performed over a few hours turned up eight businesses that were not listed in the Professional and Vocational Licensing registry.
The exceptions include sole proprietors, charitable organizations and unincorporated associations. But even if they qualify for an exception, every massage establishment, business or sole proprietor has to get a vocational license with the Board of Massage Therapy, a separate arm of the DCCA. In fiscal year , the detection and enforcement wing of the DCCA issued 25 citations and six judgments against businesses that operated without a license.
Once a complaint is received, an investigator gathers information on the alleged unlicensed activity. If the office can prove that the business is operating illegally, it then issues citations or judgments. If cited, businesses are supposed to close until they get a license. The state also issues fines, which vary. Hawaii Revised Statute B If the business challenges the citation, it goes to an administrative hearing, where the court can issue a judgment compelling the business to register or pay fines.
Uchida told Civil Beat if the office receives multiple reports regarding the same, or similar location, the office will periodically initiate stings, occasionally with the help of police.
Searching the Internet, Civil Beat found the eight businesses that appear to be operating without a license. We called each establishment to make sure that these were real businesses, not out-of-date listings on Google. We verified that they identified themselves by their advertised names and confirmed that they performed massage services.
