PN MP Graziella Attard Previ said that “nothing” regulates Malta’s massage parlours, and questioned why government had decided to de-regularise these establishments in 2016, by removing the requirement for a necessary licence to operate.

The Malta Independent on Sunday spoke to the PN MP, who is the shadow minister for equality, civil liberties and children’s rights, on the matter, which she has long been addressing in several speeches, yet has seemingly fallen to deaf ears.

A parliamentary question had been made by a PN MP back in 2018, to then Economy Minister Chris Cardona, asking to be given the number of massage parlours registered around Malta and Gozo, Attard Previ said.

She added that while the minister gave a figure of close to 200 massage parlours, he also said that he could only give figures up to the year 2016, as government had lifted the requirement for a licence to run these establishments.

"This was news for everyone," Attard Previ said, adding that following 2016, these establishments stopped being regulated and licensed.

The reason behind the government's decision was never given, Attard Previ said, which raised many questions.

Speaking in Parliament in May 2022, Attard Previ had quoted an academic paper about the subject, focusing on Chinese massage parlour workers in Malta, whose authors included the director of the GU (genitourinary) clinic at Mater Dei Hospital, Valeska Padovese. “This has much more weight, and nobody can raise any doubts of any biases,” Attard Previ said.

In Parliament, she had insisted that authorities should no longer turn a blind eye to the countless “massage parlours” which were clearly acting as a front for prostitution.

"I never received a reply," Attard Previ said. She said that not only can these massage parlours become places which facilitate increased prostitution, but worse than that, they can be places from which women can be trafficked.

Attard Previ said that this is the most worrying factor, as these places serve for increased exploitation of women who are “vulnerable”.

She said she had once again mentioned the issue in November, having also questioned whether government is truly taking this seriously.

“There is the fear and concern that these establishments are being used to exploit and traffic women and the government has only allocated €50,000 towards human trafficking in the recent budget,” she said, adding that this is a “meagre amount” if government truly wants to invest in combatting human trafficking.

She said that more needs to be invested in resources to increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, to ensure enough staff to do so, to provide free legal aid and to increase awareness of trafficking survivors’ access to damages and compensation, among other measures that the government may undertake.

Attard Previ was asked if she thought the situation has worsened since she spoke in Parliament in 2022.

"The problem is that this is an underground activity. That is the fear, that there is no data," Attard Previ said. She spoke of the study and said that the GU clinic's director was the one who shed light on this reality.

"The study she did was not done specifically to catch this type of activity in this industry," Attard Previ said, explaining that the study wanted to collect data on sexually-transmitted diseases, which is at an alarming rate. The director then further explored what was happening.

During the study, Padovese discovered the reality unfolding in Malta's massage parlours. Women involved in these massage parlours are mostly foreigners, usually coming from Asian countries.

Attard Previ said that Padovese also found that in one way or another, these women were being exploited and trafficked, as through the interviews conducted, the women said that their passports were taken from them, are made to live in the same premises – either at the massage parlour itself or with the person exploiting them, and are very restricted in their movements.

"If there was ever the need to find proof on whether this reality truly exists, Padovese gave this to us. However, despite the pressure we have made for more awareness, the government has still done nothing to this day," Attard Previ said.

Attard Previ said that the government has never even referred to the issue.

She continued that there was also the American State Department which has long warned about this, in a report urging the government to re-introduce licences, increase screening for victims of human trafficking and inspections of massage parlours.

“It said that Malta is not reaching the requirements of the Human Trafficking Act,” Attard Previ said, adding that the country is not providing the necessary protection to prevent victims of human trafficking through massage parlours.

In light of more migrants arriving in Malta, the largest fear is that these vulnerable women resort to massage parlours for employment immediately after coming to the island, Attard Previ said, with migrant women also highlighted in Padovese's study as being one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

"They have no opportunities of employment, that it is very easy for them to unfortunately end up in prostitution, or used in these outlets," Attard Previ said.

She continued that the fact remains that where there is a lack of regulation, things are kept in the dark.

"Through regulation, at least, not only would we know how many massage parlours there are in Malta, but rules and specifications can also be imposed on them," Attard Previ said.

She added that these can include employing qualified persons, that the workers are registered, that the establishment has an element of hygiene – as these massage parlours are often unhygienic.

Attard Previ noted that there is nothing regulating these outlets. She added that authorities have denied that these massage parlours are doing any kind of illicit work, and yet an investigation by The Shift News showed indicators that these outlets are not operating as a licit massage parlour.

These illicit outlets usually offer cheaper prices than those found in hotels, made by appointment, and often do not show the inside of the outlet through several stickers and posters, she said.

Attard Previ said that she will be sending another set of parliamentary questions, and expects a response from government. She said that the issue may fall under several remits, that of Justice, Home Affairs with regards to human trafficking and regulation of these outlets could also fall under the Economy Ministry.

She said, however, that the initiative to discuss the issue also falls under the remit of the Ministry for Equality, which includes parliamentary secretary Rebecca Buttigieg.

This, however, is not yet on the agenda, Attard Previ said. "For me, human trafficking is the worst form of violence, as it treats the person as if they are nothing," she said.

Attard Previ said that vulnerable women end up becoming "sex slaves”.

She clarified that this does not mean that anyone working in these parlours, or in the prostitution industry, are being trafficked, but there is the real fear that abuse in any unregulated environment could be facilitated.

"With regularisation, victims will have more protection," Attard Previ said, adding that the question must be asked again, "why were they de-regularised in 2016?" and what had led the government to make this decision.

She said that when asked why licenses were no longer needed to operate such establishments, there had been a spokesperson for Minister Cardona, who said that a "specific" licence for a massage parlour does not exist, but that these fall under the category of beauty/therapy parlours and clinics.

"Why create a grey area when you have studies proving this, the US Department warning us about this, and yet, we continue to do nothing about it," Attard Previ said.

The first step must be the licensing of massage parlours, she continued. "We are not speaking about something which is not visible. In any locality around Malta and Gozo, you will surely find a massage parlour," Attard Previ said, with the type of indicators aforementioned.

She mentioned some with neon lights, and added that "there is obviously something different" compared to legitimate massage outlets.

Attard Previ also said that those establishments who are truly not doing any illicit activities, should have no problems regularising themselves and obtain a licence.

"I feel a moral obligation, that where there is suspicion, even if this suspicion is fortunately unfounded, of a single person who is being trafficked, the authorities have the moral obligation to make sure that no one is trafficked.

"These massage parlours could easily be turned into brothels, without anyone knowing," Attard Previ said, adding that in light of a lack of regulation, the police do not have the necessary tools to investigate.

She said that when it comes to prostitution, there is what is legal, and what is illegal. A lacuna is created for massage parlours which has no regulations.

"A brothel is definitely against the law. A massage parlour is not," Attard Previ said, adding that unless the police receive tip-offs, they cannot investigate.

Attard Previ said that there is a huge lack of enforcement, which is being felt across all sectors. "There is that sense of an 'anything goes' mentality. Everyone does whatever they want," she said.

She said that there is a lack of enforcement in planning, waste management and several other issues in the country, but it is "painful when you see this mentality happening in serious matters such as this".

Attard Previ said that empowered persons who have more opportunities would not gravitate towards these establishments, but the country has a moral duty to protect those vulnerable, fragile persons. Despite this, regulation has been removed, removing their protection.

"We must be proud that as a country, we do not allow the existence of a form of illicit industry which can be attracting those who abuse another person," Attard Previ said.