SUN PRAIRIE RISING

Contribution from Sun Prairie City News, Oct 2025 – Jan 2026

By Steve Hammond, LMT

In the past 5200 years massage therapy has evolved a lot. Today massage therapy is recognized as an important part of our health care system.

Unfortunately, there is a dark side known as the illicit massage business which is found in every state and many cities, including Sun Prairie. I hope to bring awareness to both sides of the massage industry. To understand the massage industry, I will begin by showing how to become a licensed massage therapist (LMT), how the industry has progressed and then the growing dark side.

Currently 46 states have a state massage license. Requirements vary by state. In Wisconsin, we must complete a minimum of 600-hour massage therapy education, pass the national Massage and Bodywork License Examination (MBLX), have liability insurance, be CPR certified, complete the application (with fees) and pass a background check.

A massage therapy program includes basic massage modalities, general knowledge of the body focusing on the muscular skeleton system, injuries, disease and medications. I was lucky when I went to school, I only had to memorize about 150 of the over 600 muscles.

A license renewal is required every two years. Renewal includes 24 hours of continuing education, maintaining our insurance, CPR and submitting a signed statement confirming we have met all the requirements and not been arrested or convicted of any crime other than traffic offenses.

Massage therapy is known as one of the oldest health treatments. Dating back to 2700 BCE in China using Reiki. Tomb paintings were found in Egypt around 2500 BCE depicting the use of massage therapy and reflexology.

In the US, records date back to the 1700s calling those doing massage Medical Rubbers. Over the years, the title changed a few times until the 1960s when massage parlors became a place for prostitution, along with the name masseuse being associated with prostitution. During that time, ‘Massage Therapist’ became the title for individuals performing massage therapy.

Modalities also transitioned over the years. Today there are thousands of modalities with each country having their own approach. Most common modalities are the Swedish and the deep tissue massages. Other modalities include hot stone, cupping, reflexology, reiki, lymphatic drainage and myofascial release. Which modality is right for you? Sometimes that’s the hardest to determine. It’s important to speak with a professional about your goals. Massage therapists are not trained in all modalities, and a professional can recommend a therapist best fit for you.

Massage Therapists have experienced the biggest growth since 1990 with increasing requirements, and state licensing for better and consistent regulations. Even as massage therapy is recognized as health care, there’s still a growing dark side.

As the massage industry gets accepted as professional health care, the dark side of massage also increased. In the 1960s the massage parlor became the recognized term for a place of prostitution, with masseuse being the prostitute working there. Now these businesses are referred to as illicit massage businesses.

Illicit massage business refers to a business that employs people without a massage license, involved in prostitution and even involved in human/sex trafficking. The women working in illicit massage businesses are primarily from China, with promises of a good job. Upon arrival, traffickers take their Visas, and they’re told to work doing massages and later coerced to perform sexual acts. The women live in horrific conditions in backrooms or basements of the parlor, as the traffickers take most of their earnings to pay for their travel and
other expenses.

In 2018 an estimated 9,000 illicit massage businesses were in the US, in 2025 that increased to 16,800 (exceeding the number of McDonalds restaurants). An estimate of 158 are in Wisconsin. I believe this is a low number since Wisconsin ranks 6th in human trafficking stats. If you are wondering, yes there are multiple illicit massage businesses in Sun Prairie. Surprisingly, they’re hidden in plain sight often in strip malls or other low rent spaces, but if you look closely, you will notice the differences between them and the legit clinics.

Illicit massage businesses are a very complex issue to get rid of. Between 2021-23 over 19,000 trafficking reports were made in the US, with only 1,344 arrests (7%). The easiest to prosecute are the women that work in the parlors, but they’re victims of trafficking. To stop the problem, those at the top must be caught, but are difficult to find.

The women usually won’t speak with fear of retaliation against them and their families. Traffickers will move the women around from city to city and state to state. This makes it difficult for law enforcement and other agencies to build a relationship with the women to help them and arrest the traffickers.

Most states, including Wisconsin, have little or no regulation on massage businesses, only on massage therapists. This makes closing the business more difficult because authorities can’t just take the license and close it, it is a civil matter.

In Wisconsin, there is even a state statute that prohibits local municipality from regulating massage. This statute was added to provide even regulation throughout the state, which makes sense. But this also makes it difficult for local authorities to do anything about the illicit massage business problem.

Additionally, human trafficking is not within a local police department authority. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are the primary agencies who investigate this.

These are just a few reasons many prosecutors won’t spend the months or years it could take to locate and bring traffickers to justice.

Businesses are required to display the massage license of each practitioner so clients can see them. If you know of any business that might employ someone without a massage license, please report them to Department of Safety and Professional Services, Secretary Dan Hereth 608-266-2112.

Disclaimer: This article was contributed by a third-party guest author. The views, opinions, and statistical data expressed within this piece are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Sun Prairie Rising. Sun Prairie Rising has not independently verified the accuracy of the data presented and does not endorse or assume liability for any business, product, or service mentioned herein.