The Atlanta spa shootings revealed the most dangerous threat massage-parlor workers face each day on the job

• Shootings at three Atlanta-area spas Tuesday left eight people dead, including six Asian women.
• Experts told Insider the incident was emblematic of violence massage parlor workers face every day.
• Many workers are in vulnerable, exploitative situations that are extremely difficult to get out of.

On Tuesday night, a 21-year-old man visited three Atlanta-area massage parlors and killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.

Though the suspect told police he was not motivated by race, experts have said there is "no doubt" race played a role. Hate crimes against people of Asian descent have also skyrocketed over the past year, partly motivated by the coronavirus pandemic.

But people working in massage parlors have been experiencing danger in their profession long before the recent uptick in hate incidents. Experts told Insider the spa shootings were the realization of many massage parlor workers' worst fears, on top of the many other dangers they face.

"What happened on March 16 is just emblematic of what my clients fear every single day that they go to work," Sabrina Talukder, an immigration attorney at the Exploitation Intervention Project in New York City, told Insider. "They go into work every day with the idea and the potential that violence can absolutely happen."

Talukder noted not all massage parlor workers are exploited or are victims of sex or labor-trafficking, but said there are many who are. She said half of her caseload includes massage parlor workers from China and Korea who have experienced exploitation of some kind.

At minimum, she said, several of her clients are exploited financially, adding that workers are generally overworked, underpaid, and subjected to intense surveillance. She said many would qualify for wage and hour claims under state and federal labor laws.

Sometimes pay schemes include dubious tactics designed to financially tie workers to the parlor, according to Amy Hsieh, an attorney and the deputy director of the Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Sanctuary for Families in New York City. For instance, she said some parlors will charge women "training fees" when they first start, requiring them to work without wages and indebting them to the owners.

Sexual and physical violence are other dangers massage parlor workers deal with, including physical force or sexual assault and rape by clients. And it occurs at businesses that offer illicit sex services and businesses that don't.

Hsieh emphasized that not all massage businesses that primarily employ Asian women offer sex services, and the fact that some people assume they do is another issue that delegitimizes Asian-owned massage businesses.

"That's also very dangerous for people who are working at legitimate businesses, because oftentimes our clients have encountered customers who feel entitled to forced sexual services because they think they paid for that," she said.

Workers at massage parlors experience violence at the hands of customers and bosses, as well as police and undercover officers. Talukder said her clients are extremely fearful of police, and that some have shared experiences of sexual misconduct by law enforcement.

Distrust of law enforcement, which is also driven by police raids at parlors, is just one reason people in these situations do not seek out help or report assaults. For those in sex or labor-trafficking situations, Hsieh said fraud, force, and coercion are the three main factors.

Fraud, she said, occurs when a person applies to a job thinking it's a legitimate business, only to later be forced into providing sexual services. She said many of her clients experienced this and were scandalized during their first experience. Still, they don't feel like they can get out.

"Traffickers are using all the right levers to exploit the vulnerabilities," Hsieh said.

Those vulnerabilities vary. Some workers are undocumented and fear deportation. Some are indebted or economically dependent on the business. Some are sex workers or trafficking victims who fear prosecution for prostitution. Some are being threatened with harm to them or their family. The list goes on.

Whatever the reason, it's extremely rare for an exploited worker in a massage parlor to self-identify as someone who has been exploited and seek help. Talukder said it "almost never happens."

"So much language and cultural barriers, so much shame and stigma associated with this work," she said. "There's so many barriers."

Talukder and Hsieh said they get connected with most of their clients in these situations only when the person has already been arrested, an experience that can be traumatizing even if it doesn't result in a conviction.

"No one should have to be arrested in order to seek these services," Talukder said.

There are many things that can change to help people in vulnerable situations seek help. For instance, both the Exploitation Intervention Project and the Anti-Trafficking Initiative support decriminalizing people in prostitution. Though Hsieh said there should still be consequences for traffickers or similar perpetrators.

"If sex work is decriminalized, it provides so many extensive labor protections" to vulnerable people in the massage parlor industry, Talukder said, adding it also would encourage people to report exploitation, assault, hate crimes, and police misconduct, "making the entire community safer."

Have you worked in a massage parlor and experienced some of the things outlined in this story? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com if you would like to share.