Sex trafficking in US massageparlors a $2.5b business

NEW YORK: US traffickers make $2.5 billion a year forcing women to have sex in massage parlors, according to a report on Wednesday describing victims as new immigrants with debts and no language skills. The illegal massage parlor business is the second largest US human trafficking industry after escort services, the anti-slavery group Polaris said in is study. Typical victims are recent Chinese or South Korean immigrant mothers who speak little or no English and are burdened by debt, the study found. They work in some 9,000 massage parlors found along highways and behind storefronts in strip malls across the country. New York and California are the main ports of entry for recruits who often are lured by acquaintances promising a legitimate job, it said.