Advocates for Asian massage workers in Washington are accusing police of excessive force and discrimination after five parlors were raided last week.

The Bothell police and fire department launched the raids over possible code violations and connections to human trafficking.

During the raid, said J.H. Chen, an organizer for the Massage Parlor Organizing Project, or M-Pop, police broke down doors, ripped security cameras from walls and destroyed furniture. She said Asian massage workers are often unfairly stigmatized and criminalized.

"They are blanketly consigned to being trafficking victims," she said, "and the only police response to that is greater criminalization and arrests, and things that push workers into further precarity and economic instability."

Chen said it is unclear how many workers were arrested or what they were charged with. The parlors have since been issued notices from the fire marshal to close, citing fire code violations.

Mike Johnson, Bothell Police captain of Investigations, said officers found evidence of “a lot of sexual activity” occurring in “multiple” parlors.

Chen said the city has historically targeted Asian massage parlors in preparation for big sporting events under the guise of "beautifying" the city. She said since Seattle is hosting the World Cup this summer just blocks away from Chinatown, the community has seen more police presence. Chen called on the police and city leaders to work with massage parlors instead of targeting them.

"The massage board, licensing entities, police, they have never actually held genuine, good faith conversations with these workers," she said.

Chen said the Safety Not Stigma campaign is calling for safe working conditions, equitable access to massage licensure, and protection from raids.

Source: Public News Service