A shared link to a story at WMUR (ABC News 9) announced that the Attorney General’s office had shut down 40% of the illicit massage parlors in the state. It’s a very specific claim, so the first thing I thought was, why not the other 60%?
If you know they are illicit spas engaged in human sex trafficking, and you know how many, so that you could “shut down 40%” of them, why are the other 60% still open, especially since, well, this?
“This marks a significant step forward in New Hampshire’s fight against human trafficking, but our work is far from finished,” Chant said, in a statement. “Trafficking continues to impact individuals in all 10 counties across the state, and we have a collective responsibility to do more—to protect survivors, hold perpetrators accountable, and prevent future harm.”
The reporting cites sources and investigations that uncovered sex for money, a prostitution kingpin from New York arrested by the feds last November, and connections to spas in the Granite State, 60% of which (being illicit) are assumed to still be in operation.
Things that make you go hmmm?
There may be reasons, such as the courts not signing off on those, a lack of proof absent anecdotal evidence, but their claim that they are illicit is then technically not valid, and we don’t know how many are illicit, or we do, and those are still operating.
Have you considered an emergency order? The last governor was fast and loose with those.
And to be clear, I’m sure they are up to something. Asian spas are notorious for trafficking young women tricked into coming to America, who then have their passports confiscated and are told they or their families might be harmed if they do or say anything but what they are told.
When Rhode Island legalized indoor prostitution for nearly three decades, untold numbers of women were sex trafficked “legally,” because the cops couldn’t go in or do anything to stop it. That isn’t the case here, so what’s so awesome about leaving 60% of “the”known illicit” massage parlors open, and why isn’t that the headline?
Inquiring minds want to know.
