Boom times in Dublin for Chinese 'massages'

The Chinese brothels which advertise as "body massage" parlours appear to be doing a roaring trade around the city and have also moved out into several major towns around the country.

The "massage" operations continue to cause headaches for strictly legitimate Chinese masseuses and masseurs who are offering genuine traditional therapeutic treatments.

Legitimate Chinese massage people, like their Irish counterparts, generally have landline telephone numbers and their opening hours are generally from mid-morning to around 7pm or 8pm

Last summer, when the brothels were advertising in the Irish Times under its 'massage and therapy' small-ads section, the Sunday Independent detected just under 20 brothels all offering identical sexual services for the same price.

They are now advertising mainly online and have also become more circumspect with none any longer offering "hand job" when called. All answer that they are open and some quoted a price, usually from 11am to 11pm often seven days a week. When visited, the prostitutes wait to be asked for sexual services before agreeing on a price.

Since last summer the number of brothels fronting as "massage" parlours has doubled across Dublin and are located in the city centre and suburbs including Churchtown, Fairview, Dun Laoghaire, Blackrock, Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Terenure, Crumlin, Phibsboro, Baldoyle, Harold's Cross and Rathgar.

Most are situated in what were formerly small offices, mostly beside rows of shops. Staff in two shops beside the entrance to a brothel in a former office over their shops said they had complained to the gardai shortly after the brothel opened its doors in February. The brothel is believed to have opened in this premises after its former location was exposed in the media.

Gardai have prosecuted a number of people in relation to the running of the Chinese brothels which they believe are mostly centrally controlled. One source said it would be easy to close these illegal businesses down once it was established they were brothels, by closing down their mobile-phone accounts.

A recommendation to this effect was made in 2007 after prolonged investigations into the running of brothels in Dublin by a special unit. However, the recommendation to gather the mobile phone numbers and close the accounts was rejected by garda management, the reason never given.

One of the concerns about the Chinese women working as prostitutes are that some may have been trafficked into the country and are being forced to work in the sex trade. Gardai have asked a number of the women questioned about this but none indicated being made to work as a sex slave."It is very difficult to get anything out of these people. We know some have very good English. They pretend they don't understand you."

The source said that as the gardai often have to hire translators this is costly and, with the cutting of budgets, senior gardai are often reluctant to spend money on translators in cases which are likely to result in little more than suspended sentences if convictions can be won. One pointed out that in the cases of the girls being convicted it would be unlikely they would face anything other than a caution for a first offence. Brothel operators could be jailed but the only sentences passed so far by the courts are usually lenient.

Another garda pointed out that, despite the recession, business seems to be booming.

It is also expected that the growth of the Chinese sex trade here will increase over the summer when many of the East European prostitutes working here over the winter leave for the summer trade in the Costa del Sol.