Human trafficking is a bad thing. Agreed? Okay. Now try putting specific public policies in place to address that fact. It can be achingly difficult work. That’s why I’m cheering for a bill that is quietly making its way to New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte’s desk. It’s been a long time coming.
“Relative to licensing requirements for massage therapy establishments” is a yawner of a title for the bill numbered HB 1469. There’s a lively intention behind it. It’s aimed at phony “massage parlors” that are fronts for sex trafficking. House and Senate conferees recently agreed on language for the bill, and so its path is cleared for consideration by the governor.
The New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police came out in favor of this bill, recognizing how hard it can be to shut such establishments down. This bill takes an administrative approach by requiring state-supervised licensure of massage establishments, with standards for licensing. Owners failing to get a license could be charged with a misdemeanor.
One law addressing one aspect of one type of human trafficking seems like a small step. But it is a step.
Read the rest of this post at Braided Trails.
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Ellen Kolb 