1. Sexual harassment of massage therapists by their clients
- Author
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Lucia F. O'Sullivan, Morgan E. Richard, and Tom Peppard
- Subjects
050103 clinical psychology ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Sexualization ,Massage ,Psychotherapist ,050903 gender studies ,05 social sciences ,Harassment ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Psychology (miscellaneous) ,0509 other social sciences ,Psychology ,Sex work - Abstract
Historical associations between massage therapy and sex work result in the presence of harmful stereotypes that reinforce the sexualization of massage therapy. In addition, the private setting and partial or full nudity involved in massage therapy could be perceived as sexually inviting. However, almost nothing is known about sexual harassment of massage therapists by clients. The current exploratory study investigated massage therapists’ reports of sexual harassment by clients. One hundred forty-three massage therapists completed a survey addressing the context and consequences of harassment experiences. The survey revealed that 74.8% of massage therapists surveyed experienced sexual harassment by clients, with 26.5% experiencing an incident on more than three occasions. Verbal forms of harassment were more common than were physical forms (55.0% and 6.0%), although 34.0% reported experiencing both verbal and physical forms. Incidents typically (87.9%) occurred during the treatment itself. Most therapists (79.4%) told someone about the incident. Only one therapist reported an incident to the police. A call for further research in this area as well as implications for increasing massage therapists’ safety is discussed.
- Published
- 2020
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