Over 200 Licensed Brothels in Toronto

According to the Toronto Star:

Minutes after she arrived for a job interview at a holistic health centre last fall, Michelle found herself naked from the waist up, giving a customer a full body massage in a back storage room filled with mops, dirty laundry and cigarette butts.

"I had no idea what it was going to be like," the petite 22-year-old recalls. "I kind of had to learn on the job."

Michelle learned quickly. By the end of the day, she had earned $300 providing services routinely offered in most of Toronto's city-licensed holistic centres - "nude reverses," "body slides" and "hand releases."

Currently, over 2,600 people work in the 200+ holistic centers and, according to facilities inspector James Slocum, up to 75% are sex dens. Complaints from the public are continuously investigated and prosecuted, costing taxpayers $2.5 million yearly, even while the city issues new licenses. So far, politicians haven't done anything to close down the operations. This is possibly because being paid for sex in Toronto is legal but running a business that offers sex for money is illegal. Evidently there's much confusion about how to handle the issue.

However, one probably needs to consider that maybe the city of Toronto just wants to develop a new image. If so, a few hundred whorehouses will likely do it.

By the way, to allay any mistaken impressions, it's beyond me as to what is involved in the holistic center routine services. I've heard of a "naked bootleg" in football, but "nude reverses" has me stymied. I guess I haven't been around the block enough times.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.