How to Protect Massage Workers Analysis Essay

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Title: How to Protect Massage Workers
Author: Melissa Gira Grant
Publication: The New Republic
Date: March 24, 2021
Melisa Grant claims that the March 16 shooting of six Asian women and other two people working in massage parlors in Atlanta were framed as part of an anti-Asian violence wave during the COVID-19 pandemic. These women are vulnerable to attack due to their gender, race and immigration status, and the type of work they do. Some believe the attack was an act racism and violence against women, especially Asian migrants. For a long time, law enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations have been targeting Asian massage parlors due to the view that these parlors operate illegally and are hotbeds of human trafficking. This view has pushed law organizations to call for high surveillance and policing of massage parlors, resulting in constant raids across the country.
Victims of these raids, mostly massage workers, have been terrorized and criminalized. Many Asian masseurs in the United States are neither sex workers nor victims of sex trafficking as perceived by law enforcement agencies and anti-sex organizations. To ensure the safety of these workers, Grant suggests that it is imperative to investigate the work of immigrant, sex worker and sex worker right organizations that focus on the protection of massage workers. Investigating the work of immigrants helps in ensuring that they abide by the law. This measure will also assure law enforcement that massage workers are documented immigrants who do legal business.
Grant also proposes the need to change the perception of Asian-massage parlor and sex workers. These workers are powerful. They support themselves and their families despite the language barriers and other setbacks. Any sane person would agree that their work is empowering and allows them to connect and help people. Asian masseurs often serve the most marginalized people who cannot afford physical therapy. For that reason, they deserve equal rights, protections and dignity. Instead of taking away their jobs, it is useful to find a way of supporting them.
Another effective way...