Keep Your Massage Spa or Practice and Clients Safe with an Educational Bill of Rights

Keep Your Massage Spa or Practice and Clients Safe with an Educational Bill of Rights

Day spas, franchises, and massage clinics should educate their clients about what to expect as well as their rights. Creating a client educational brochure or section of a website to inform clients of their rights regarding safety is an important part of sexual assault prevention.

Client Bill of Rights*

You have the right to:

1. Undress to your level of comfort, whether you would like to leave your undergarments on or remove all or some of your clothing. The therapist must leave the room for you to undress.
2. Tell the therapist to adjust the amount of pressure applied.
3. Ask the therapist to adjust the temperature of the room, lighting level, and volume of music (where possible).
4. Stop treatment at any time and not be pressured to continue.
5. Expect a professional relationship with your therapist. It is also your right to report to management if you feel your therapist has crossed any boundaries, such as asking to see you outside of this working relationship, complimenting or criticizing your body, having a conversation that is sexual in nature, asking questions that are too personal, or having an opinion about your lifestyle or relationships.
6. Expect to be treated without discrimination.
7. Expect confidentiality within the constraints of the law.
8. Receive safe treatment, free from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.
9. Expect that the clinic and your practitioner maintain industry hygienic standards.
10. Know your genitals and female breasts will remain covered at all times during your session.
11. Receive treatment only on agreed-upon areas.
12. Never receive treatment on the genitals.
13. Never receive treatment on the female breasts unless legal, with a specialty-trained therapist, for a good reason and with written informed consent.
14. Question any action that you perceive as inappropriate, invasive, or sexual.
15. Terminate treatment at any time if you feel unsafe or threatened.
16. Consult with other professionals to discuss any uncomfortable experiences.
17. Report unethical or illegal behavior.
18. Expect a swift response from the clinic/spa to your report of inappropriate behavior.
19. Know you will have assistance in contacting the appropriate authorities, or if you are not comfortable doing so, authorities will be contacted on your behalf.
20. Know that during an investigation of inappropriate behavior, the practitioner in question will be suspended.

 

Having an educational brochure, for clients to know what to expect in their massage and what crosses a line, is an indispensable tool for client safety. Some spas and clinics hand out a paper brochure, while others put it on their website or in their email appointment reminders. The most effective strategy would be to have the brochure available in as many ways as possible. If the therapist knows that the client knows what to expect, that knowledge acts as another deterrent against inappropriate conduct.

 

*Adapted from documents produced by the Massage Industry Counsel on Ethics

 

If you’re a lawyer who is currently involved in a sexual assault case and needs an expert witness with a massage or spa background, schedule a conversation with Dr. Benjamin here.

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Ben E. Benjamin holds a Ph.D. in Sports Medicine and has been an expert witness in cases of sexual assault in a massage/spa setting since 2004, advising lawyers, testifying in depositions and trials, and writing reports. His expertise extends beyond massage therapy and ethical behavior. He also advises spas, both large and small, on the creation of comprehensive sexual assault prevention strategies that ensure safe and ethical practices in the industry.