2024 Session: Florida sex trafficking bill targets massage parlors. Are nail salons next?

Florida aims to crack down on massage parlors as a way to stop sex work and combat human trafficking.

And nail salons might be next, according to one legislator.

A bill titled "Health Care Practitioners and Massage Therapy" (HB 197) would strengthen massage parlor requirements, including how dark they are allowed to tint their windows, and increase penalties for licensed massage therapists who are found to have participated in sexual misconduct. It unanimously cleared the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee Thursday afternoon.

Florida ranked third in the United States in human trafficking cases reported in 2021, behind California and Texas, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.