Men exposing their genitals and requesting sex has become the norm for Asian massage therapists who say they are being "tarred with the same brush" as illegal sex workers.

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Thai and Chinese massage therapists report regular cases of sexual harassment despite clear signage stating that there are no sexual services.

A sign on the door at 'Yin's Chinese Traditional Massage' reads: "Keep your underwear all the time. Verbal, non-verbal and physical sexual harassment will not be tolerated".

Owner Chin Chun Li said illegal massage shops, which provide sexual services for extra money, had tainted the oriental massage sector.

"Competition is very strong so some places will do the extra service; they want to make more money, including the boss and the staff," he said.

More money for a 'happy ending'

"I can live in Sydney and do this business and make lots of money," Mr Li said.

He said illegal shops were so common in cities that many Australians now associated oriental massage with sex.

Yin's Chinese Traditional Massage owner Chin Chun Li.

He moved his business to Horsham, in regional Victoria, to escape the reputation.

"I just want to do the massage, to help the other people," he said.

"If your shoulder has problem, I can fix it; you happy, I'm happy."

But even in the regional town he has had to phone security for assistance, when men have refused to believe the sign or accept that staff would not perform sexual services.

Meanwhile right across the road, western massage provider 'Ella Bache' has no need for a sign.

Receptionist Jamila Johns said there had only been one incident, five years ago.

"[An international customer] actually stopped the therapist and said 'I'll offer you more money for a happy ending'," Ms Johns said,

"She was very upset and I think it took her about two months to go back to doing male massages.

"We haven't had anything like that since."

'No sexual service' signs ignored

'Let's Relax Thai Massage' in Brunswick, Melbourne, has No Sexual Service signs on the door, on an inside board, in the brochure, and in the massage rooms.

And yet the requests continue.

Receptionist Sandy said therapists were propositioned for sex about once a week.

"People come and maybe get the wrong information that the massage industry all do the sexual [massages] like that," she said.

"We always say that we only do the professional massage, not do any sexual job.

"All Thai massage places don't do that."

New criminal offence introduced to target sex pests

Until July 2017 Victoria Police could not charge a man who exposed his genitals to a massage therapist.

"There was no offence," Sergeant Brett Meadows said.

"The only one we used to have was a common law exposure offence, where someone had to be present and see the behaviour — so you needed three people."

That same man could now be charged with a new indictable offence, called 'sexual activity directed at another person'.

A sign at Yin's Chinese Traditional Massage shop in Horsham, western Victoria

"There's a power of arrest and anyone who is investigated or suspected of committing that crime would be arrested, taken back to the police station and processed," Sergeant Meadows said.

"The maximum penalty I think is at least five, if not 10, years."

Non-threatening verbal requests for sex might not be prosecuted, but Sergeant Meadows said victims should still report them.

"Sexual harassment and the like may not at times be criminal offences but it's unacceptable behaviour and it has to be stamped out," he said.

Illegal shops exploit 'sexual slaves'

Industry body Massage and Myotherapy Australia is working to distance oriental massage in Australia from the sexual massages offered openly in popular tourist strips overseas.

"With the increase of shops that have come in — particularly the Thai shops — there is this expectation from a group of clients that what they experience overseas they can automatically experience here in Australia," chief executive Tricia Hughes said.

"Often the Chinese and the Thai shops will wear this whether they are providing that service or not.

"That's really difficult for them, because there are some very professional and very excellent therapists operating in that space."

Ms Hughes said the women providing illegal sexual massages were often "sexual slaves" being exploited by shop owners.

She has spoken at Thai massage conferences, warning prospective therapists to be wary of job offers in Australia.

"The girls there are offered this dream — 'come to Australia, earn heaps of money' — but they then get here and get their passport held by the owner of the shop," she said.

"They just unwittingly get themselves caught up in this process."

'Racial stereotyping bigger than massage industry'

Deakin University senior research fellow Dr Jessica Walton has studied the racial stereotyping of Asian women in Australia and experienced it firsthand.

"There's a lot of implicit bias in institutions and in people's attitudes that makes this a much larger problem than the massage industry," she said.

"Women tend to be hypersexualised.

"As an Asian woman walking down the street I'm still reduced to that one stereotype of international student or sex worker. These stereotypes get kind of labelled on to you and so then you become kind of dehumanised."

On one occasion when Dr Walton was sharing a glass of wine with an older white male, one of his friends clearly implied she was a submissive sexual partner.

"I wasn't on a date with him and he wasn't taking advantage of me but that often gets read onto things," she said.

She has a list of similar stories and avoids Bangkok completely out of fear tourists will assume she is a sex worker and proposition her.

Dr Walton acknowledged the racism was unintentional but urged Australians to stop and question their visceral responses.

"People have to do their own kind of work to understand why they have this automatic response to a Thai massage therapist," she said.

"What people see first is race or their construction of race — they don't see the person behind that."