Illicit massage businesses (IMBs) operate in plain sight across the United States, yet the women inside them remain largely unheard. They are rarely asked what they need, what they fear, or what they hope for. This Survivor Outreach Project is an effort to change that.

In 2025, The Network partnered with five service providers and surveyed 67 Chinese-speaking women who have worked in the illicit massage industry in the United States. Designed with guidance from Chinese-speaking survivor consultants, the project represents one of the first multi-state, survivor-informed surveys focused specifically on this population.

Rather than centering the legal elements of trafficking, this report follows the women’s lived experiences—from life before migration, to their arrival in the U.S., into the massage industry, and toward the futures they want.