{"id":81455,"date":"2025-11-10T10:43:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/?p=81455"},"modified":"2025-11-10T10:43:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:43:54","slug":"3-out-of-4-massage-therapists-have-been-victims-of-sexual-assault-or-harassment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/3-out-of-4-massage-therapists-have-been-victims-of-sexual-assault-or-harassment\/","title":{"rendered":"3 out of 4 massage therapists have been victims of sexual assault or harassment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The F\u00e9d\u00e9ration qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise des massoth\u00e9rapeutes agr\u00e9\u00e9s (FQM) has published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Etude-N-B_2025_A%C6%92_Web.pdf\">a damning report<\/a>. The results of a survey conducted by two researchers show that 73.4% of massage therapists have been sexually harassed and 19.2% report having been sexually assaulted in the course of their work. In addition, 67.4% say they have received a sexually suggestive phone call.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sexual assault and harassment are illegal forms of sexual violence. These findings show that massage therapists experience sexual violence at much higher rates than the general population in their workplace.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is essential to develop prevention, education, and training measures to protect all massage therapists in Quebec from acts of sexual violence committed by their clients. Our federation has created a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/depliant.harcelement.pdf\">brochure (in French)<\/a> to support its members, part of which is addressed to employers (health clinics, spas, etc.). In addition, a webinar on respecting professional boundaries will be held soon.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Our federation reiterates that its members are trained to high professional and ethical standards, so that they are recognized for what they truly are: healthcare workers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The distinction between professional care provided by certified massage therapists and forms of erotic massage performed by sex workers deserves further clarification.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We would also like to thank all members who participated in the study. We understand that this is a sensitive topic that may bring up difficult memories, and we extend our support to those affected.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here are some resources that may be useful\u00a0:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sexualviolencehelpline.ca\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/sexualviolencehelpline.ca\/\">Sexual Violence Helpline<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/educaloi.qc.ca\/en\/web-guide\/sexual-assault\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/educaloi.qc.ca\/en\/web-guide\/sexual-assault\/\">\u00c9ducaloi<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cavac.qc.ca\/en\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/cavac.qc.ca\/en\/\">CAVAC<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspq.qc.ca\/en\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.inspq.qc.ca\/en\">INSPQ<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca\/en\/prevention-and-safety\/healthy-workplace\/harassment-workplace\/rights-obligations-respect-harassment\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca\/en\/prevention-and-safety\/healthy-workplace\/harassment-workplace\/rights-obligations-respect-harassment\">CNESST<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The F\u00e9d\u00e9ration qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise des massoth\u00e9rapeutes agr\u00e9\u00e9s (FQM) has published a damning report. The results of a survey conducted by two researchers show that 73.4% of massage therapists have been sexually harassed and 19.2% report having been sexually assaulted in the course of their work. In addition, 67.4% say they have received a sexually suggestive phone [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":81459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81455"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81462,"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81455\/revisions\/81462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fqm.qc.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}