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Massage New Zealand Media Release - 2017
Last Updated: 11th December 2017

“Anyone who visits a massage therapist should be aware of what is legal and ethical”, Police say after a massage practitioner was convicted for indecent assault.

Two weeks ago, Rajinder Paul Singh was convicted of 20 indecent assault charges against 14 women during massages they purchased through the voucher site GrabOne.

“Unfortunately, many, New Zealanders operate under the assumption that massage therapy is a regulated industry as any other health profession in New Zealand. When visiting most health practitioners, there’s a comfort in the knowledge that all staff have been trained and vetted in some way. With massage, this is not the case”, Madeleine Chapman – The Spinoff.

“For prosecutor Kirsten Lummis, that knowledge is disturbing. “My concerns are around the lack of regulations in the industry,” she said, “and the lack of awareness by the general public”.

Massage New Zealand (MNZ) is a self-regulating Association with a Code of Ethics, Scope of Practice and Complaints Procedure and all members are qualified with an NZQA-recognised qualification and abide by the Rules of the Association.

MNZ advises current and future massage clients to make sure there are clear consent procedures. Clients should check qualifications and understand that it is an offence for practitioners to inappropriately touch you in any way.

Please be aware of the following:

• Informed consent and clear communication between the practitioner and the customer is vital.
• Anyone who can develop a website or post on Facebook can call themselves a massage therapist, so clients should seek out massage therapists with recognised qualifications and trusted recommendations.
• Draping of customers should be strict - ensuring privacy is maintained at all times.
• It is an offence for practitioners to touch genitalia. To massage breasts, specific consent needs to be sought.

We would like to take this opportunity to urge the public to be careful when choosing a Massage Therapist. To find an MNZ registered qualified therapist in your area look for the “Find a Therapist” section on the Massage New Zealand website: www.massagnewzealand.org.nz.

Please feel free to contact Massage New Zealand on: 0800 367 669 or email: admin@massagenewzealand.org.nz or president@massagenewzealand.org.nz

View the article: How 14 women were indecently assaulted after buying massages through GrabOne