Masseuse takes drastic step to deal with gross act from one particular group of customers
An Aussie massage studio has outright banned male clients after repeatedly getting inappropriate calls and comments about whether it would offer sexual services.
Eternal Energy Healing and Wellness owner, Kessley Ham, 39, announced on Wednesday the South Perth business would only cater to women going forward.
She said some of her workers, in their 20s, had been made to feel uncomfortable while working alone at night in the Charles Street studio, and it had got to the point where her staff were complaining of feeling 'sick'.
Ms Ham told Daily Mail Australia staff had grappled with the issue alone until she opened up about men calling to make lewd comments and inappropriate requests. This led to uncomfortable discussion between all of her staff and the new rule.
'I've been receiving some pretty frequent calls and (men) just message you and ask for a sensual massage or, like not a lot of them say it directly, and they often come with a bunch of other questions first and then at the end say something inappropriate,' she said.
'And you're just like, 'oh God, I just wasted like how long talking to this person when they were just after a rub and tug'.
'From my website and Instagram, it's pretty clear that is not the type of business that I have. Those types of businesses are really easy to find, I don't understand why you would be contacting me instead.'
Ms Ham said she confided in another staff member earlier in the week after becoming fed-up with the calls and beginning to blame herself for 'sounding too nice'.
Her staff then informed her they had been made to feel uncomfortable in the studio during late-night sessions while the other businesses in her building were closed.
'There was apparently someone who groaned for the entire massage and like writhed around on the table, you know orgasm style,' Ms Ham said.
'(He) kept making weird comments about his underwear being uncomfortable and being twisted and was just saying it over and over again.
'(He) then wanted to speak to his massage therapist about his sex life – and this was at night time when all the other businesses in our building are closed and there's no one else there.'
She said the therapists on Tuesday reported other unprofessional interactions which had taken place during massages and decided it had gone 'too far'.
'You can enjoy a massage without making it sexual and it's just it's not the kind of thing that I want myself to have to deal with,' she said.
'It was literally the next day that I was like that's it.'
She said the comments were 'relentless', and the allusions were the kind that just makes you 'tense up'.
The studio received multiple daily inquiries for 'sensual massages', Ms Ham said (pictured, the business's announcement on Wednesday)
Eternal Energy Healing and Wellness opened about a year ago.
It deals in specialised massage techniques.
The treatments include ASMR-style sessions and massages drawing on Ms Ham's Ayurvedic background.
Ms Ham said she would still honour current bookings for male clients.
Gift cards that had already been purchased would also still be honoured.
Ms Ham announced the ban in a statement posted to social media.
'Due to the relentless inappropriate requests I receive online and some incidents in the studio that have made my staff feel uncomfortable and unsafe I have made the decision to make Eternal Energy a Women's only establishment,' it read.
'We are still welcoming of trans women and non-binary individuals.'
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