‘I’ve banned most men from my massage clinic because of their behaviour’

June 21, 2026 3oliver

‘I’ve banned most men from my massage clinic because of their behaviour’

Emma Clifford Bell

Sat, June 20, 2026 at 10:46 PM UTC

5 min read

Close-up portrait of Maria with long light-brown hair wearing a dark blue shirt and colourful dangling earrings, seated indoors with a softly blurred background including a patterned bench and framed wall art. — Maria is refusing to take on any new male clients after inappropriate behaviour left her feeling scared and uncomfortable [BBC]

After just three months of working as a qualified massage therapist, Maria decided to be more selective about who she treats.

The 38-year-old refuses to take on any new male clients after inappropriate behaviour from some left her feeling scared and uncomfortable.

BBC Scotland News has spoken to a number of other female therapists who say they are faced with constant requests for ‘extras’, sleazy banter and pushback on boundaries they have set.

Industry leaders say sexualised behaviour is a common problem and more needs to be done to keep everyone safe.

Maria, who now owns Gentle Hands Massage Therapy in East Ayrshire, told the BBC she leaves the room while clients get prepared.

They remove their tops but keep their underwear on and lie on the massage table covered by a blanket.

She says one client, who she has since refused to see, was continually asking to be uncovered.

“I would walk in and he was laying facing down on the table with spread legs and very loose underwear,” she says.

“We talked about it at every session, and he said, ‘I understand but I don’t like it’.”

A man lying on a massage table face down. A female masseur has hands on his back — The massage therapy industry does not have a single regulatory body [Getty Images]

On a separate occasion, the man tried to show her his groin before she turned away and reminded him that she wasn’t trained to treat that area.

There were also constant compliments that she was helping to “keep him alive”.

“When it’s separated, you don’t see the pattern,” she says. “When I look back now, I see how he was trying to gain my trust and lower my guard.”

When another client also argued he didn’t want to be covered, she decided she’d had enough and launched her own female-focused business.

“It was like a cumulative experience with men,” she says.

“Half an hour before a massage, I was really stressed every time. I would just go over the scenarios about what could happen and how I should act.

“When I treat women, it’s different. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel scared,” she says.

She still has two long-term male clients but won’t accept anyone new.

Building the business is slower but Maria says she feels happier and really loves her job.

Close-up studio-style portrait of Dani wth shoulder-length blonde hair wearing a black top with the word “Drift” in pink, seated in front of a pink wall with soft lighting. — Dani says safety is her number one priority, especially when working late at night on her own [BBC]

Dani retrained as a massage therapist six years ago, after being made redundant from a job selling bins and skips.

After working in some of Scotland’s top spas, she took the plunge last year and launched her own massage and stretchology business, Drift by Dani.

The 35-year-old, based in Glasgow, will only treat men she knows or ‘by referral’ if other clients can vouch for them.

She says safety is her number one priority, especially when working late at night on her own.

She once barred a client for joking to his friends that she was offering ‘happy endings’.

“It only takes one person to believe that kind of thing which also ruins my reputation,” she says.

“I told him he’s not allowed to come back, basically,” she says.

“It’s taken me a while to build up clientele, build up that reputation so that’s a very serious thing and you have to protect that, and you have to protect your safety.”

Dani and Maria say they would like to see more standardised training for therapists on how best to deal with inappropriate behaviour and on the red flags to look out for.

The massage industry does not have a statutory governing body in Scotland and there are no laws regulating massage therapists.

Maria also says she would like to see a governing body so that therapists could report incidents to it.

“We don’t have anywhere to go except police but sometimes we question ourselves. Is it enough?” she says.

Jenny Storey says the problem is not a new one but it should not be tolerated [BBC]

Jenny Storey has been in the industry for 25 years.

She owns a salon and training school and is a spokesperson for the British Association of Beauty Therapy & Cosmetology (BABTAC).

The 44-year-old says there’s a “bit of an uproar” about inappropriate messages on social media which is leading to more women choosing not to treat men.

“As bad as it sounds, I feel almost desensitised by it now because it happens so frequently,” she says.

“Comments such as, ‘do you give happy endings’ and various kind of inappropriate comments like that.

“As much as some people obviously just mean it as a joke, it’s minimizing what we do in the industry and it can make people feel really uncomfortable as well,” she says.

Jenny says the problem is not a new one but it should not be tolerated.

In her first spa job at the age of 19, she says a client locked her in a treatment room with him.

She managed to escape through another door but says the incident shapes how she trains her own staff now.

“Obviously it doesn’t always happen to people and it is unfair to tar all men with the same brush, because we’ve got some amazing male clients, but it is important to prepare them with what could happen and how to cope with it,” she says.

Jenny, who owns salon Urban Retreat, does not exclude men but says there are the few out there that do make people feel uncomfortable.

“I don’t know why it’s so prevalent in our industry because any other industry, it just would not be tolerated,” she says.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Everyone has the right to feel safe at their place of work and the behaviour described is completely unacceptable.

“Anyone experiencing this kind of harassment is encouraged to seek support.”