NETHERLANDS
NLTimes.nl
November 22, 2017
By Janene Pieters
Masseur Helene Baayen and relationship-expert Caroline Franssen launched a hotline where women can report sexual abuse by tantric masseurs and ‘intimacy coaches’. In a month and a half, 24 reports were received against nine masseurs, NOS reports.
Tantra is a spiritual movement in Buddhism and Hinduism that is mainly associated with sexuality in the west. The nine tantric masseurs mentioned in the reports – all of them men – claim that they can help women overcome emotional blockages and sexual trauma. NOS spoke to nine women who filed reports against them. According to the victims, instead of help, the masseurs used the opportunity to sexually abuse them. They unexpectedly switched from massaging to sexual acts, in some cases escalating to penetration. At least one masseur also engaged in long-term sexual relationships with vulnerable women who approached him for therapeutic reasons.
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