Since launching her business, Serenity by Ffion, she said she has received inappropriate messages from men almost every other week.
Some, she said, had become “quite clever” in how they approached her, asking whether she could massage “just certain areas”.
“I’ve had people ask for specific massages that I’ve then had to go and research and be like ‘what is this massage’, and it’d be extremely inappropriate,” she said.
A few months ago, one client made her feel “very awkward” and vulnerable during a massage after failing to use the modesty towel.
Ffion said the man, who was wearing his boxers, became sexually aroused as she was massaging his leg and began grabbing her hand.
After leaving, he showed no embarrassment or remorse and even tried to book another appointment, she said.
Looking back, Ffion said she would have asked him to leave, describing the towel as a “red flag from the start”.
“It was the first situation it’s happened and to be honest the whole time I felt like I was in the wrong and I was doing something that I shouldn’t be doing and that’s because of his actions,” she said.
Ffion says pornography and the internet had created unrealistic, sexualised expectations of professional massages.
“People are aware that you could go to other countries and have these sorts of treatments and they would be what these men are expecting,” she said.
“But it’s very different – that’s what they offer. But you come over here and it’s a professional massage.”