She went in for a relaxing massage but left traumatised—read this before your next appointment

She went in for a relaxing massage, hoping to treat herself after a busy week. What should have been a calming experience quickly turned into a nightmare. The events that followed left her shaken, confused, and questioning her own response.

Rae, from Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, had booked a 75-minute Chinese massage at a suburban shopping mall on Saturday. She said the appointment quickly turned sinister while she was half-naked, covered in oil and blindfolded by a warm towel.

'I'm still shaken up,' Rae shared, who did not want her surname published over safety concerns. 'I was physically fine when I left, but mentally I was horrified and disgusted with myself, that my fight response hadn't kicked in. I've always thought of myself as a strong woman, and I really struggled with that for the first couple of days after it happened, questioning myself.'

Rae said she had initially booked the massage after experiencing what she described as 'the best massage I have ever had' at the same centre two weeks earlier. She explained that during the second session, the masseuse's behaviour changed drastically.

'This time he didn't tuck the towel around me. And he used a lot more oil,' she said in a video she recorded in her car immediately after leaving the appointment. 'At one point his boss left and he said, "My boss has left I can do longer now".'

Rae said the man then began to remove her underwear. 'Even my undies,' she said. 'They normally roll them down a bit but this time, he rolled them down so my entire butt was out. And he just poured so much f****** oil on me.'

She said the indecent assault escalated as the masseuse slid his hands further onto her breasts than during the first visit. 'And before I know it, the towel is down, I'm covered in oil and he is rubbing the oil,' Rae said. 'He has got a warm towel on my face so I can't see anything. I am pretty much frozen - and at this point he asks me out. He said, "Are you going home after this?" and I said, "Yeah" and he goes, "Will you come to dinner with me?" while he is just rubbing [my breasts],' she said. 'And I said, "No!" and he says, "Why not?" and I said, "Actually I'm not comfortable with this". So I grabbed the towel and got out of there as quickly as I could.'

Rae said she felt vulnerable in the situation. 'I didn't just jump up and bolt which I should have done,' she added. '[But] I'm naked, other than undies, I'm naked and I have to play nice.'

She said she eventually dressed, paid, and tried to leave, but the man attempted to smooth things over with a so-called 'discount'. 'After I got dressed and I paid, I gave him $90 and he gave me like $10 back, said it was a discount and I thought "what, so I don't tell anyone?" Then he gave me his mobile number and told me, next time to contact him so he can do me a half-price massage. And right now I'm feeling really violated.'

The video she posted on social media quickly went viral, amassing 732,000 views and thousands of comments.

Many viewers urged her to report the incident to police. 'You have every right to feel violated. You have been sexually assaulted and you should report this to the police if you feel ready,' one user wrote.

However, some comments were dismissive. 'Oh babe, you should be flattered - seriously, that was just a normal massage, you've got nothing to worry about,' one user insisted. 'Um, you could have said stop,' said another. Rae said the backlash encouraged her to take further action. 'I think that's where I want this to go now,' she said. 'Yes, I want him off the streets, obviously, but more than that I want to create a safe space. I want people to understand that you can talk about this, that you didn't ask for it, no matter what my comment section might say.'

She has reported the incident to Queensland Police, who are now investigating.

Have you ever felt unsafe in a situation where you expected to feel relaxed?