Human Trafficking in [Israel Street Children in [Israel] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Israel] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the
first ten years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2009
Israel is a destination country for men and women
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation.
Low-skilled workers from China, Romania, Turkey, Thailand, the Philippines,
Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India migrate voluntarily and legally to Israel for
contract labor in the construction, agriculture, and health care industries.
Some, however, subsequently face conditions of forced labor, including the
unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, non-payment of
wages, threats, and physical intimidation.
- U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009
[full country
report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Peres slams
human trafficking in Israel www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3694030,00.html
"The fact that this loathsome
disease exists in a Jewish state is a disgraceful stain on the most basic
commandments of our legacy," President Shimon Peres said at a state
ceremony honoring activists against human trafficking on Sunday evening. "There is no people that sees
liberation – the transition from slavery to freedom – as such a pivotal
moment in its history as we do,” said Peres, in reference to the coming
Passover holiday. "There is
nothing more outrageous than the oppression of women and coercion into
prostitution, than taking cruel advantage of people in need or the abuse of
foreign laborers who have no standing or rights." Human
trafficking report: Courts are too lenient The Hotline for Migrant Workers
also reported that the courts did not sufficiently exercise the right to
extract compensation from the traffickers for their victims. The court
awarded compensation in only 11 of the 17 trafficking convictions in 2006 for
a total of NIS 314,000, which was NIS 18,500 less than the previous
year. The courts also do not make
sufficient use of their powers to fine traffickers or seize their property,
the report stated. Israeli
women being trafficked abroad While police have struggled to
cope with the growing problem of human trafficking through Israel, human traffickers have begun to
ship Israeli women to foreign countries, said MK Zehava
Gal-On Tuesday. Gal-On also said that the country is unprepared for this new
trend. "There has long been an
active ring of people using Israel as a stopping point in the trafficking of
women from foreign countries to other foreign countries… what we are seeing
now is Israeli women themselves being targeted and shipped to other
places," Gal-On said. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Hotline for Migrant
Workers (HMW) The Hotline for Migrant Workers
(HMW), established in 1998, is a non-partisan, not for profit organization,
dedicated to (a) promoting the rights of undocumented migrant workers and
refugees and (b) eliminating trafficking in women in Israel. Call
03-560-2530 Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – The law
guarantees foreign laborers legal status, decent working conditions, health
insurance, and a written employment contract; however, some employers forced
individual laborers who entered the country, both legally and illegally, to
live under conditions that constituted trafficking. While law enforcement
agencies have successfully prosecuted employers for labor law violations,
including for violations that were tantamount to trafficking, they have not
severely penalized labor agencies for trafficking because legislation does
not make trafficking illegal if it is for purposes other than prostitution.
There were numerous documented cases of foreign laborers living in harsh
conditions, subjected to debt bondage, and restricted in their movements. Organized crime groups trafficked
women, primarily from the former In October, 2 NGOs claimed there
were 200 thousand foreign workers in the country and that 20 percent of these
workers were trafficking victims. During the year the Ministry of Industry,
Trade, and Labor (ITL) revoked 185 permits to hire foreign workers, opened
1,220 files against employers suspected of violating foreign worker
employment laws, and imposed 8,356 administrative fines on employers. Also
during the year, the ITL filed 208 criminal indictments against employers,
including manpower companies, for violations of labor laws and won 38
judgments against violators. Peres slams
human trafficking in Israel www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3694030,00.html
"The fact that this loathsome
disease exists in a Jewish state is a disgraceful stain on the most basic
commandments of our legacy," President Shimon Peres said at a state
ceremony honoring activists against human trafficking on Sunday evening. "There is no people that sees
liberation – the transition from slavery to freedom – as such a pivotal
moment in its history as we do,” said Peres, in reference to the coming Passover
holiday. "There is nothing more
outrageous than the oppression of women and coercion into prostitution, than
taking cruel advantage of people in need or the abuse of foreign laborers who
have no standing or rights." Police
arrest 12 in raid on Israel's largest human-trafficking ring www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1069609.html
At the end of a two-year
international investigation, 12 Israelis were arrested yesterday along with
over 20 suspects in several other countries. The investigation was assisted in
large part by a former criminal, who was recruited as an undercover agent and
infiltrated the trafficking ring on the police's behalf. He recorded dozens
of conversations among the suspected gang members, including some in which Saban allegedly ordered physical violence against, and
even murder of, women who refused to work as prostitutes. The gang allegedly recruited thousands of
women from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Uzbekistan by promising them
work in Israel as waitresses or dancers. The women were then flown to Egypt,
and from there they were smuggled across the border by Bedouin. Rescued:
Jewish Mom, 8 Children, After 17 Years as Muslims www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126886 After a 17-year
captivity to an abusive Muslim husband, a Jewish mother and her eight
children were rescued Sunday from the Muslim quarter of Two
Haifa men sentenced to jail for organ trafficking In a precedent-setting ruling
yesterday the Haifa District Court yesterday sentenced two Haifa men to jail
for trafficking in humans for the purpose of harvesting their organs. Allan and Zakhalka
admitted that at the end of 2006, they persuaded Arabs from the Galilee and
central Israel who were developmentally challenged or mentally ill to agree
to have a kidney removed for payment. They located their victims by placing
ads in the newspaper offering money for organ donation. According to the
indictment, the pair gave false information to the donors, and also pressured
and threatened them to give up their kidney. After the surgery, Allan and Zakhalka did not pay the donors as promised. Allan and Zakhalka
were part of a criminal ring that included an Israeli surgeon, Dr. Michael Zis, who also worked at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. According to the indictment, Zis sold the kidneys he harvested for between $125,000
and $135,000, of which Allan received $10,000 dollars. The State Prosecutor's
Office is preparing an extradition order against Zis,
who is being held in prison in Ukraine. The plan calls for providing housing
solutions to victims; establishment of a rehab facility for victims who
suffer psychosocial and medical problems; employment services and translation
services. Medical services will be provided by the Ministry of Health in
conjunction with the Ministry of Social Services. The Social Services.
Ministry will allocate NIS 4.2 million ($1.1 million) to fund the plan. The project's initiators said that the
motivation is strictly humanitarian: "the victims of human trafficking,
slavery or prostitution in Israel deserve protection and care." Women
trafficking to Israel drops sharply The smuggling of women for
prostitution and of drugs from Egypt into Israel has dramatically declined since
the IDF has taken over the border nine months ago. The report stated that no women
were caught being smuggled into Israel to serve as prostitutes in the last
nine months, but head of the shelter for victims of women trafficking in
Israel Ruth Davidovich claimed that some 30 women
were currently staying at the shelter, and that most of them were smuggled
through the Egyptian border. The report stressed that despite
Israel's substantial efforts, the border remained volatile, with smugglers
becoming more sophisticated and using more technologically advanced methods. NGOs
warn against plan to increase Russian visas However, Russia is considered a transit
destination for trafficking operations, with many men, women and children
from neighboring countries arriving there before being transported
elsewhere. Egypt has no visa
requirements for Russian visitors, and its border with Israel is considered to
be a main entry point for human traffickers. A spokesman for Aharonovitch told the Post zthat
the minister was aware of the problems of human trafficking in Israel and
that the issue needed to be tackled; however, he added that there was little
connection between the trafficking and the cancellation of visa requirements
for Russian visitors. He also said
that the number of women arriving from Russia was much lower than those from
other countries and that countries with border policies stricter than Israel's
still had to contend with women and men being smuggled in for illegal work
purposes. ISRAEL:
Shelter tries to rehabilitate victims of human trafficking Foreign women who are victims of
trafficking can now get support at a special shelter - the Maagan shelter - in Tel Aviv dedicated to cater for their
needs. In 2002 the Israeli government,
in an attempt to encourage these women to testify against the people who
bought and sold them, decided to offer them work visas in return for sworn
statements detailing their tribulations. The visas run until one year after
the end of their trials. Women
protest Ha'aretz sex ads TFHT filed a report in June
demanding an investigation into the paper and its owner, Amos Schoken. The advertisements in question offer the
services of prostitutes, while other ads call for women to work in
prostitution in Israel or abroad.
According to TFHT head Roni Aloni Sedovnik, advertisements
related to prostitution are far more expensive than standard ads and
therefore could not be the initiative of prostitutes advertising privately.
The ads could only be funded by wealthy organized crime syndicates, she
maintained. Freedom of expression, Sedovnik said, "is subservient to a person's right
not to be enslaved ... By giving a stage to pimps and other human
traffickers, [the paper is allowing] organized and efficient trading in
trafficking victims." The ads "make the paper complicit in the
crime," she added. Israel's fight
against sex trafficking CHANGING TACTICS - Campaigners say things began to
change for the better in 2004, when the government opened a shelter in north
Tel Aviv for women who had been trafficked for sex. It marked a change in the way the state
perceived them - as victims of a crime rather than accomplices. There are some 30 women at the Maggan shelter - most from former Soviet states, but also
five from China. Police say their actions have led
to a significant drop in the number of women now being trafficked into Israel
for sex. Ukrainian
national says employer raped her, confiscated passport Two years ago, S., 47, came from
Ukraine to work as a domestic in the home of an Israeli businessman. The
employment company abroad that contracted her told her she had "nothing
to worry about," with respect to her new boss. However, according to S.,
her employer - a resident of a wealthy Tel Aviv suburb, who works at a
foreign consulate in Israel - withheld most of her salary, took her passport,
did not let her leave the house unless he was with her, and raped her. In
many cases, S. says, her employer's friends who came to dinner or parties
sexually molested her, and one of them also raped her. Today, the police, who are
concluding their investigation of S.'s charges, are
arranging a confrontation between the suspect, who has denied any wrongdoing,
and the alleged victim. According to the suspect's lawyer, Yehoshua Resnick, S. made up
the whole story to avoid deportation. Eight
Israelis charged with trafficking human organs Israeli police have broken up an
organ transplanting ring that persuaded dozens of Israelis to have their
kidneys removed in Ukraine. But, because Israeli law does not explicitly
forbid the trafficking of organs, police may have to release the suspects. It’s not difficult to become an
organ donor. Ads have appeared in both the Russian and Arabic press. Dozens
of people are believed to have been duped into donating their body
organs. We are co-operating with the
Ukrainian justice system. In Ukraine and Israel, there is no law that a
person cannot sell body organs. But what police are charging is that they
were trafficking organs, which is illegal,” said Lizzy
Troend, defence
lawyer. Israel allows transplants from
relatives or anonymous donors, but the law forbids anyone to buy organs. - IsUkr Sex slavery: Israel’s low but thriving trade www.aljazeera.com/news/print.php?newid=16883 Rachel Benziman
the legal advisor to the Israeli Women’s network backed up Menuhin’s words by explaining how difficult it is to find
witnesses. “It's not a problem of finding the right section in the criminal
code. It is more a problem of finding the women who will testify and finding
the motivation”, Benziman said, according to
Reuters. What’s more shocking is that,
since 1994, no single woman has testified against any trafficker. Many say
this could be attributed to the fact that although women are the victims
here, trafficked women are the ones usually arrested as illegal workers,
while the men who brought them to Israel, who are usually Israeli, are not. Virtual
pimps may pay the price In December 2000, Zohar set up the Escort Plus Web site, which featured the
details of women who could be ordered for paid sex. Zohar
received a commission on every order from the site, which was deducted from
the fee paid by the clients. The enterprise, however, did not
end there. In 2001 Zohar began traveling to
European countries to hire young women. He housed them in apartments in
Israel and "marketed" them via the Web site. The indictment details
how he purchased two Ukrainian women from a man named Igor, and two Moldavian
women from a man named Pasha. U.S
Orthodox rabbis urge Israel to crack down on human trafficking A prominent organization of U.S.
Orthodox rabbis has called on Israeli authorities to step up their fight
against trafficking in women, urging "action to put an end to this
shameful practice by whatever legal means necessary." The statement of the Rabbinical
Council of America, the rabbinic authority of the Orthodox Union and a
partner organization of Israel's Chief Rabbinate, cited Knesset statistics
reporting that "some 3000-5000 women in Israel are currently enslaved,
in violation of Israeli law, as prostitutes as a result of human
trafficking." The RCA stated that it was taking
the position, in part, because "Judaism affirms the right of each
individual to a life of personal freedom, dignity and a duty of national
holiness, particularly regarding sexual conduct" and because "our
Torah stresses no less than 36 times the overarching importance of treating
the stranger with compassion and kindness." The group also noted that Israel's
Declaration of Independence emphasized that the state "will be based on
freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel. Brothel
owner sentenced to five years in jail for human trafficking In 2002 Reizin,
who was the owner of a Haifa brothel, reached an agreement with the owner of
an Acre brothel to sell him a prostitute in return for a part of his
establishment's profits. Reizin later sold the Acre
brothel two more women for $10,000. The women were forcibely
held and required to have intercourse with some 25 clients a day. They were
paid NIS 50 daily. In November 2002 they managed to escape. Human
trafficking report: Courts are too lenient The Hotline for Migrant Workers
also reported that the courts did not sufficiently exercise the right to
extract compensation from the traffickers for their victims. The court
awarded compensation in only 11 of the 17 trafficking convictions in 2006 for
a total of NIS 314,000, which was NIS 18,500 less than the previous year. The courts also do not make sufficient use
of their powers to fine traffickers or seize their property, the report
stated. National
Geographic Slave to Bias National Geographic’s September 2003 article by Andrew
Cockburn entitled “21st Century Slaves” fails to mention the world’s leading
human-rights and slave-trafficking offender, Sudan, while unfairly
highlighting with a double-page photograph Israel’s relatively insignificant
prostitution rings. Though forced prostitution in
Israel is a grave problem, its scale compared to the extensive abuses
elsewhere hardly merits the attention National Geographic gives it. By
contrast, the omission of Sudan, a country that has enslaved and exploited an
entire people in its southern region, is inexplicable. Unlike the other countries
discussed in the article, with the exception of the United States, Israel has
significant anti-prostitution legislation it enforces Israeli
women being trafficked abroad While police have struggled to
cope with the growing problem of human trafficking through Israel, human traffickers have begun to
ship Israeli women to foreign countries, said MK Zehava
Gal-On Tuesday. Gal-On also said that the country is unprepared for this new
trend. "There has long been an
active ring of people using Israel as a stopping point in the trafficking of
women from foreign countries to other foreign countries… what we are seeing
now is Israeli women themselves being targeted and shipped to other
places," Gal-On said. Analysis:
Israel has stepped up the fight against human trafficking Gershuni's office researches matters related
to human trafficking, represents Israel in international forums dealing with
the problem and is now waiting for the chance to get the state to prosecute
traffickers according to the new legislation. Until now, there have been a
fair number of indictments and convictions in trafficking for the purposes of
prostitution, but none regarding the new forms of slavery recognized by the
recent legislation. "Our first cases must be
extreme, so that they will guarantee convictions," she told the Post,
adding that the courts will have to learn to discern between slavery
indictments and lesser charges of work exploitation. Government
drafts national plan for combating human trafficking The government has drafted a
national plan for combating human trafficking for the purposes of slavery and
coercion, including steps in the areas of enforcement, prevention, and
protection. The purpose of the plan is to
eliminate the phenomena of holding migrant workers in slavery conditions,
through forced labor, coercing them to provide sexual services or collecting
large sums of money from workers. Israel
hosts human trafficking seminar In October, the Knesset (Israeli
parliament) passed a bill banning human trafficking for the purpose of
prostitution and forced labor. “We are talking about an
innovative and revolutionary law, which deals harshly with traffickers of
people and body parts,” said Zahava Gal-on, member
of Knesset. “The law will provide law enforcement officers better tools to
combat the phenomenon.” There are an estimated 3,000 women
in Israel, according to Amnesty International, involved in trafficking rings
and Israel wants to help these women, many of whom are victims of extreme
violence. Knesset
passes human trafficking bill In a unanimous vote Tuesday night,
the Knesset approved a law to strengthen and broaden laws against human
trafficking. The bill, which was
drafted by MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz)
and supported by the government, increases the time served for involvement in
human trafficking to 16-20 years. It also broadens the definition of
trafficking in men, women and children. Gov't, NGOs still find time to fight against human
trafficking Despite the current war on the
home front, government officials and representatives of the US Embassy and
the US State Department took time out of their busy schedules last week to
discuss practical recommendations for how to address sex trafficking and
labor trafficking in the country. 3
arrested on suspicion of human trafficking Tel Aviv Police succeeded in
tracing the steps of the group after spotting a notice published in a Russian
language newspaper advertising employment in Canada for "young,
beautiful girls." Israel
among worst human traffickers Tal Eisenberg, the organization's
legal advisor and coordinator for the center's Fighting Against Trafficking in
Women project told The Jerusalem Post, "It is excellent that the United
Nations has recognized that there is such a problem in Israel. I hope that we
can learn from the report and that the government will now take more notice
of the problem." She said that many countries did not even know that
trafficking takes place within their borders and that Israeli rights
organizations had made great progress in combating the problem. But perhaps in honor of
International Women's Day, let me introduce the woman you'll have such a good
time with tonight. Here's 10 things you never knew about her. 1. Her name is Svetlana. Like most
whores, she's from Eastern Europe. She's 22-years-old. 2. Misha,
Svetlana's boss, bought her for 5,000 dollars from an Egyptian Mafioso who
smuggled her across the border tied to a camel after he and his friends
"checked her out" to see if she was worth the effort. Women
leaders gather in Israel to combat crime of trafficking "The committee set itself a goal to serve as watchdog over the authorities and has compelled the state to act in accordance with international standards," said Gal-On. "Today women are treated as victims of a crime, and as people whose human rights have been breached. Those who traffic and pimp in the bodies of women are treated severely." Art
exhibit takes behind scenes look at Israeli sex trade The distressed expression on the
face of an anonymous woman peering out from behind a barred window in a Tel
Aviv building triggered curator Revital Ben-Asher Peretz to launch her own private investigation behind the
scenes of the Israeli sex trade. tfht.org/about-human-trafficking/trafficking-in-israel/ Israel is a destination country for
human trafficking. Women and children are brought into the country every year
to be exploited as modern day slaves. Rates of human trafficking in
Israel are alarmingly high though the exact extent is not known. Nearly all
of the trafficking victims in Israel has made limited progress
in the fight against human trafficking but more can and must be done. Significant
resources must be dedicated to combating trafficking in Israel in the areas
of prevention, protection, and prosecution. tfht.org/bad-traffic/ www.tfht.org/index.php?section=article&id=23 With approximately one million visits to prostitutes each month, the Israeli sex "industry" generates an estimated billion dollars a year, Gal-On reveals. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared last month that this "despicable phenomenon completely contradicts Jewish tradition and the values of dignity." Yet, despite repeated criticism by the State Department and human rights organizations, Israel has not established a central authority to cope with the problem. With approximately one million
visits to prostitutes each month, the Israeli sex "industry"
generates an estimated billion dollars a year, Gal-On reveals. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared last
month that this "despicable phenomenon completely contradicts Jewish
tradition and the values of dignity."
Yet, despite repeated criticism by the State Department and human
rights organizations, Subject: Israel & International - August 16 -
Moment of Silence for Trafficking Victims; International Day Against
Trafficking lists.whathelps.com/wa.exe?A2=ind0508b&L=wunrn_listserve&D=0&F=P&T=0&P=2502 On August 16, it will be five
years since two trafficking victims from the former Soviet Union were burned
to death in a brothel in Tel Aviv. The tragedy occurred because the women
were locked in the house and had no way out, which is common in the
trafficking business. There are also three other known cases of deaths of
trafficking victims in Briefing
to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women - June
2005 TRAFFICKING
IN HUMAN BEINGS (ARTICLE 6) - Amnesty International published a report on the trafficking of women
into Trafficking
in Persons for the Purpose of Prostitution: The Israeli Experience [Restricted] THE CHANGE IN ATTITUDE TOWARD TRAFFICKING - With time, as the phenomenon became more prevalent, and its distinguishing characteristics were identified, the attitude changed. Law enforcement agencies began to focus on trafficking as a serious crime distinct from prostitution offenses, and victims began to be viewed first and foremost as victims rather than illegal immigrants. As a consequence, a specific trafficking offense was legislated, law enforcement authorities began to initiate investigations, victims were encouraged to testify against traffickers, and courts began to detain traffickers until the conclusion of the criminal trial against them and to mete out more severe sentences. Israel Women
Trafficking Soars Between 3,000 and 5,000 women have been smuggled into Russian
Girls Eager To Work Abroad, Despite The Danger Of Sex Trafficking It is really difficult for such
girls to escape when they reach Interior Min. to expel 15 prostitutes who testified against pimps According to the charge
sheet against her procurers, she was sold at a Tel Aviv parking lot to the
owner of an escort agency, where she worked without being paid, ostensibly to
pay for her travel expenses. The young
woman cooperated fully with the police and the prosecution, and provided
evidence concerning several suspects. As a result, she has received threats
and is scared to return to the Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free Human
Rights Overview by Human Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study Thousands of foreign women have
been smuggled into Israel and sold into prostitution, earning the criminal
underworld millions of dollars a year, a parliamentary investigation has
found. Jewish
Wives Are Arab Husbands' Prey The stories of pain and torture
chill every bone in my body. Trembling, I sit before half-a-dozen women in
the Lev L'Achim rehabilitation center for battered
women, learning about how they lost their independence, lost their happiness,
lost their lives. These women have been rescued from the misery of life in
their husbands' Arab villages. "I Was
Silent and I Was Alone" - First in a Series "If you complained you were
beaten," Esther weeps. "He would yell and then he would hit. If I
said something to make him angry: beating. If a neighbor looked at me the
wrong way: beating. If I opened the door for a male neighbor: beating. If I
didn't do something or prepare something the way he wanted: beating. There
was no speaking. There was no help with the children. If the children were
sick: nothing. I was alone. I was silent and I was alone." He told her he couldn’t make it financially and that they
would have to move to his Arab village over the Green Line. Several children
and hundreds of bruises later, Esther knew it was time to go. She says she
did an accounting of her life, looked at how she and her children were living
and knew she must escape before it was too late. ´He Was Taking
Over My Mind´ ? Second in a Series "There was always violence,
always humiliation" says Miriam [not her real name], who spent 12 years with
a Palestinian-Arab, the last four in his village over the Green Line in
southern Israel. "First he would hit me with his hands. Then he moved on
to using small objects, and finally iron rods and a metal rake. He broke all
of my teeth with the rake and then refused to give me any medical
attention." When Israeli
Women Marry Arab Men: Third in a Series Aliza met her Arab lover via the
internet, and like most girls in her situation, she was promised the world in
exchange for a Muslim conversion and a marriage license. Less than one year
later, she was left beaten and betrayed. Almost a statistic, Aliza spent all the money she had ($250) to take a cab to
the Erez Crossing, and with the help of the rescue
organization of Lev L'Achim, she reentered Israel
proper and left her life in the Arab "prison" behind. She
immediately relocated to America for safety reasons, where she continues to
undergo psychological treatment, attempts to obtain a divorce from the Muslim
court, and puts her affairs in order. US
Faults Israel on Human Trafficking The 2004 report was discussed on
Tuesday in the Knesset Committee of Inquiry into Women Trafficking. Committee
chair Zehava Gal-On (Yahad)
backed the conclusions of the 2004 report on treatment of victims, saying
that a shelter was opened in February that can house 50 women, but has taken
in only 23 women who are waiting to testify in sex slavery cases. All the rest of the women are being held in
prisons without any assistance while awaiting deportation, Gal-On said. Gal-On also noted that the report found
that the Internal Security Ministry has issued only seven visas to victims,
which has forced most of them to go back into prostitution. INTRODUCTION - Legally speaking, the State of
Israel can be considered as an abolitionist country that signed and ratified
the UN Convention of December the 2nd, 1949.
Until 2001 in fact, the State of Israel was leading a policy of
laissez-faire that drove to a kind of reglementarism.
Since then a considerable change of attitude of the authorities towards the
phenomenon of Trafficking in women has occured.
Unfortunately prostitution per se is still not perceived as a problem by the
authorities. This situation is also reflected by the attitude of the
media. The tendency is to see
trafficking in women as a serious crime that needs to be erradicated
whereas prostitution, mainly local, is still considered as a victimless
crime. Prostitution in the Land of the Maccabees:
Trafficking in Women in Israel www.socialaction.com/12-2000/trafficking_in_women.phtml At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] Today, the prostitute in Tel Aviv
is more likely to be named Olga than Rachel, and she's not an Israeli, or in Human trafficking in Israel: a "meat market" [DOC] www.childtrafficking.org/pdf/user/human_trafficking_in_israel.doc Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid said this
week that there are as many as 3,000 prostitutes in Israel today, many of
whom have been "imported" into the country against their will. In a
statement released to mark the fourth annual, locally-organized "Fight
Human Trafficking" day, Lapid wrote that most
of the women were tricked into coming to Israel from their homes in the
countries of the former Soviet Union. The women are no better than slaves to
the men who control them, Lapid said. Many of the
women were recruited by the Russian mafia, transported to Egypt, and then
smuggled across the border into Israel by Bedouins. Israel a Human
Trafficking Haven Human trafficking (search) is
turning into a real problem in Israel, where law enforcement officials say
women are bought and sold into the indentured servitude of the sex
industry. The women in question are
usually from the former Soviet Union (search) and are traded by the Russian
mob (search). The same Bedouins who smuggle weapons into Israel bring the
women up through the Egyptian desert, oftentimes with a load of weapons. "It's a kind of meat market. It's very
brutal — most of this kind of auction," said Gadi
Eshed of the Israel Police. Women
As Commodities: Trafficking in Women in Israel 2003 In 2001, the USA stepped up its
involvement in fighting the trafficking of women worldwide, threatening to
cut off economic aid to countries failing to combat the phenomenon within
their borders. This threat suddenly became tangible when Israel was ranked in
the group of countries failing to take steps to eradicate trafficking in
women. The U.S. warning succeeded in effecting changes in the states
threatened with sanctions. However, in Israel, the struggle to eradicate
trafficking has barely begun, and most authorities do not live up to their
declared principles. Sometimes their operations amount to no more than a sham
- a case of lip service only. As this report will show, efforts to combat
trafficking in women in Israel are still not proportionate to the extent of
the phenomenon and the gravity of the offense. "Fighting
the flesh trade" by Marion Marrache According to a report issued by the
International Abolitionist Federation, an estimated one-fourth of these women
are unaware that they will be working in the sex trade, believing instead
they will be employed as waitresses, cooks, au pairs, models or masseuses.
None are prepared for what they eventually encounter. Most suffer beatings
and repeated rape. The women are viewed and bought at pimping auctions -
during which they are forced to undress - at prices ranging from $4,000 to
$10,000. According to attorney Nomi Levenkron of the Migrant Hotline, those who fetch the
lower prices end up working in the slum area around Tel Aviv's old central
bus station. Their passports are taken from them, and they are often kept
locked up in apartments with barred windows. Report slams Israel
on sex slavery About 3,000 women, mainly from the
former Soviet Union, are sold each year into Israel's sex industry, which
takes in about $1-billion (U.S.) annually, a parliamentary report said Sunday,
slamming the country's justice system for being lax on punishments. The women, seeking to escape poverty at
home, are usually smuggled in by traffickers who promise them legitimate
jobs. Once in Israel, they are sold to pimps for between $3,000 and $6,000
each, the preliminary report said. Israeli courts generally reach a
plea bargain with the pimps and sentence them to either a few months of
community service or up to an average of two years in prison, punishments
which the committee said are too weak to serve as deterrents. Four die
in Tel Aviv brothel attack Police in Tel Aviv are hunting a
serial arsonist attacking the city's sex industry after the horrific death of
four women, locked inside a brothel which was set on fire overnight. The attack, said by social workers to be
the sixth of its kind in a week, added to the debate on the increasing
traffic in women for prostitution by Russian and Israeli gangs, and the
appalling treatment they suffer. Traffickers'
New Cargo: Naive Slavic Women Irina always assumed that her beauty
would somehow rescue her from the poverty and hopelessness of village life. A
few months ago, after answering a vague ad in a small Ukrainian newspaper,
she slipped off a tour boat when it put in at Haifa, hoping to make a bundle
dancing naked on the tops of tables.
She was 21, self-assured and glad to be out of Ukraine. Israel offered
a new world, and for a week or two everything seemed possible. Then, one
morning, she was driven to a brothel, where her boss burned her passport
before her eyes. "I own you," she
recalled his saying. "You are my property, and you will work until you
earn your way out. Don't try to leave. You have no papers and you don't speak
Hebrew. You will be arrested and deported. Then we will get you and bring you
back." Europe's sexually exploited children: coming home www.usemb.se/children/csec/feature5.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] In 1994 a 16-year old girl was
deported from Israel back to her home country on the grounds that she was in
possession of a false passport. It transpired that she had been taken to
Israel and forced to work as a prostitute in a brothel. During her stay --
just three weeks -- she served some 200 men and US$3.000 changed hands. The girl was not from Thailand, the
Philippines or Nepal. She was not from Brazil or Colombia or the Dominican
Republic. She was not from any of the countries which have featured in the
media over the last six years, since ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism)
first began its pioneering work with media and governments to put the issue
of commercial sexual exploitation of children in Asia onto the public
agenda. The girl was from Lithuania.
She was European. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Israel Street Children in [Israel] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Israel] [other countries]