Torture in [Israel] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Israel Street Children in [Israel] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Israel] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Israel.htm
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 *** Women trafficking to Yael www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3470269,00.html [accessed 14 February 2011] The smuggling of
women for prostitution and of drugs from 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 When grandma’s caretaker is a debt slave Simona Weinglass,
Times of Israel, 11 February 2016 [accessed 11 February 2016] There are 55,000
foreign caretakers in Israel. Almost all of them arrived as modern-day indentured
servants, owing thousands of dollars to loan sharks and corrupt employment
agents. Is anyone taking care of the caretakers? Very few of the
55,000 Israelis who employ foreign caretakers for their elderly or disabled
loved ones are aware of the debt and threats hanging over the heads of the carers they welcome into their homes. “One hundred
percent of foreign caretakers pay brokers’ fees,” says Idit
Lebovitch, coordinator for migrant caregivers at Kav LaOved, an Israeli NGO that
advocates for foreign workers. These workers
usually earn an Israeli minimum wage of NIS 4,650 a month ($1,198). The
brokers’ fees they are required to pay are several multiples of their monthly
salary. Most of these charges are illegal in Israel. Nonetheless, they are
the norm. Until recently, an
Israeli manpower company was legally permitted to charge a foreign worker a
total of NIS 3,400 in placement fees. Today, they are permitted to charge
employers only NIS 2,000 upon hiring, and an additional NIS 70 per month.
Much of the rest of their earnings, thousands of dollars per worker,
allegedly reaches these manpower companies by illegal means, hand-delivered
in envelopes or sent through wire transfers into offshore bank accounts. Critics charge that
this is a tale of extortion of people who, desperate to earn money for their
families, leave those families, often for years at a time, to provide a vital
service in Israel and are being preyed upon without government protection Peres slams human trafficking in Israel Ronen www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3694030,00.html [accessed 14 February 2011] "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 Dan Izenberg, camgirlnotes.15.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=393 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 The www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=54550 [accessed 14 February 2011] While police have
struggled to cope with the growing problem of human trafficking through "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) - 03-560-2530 makomisrael.org/blog/hotline-for-migrant-workers/ [accessed 19 August 2014] 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 Put Up Women For Sale In A Bid To
Curb Female Trafficking VR Sreeraman, Medindia Health Network, October 24, 2010 www.medindia.net/news/Isreal-Put-Up-Women-For-Sale-In-A-Bid-To-Curb-Female-Trafficking-75762-1.htm
[accessed 14 February 2011] In a bid to draw
attention to female trafficking in Tel Aviv, Israel, around fifteen women
were put up for sale in a shopping mall of the country. The display, which
had been sponsored by the Israeli Task Force Against Human Trafficking, saw
real women being put on exhibition with price tags ranging from 5,500 dollars
to 11,000 dollars, though the sale was not real. Maya Speer,
attorney and human rights activist, pretended to be "Sophia", and
wore makeup that made her look like she had a black eye to highlight the
cruelty that trafficking also generates towards women. Peres slams human trafficking in Israel Ronen www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3694030,00.html [accessed 14 February 2011] "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 Yuval Goren, Haaretz,
09.03.2009 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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. Women trafficking to Israel drops sharply Yael www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3470269,00.html [accessed 14 February 2011] The smuggling of
women for prostitution and of drugs from 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 Rescued: Jewish Mom, 8 Children, After 17
Years as Muslims Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel,
Arutz Sheva www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126886 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Jewish Wives Are Arab Husbands' Prey Mayaan Jaffe, Arutz Sheva www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/4455 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Mayaan Jaffe, Arutz Sheva www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/72281 [accessed 14 February 2011] "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 Mayaan Jaffe, Arutz Sheva www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/72500 [accessed 14 February 2011] "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 When Israeli Women Marry Arab Men: Third in
a Series Mayaan Jaffe, Arutz Sheva www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/72865 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Two Fadi Eyadat,
Haaretz, 17.12.2007 www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/two-haifa-men-sentenced-to-jail-for-organ-trafficking-1.235355 [accessed 14 February 2011] In a
precedent-setting ruling yesterday the Haifa District Court yesterday
sentenced two 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. Combating human trafficking www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3477492,00.html [accessed 14 February 2011] 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." NGOs warn against plan to increase Russian
visas Ruth Eglash, The At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 6 September 2011] However, 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. Shelter tries to rehabilitate victims of
human trafficking UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN, Tel Aviv, 5 September 2007 www.irinnews.org/report/74117/israel-shelter-tries-to-rehabilitate-victims-of-human-trafficking [accessed 9 March 2015] 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 The www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=72343 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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. Raffi Berg, BBC News, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7070929.stm [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Tamara Traubmann,
Haaretz, 13.08.07 [accessed 14 February 2011] Two years ago, S.,
47, came from 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 rt.com/news/eight-israelis-charged-with-trafficking-human-organs/ [accessed 14 February 2011] Israeli police have
broken up an organ transplanting ring that persuaded dozens of Israelis to
have their kidneys removed in 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: Emma Sabry www.esinislam.com/Articles_And_Essays/Emma_Sabry/Emma_Sabry_15.htm [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Ofri Ilani,
Haaretz, 03.07.2007 www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/virtual-pimps-may-pay-the-price-1.224659 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Haaretz, 31.05.2007 www.haaretz.com/news/u-s-orthodox-rabbis-urge-israel-to-crack-down-on-human-trafficking-1.221892 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Fadi Eyadat
and Ruth Sinai, Haaretz, 06.05.2007 www.haaretz.com/news/brothel-owner-sentenced-to-five-years-in-jail-for-human-trafficking-1.219862 [accessed 14 February 2011] In 2002 Reizin, who was the owner of a 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 Dan Izenberg, camgirlnotes.15.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=393 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Chana Shavelson,
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=6&x_article=560 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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, 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 The www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=54550 [accessed 14 February 2011] While police have
struggled to cope with the growing problem of human trafficking through "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: Dan Izenberg, The
www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=54551 [accessed 23 April 2012] Gershuni's office researches
matters related to human trafficking, represents "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 Ruth Sinai, Haaretz,
21.02.2007 www.haaretz.com/news/government-drafts-national-plan-for-combating-human-trafficking-1.213575 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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. www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=10702 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 The www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=38223 [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Ruth Eglash, The www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=29919 [accessed 23 April 2012] 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 The www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=23993 [accessed 23 April 2012] Tel Aviv Police
succeeded in tracing the steps of the group after spotting a notice published
in a Russian language newspaper advertising employment in Ruth Eglash, The www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=19974 [accessed 23 April 2012] 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 Meet Svetlana www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3225396,00.html [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Roberta Neiger,
Israel21c, November 13, 2005 www.israel21c.org/social-action/women-leaders-gather-in-israel-to-combat-crime-of-trafficking [accessed 14 February 2011] "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 Talya Halkin,
The Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 16 March 2011] 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. Trafficking in Task Force on Human Trafficking atzum.org/projects/task-force-on-human-trafficking/about-human-trafficking/ [accessed 19 August 2014] 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. Bad Traffic tfht.org/bad-traffic/ [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 [access date unavailable] On August 16, it
will be five years since two trafficking victims from the former Briefing to the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women - June 2005 33rd Session of the UN Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee), 5-21 July
2005: Comments by Amnesty International on the compliance by www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/037/2005/en/e51798ab-d4de-11dd-8a23-d58a49c0d652/mde150372005en.html [Last accessed 30 August 2011] 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 Rochelle Gershuni,
Mediterranean Quarterly - Volume 15, Number 4, Fall 2004, pp. 133-146 muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/mediterranean_quarterly/v015/15.4gershuni.pdf [accessed 19 August 2014] 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. BBC News, 24 March, 2005 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4380067.stm [accessed 14 February 2011] Between 3,000 and 5,000 women have been smuggled into Russian Girls Eager To Work Abroad, Despite
The Danger Of Sex Trafficking Pravda, 31.03.2005 english.pravda.ru/society/stories/31-03-2005/7977-slaves-0/ [accessed 14 February 2011] It is really
difficult for such girls to escape when they reach Interior Min. to expel 15 prostitutes who
testified against pimps Ruth Sinai, Haaretz,
February 07, 2005 [accessed 19 August 2014] 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 The Protection Project – Israel [PDF] The Paul H. Nitze
School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Israel.pdf [accessed 24 February 2016] A Human Rights
Report on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/israel [accessed 26 June 2012] Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/israel-and-occupied-territories [accessed 14 February 2011] Library of Congress Call Number DS126.5
.I772 1990 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/iltoc.html [accessed 14 February 2011] Sex slavery rife in Israel Agence France-Presse AFP, www.news24.com/World/News/Sex-slavery-rife-in-Israel-20050324 [accessed 14 February 2011] Thousands of
foreign women have been smuggled into US Faults Nina Gilbert, The www.hotline.org.il/english/news/2004/TheJerusalemPost062304.htm [accessed 14 February 2011] 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. National NGOs report to the annual UN
Convention on Human Rights: Evaluation of National Authorities activities and
Actual facts on the Trafficking in Persons for the purpose of prostitution Nissan Ben Ami & Leah Gruenpeter Gold, UN Commission on Human Rights, 60th
session, April 2004 www.macom.org.il/todaa-un-2004.asp [accessed 14 February 2011] 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 Charlotte Honigman-Smith,
SocialAction.com, Jewish Family & Life! (JFL), February 1, 2008 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 6 September 2011] 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 Ellis Shuman, Israelinsider, August 18, 2004 www.childtrafficking.org/pdf/user/human_trafficking_in_israel.doc [accessed 14 February 2011] Justice Minister
Yosef (Tommy) Lapid said this week that there are
as many as 3,000 prostitutes in Fox News, Tel Aviv, August 18, 2004 www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129157,00.html [accessed 14 February 2011] Human trafficking
(search) is turning into a real problem in Women As Commodities: Trafficking in Women
in Israel 2003 Nomi Levenkron, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 6 September 2011] In 2001, the Fighting the flesh trade Marion Marrache,
The www.seekpeace.org/Articles/fleshtrade.shtml [accessed 14 February 2011] [scroll down] 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 Associated Press AP, December 8, 2002 www.fpp.co.uk/online/02/12/Globe081202.html [accessed 14 February 2011] About 3,000 women,
mainly from the former Soviet Union, are sold each year into 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 Suzanne Goldenberg in www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/aug/16/israel1 [accessed 11 July 2013] 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 Michael Specter, The New York Times, Ramle www.brama.com/issues/nytart.html [accessed 14 February 2011] 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." United States Embassy At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 6 September 2011] In 1994 a 16-year
old girl was deported from Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61690.htm [accessed 14 February 2011] 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. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking &
Modern-day Slavery - |
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