In the last 15 years the Israeli society underwent dramatic changes, which facilitated the
development of the current situation. Rapid modernization of the country, the loss of traditional cultural values without creating new system of cultural references, the influence of modern
techniques of communication such as T.V. and Internet and the development of materialistic values made possible the banalisation of the idea of prostitution. There are quite a few elements that contribute to this situation.
The main reasons for the fast development of Trafficking in persons and prostitution in Israel are:
1. A massive wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, which destabilized the fragile
social structures of the country.
2. The development of public and private aggression due to harsh security problems,
3. The infiltration of groups of International organized crime as well as the lack of interest
of the authorities in the social problems.
4. Non existent projects concerning education on sexuality and gender equality.
Women are trafficked into Israel from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbeidjan, Moldova, Kazachstan, Turkey,
The Dominican Republic, and others. The economic situation in these countries is catastrophic.
Women are ready to do any kind of job in order to be able to bring money back to their families
that will allow them to survive. Criminal organized groups are taking advantage of the situation
and organize the trafficking. We estimate that 70% of the cases the women are aware of the fact
that they will be selling their bodies in prostitution but they are not aware of the harsh
conditions that await them when they arrive to Israel. About 30% are bluntly deceived and do not realize that they will end in prostitution. The traffickers promise them that they are going to
work as waitresses, cooks, models, au pairs or medical massage. The regular entries to Israel
through seaports and airports are recently heavily guarded, which is why so many women are trafficked through the Egyptian border in places where there is no control (A few days ago the Tel-Aviv police raided one of the brothels and found nine women, who were in a devastated condition after a week`s walk in the desert (see the full story in Chapter 3). Immediately after entering Israel the trafficked women are directed towards locked apartments or brothels. According to many testimonies, which were assembled by the Hotline for Migrant Workers, they are going through intimidation,
repeated rapes, their papers are confiscated and they are sold in auctions. They are forced to
prostitute themselves without getting any money until they reimburse their "debts " of
transportation and sale. Once they are done they are sold to another pimp and have to reimburse
the new "debt". These women are threatened that if they complain to the police they will be locked
in jail for life as they are in Israel illegally. Since they have no knowledge of their rights and
no knowledge of the language, they are afraid to do any move that might put them in a harsher
situation. Some of them end in private locked up apartments with no possibility of escape, some
are sold again and again from brothel to brothel until they are used up and constitute a burden
for their employers and are handed over to the police. During the last year the police in several districts has changed its policy towards the illegal resident women that they find while they raid the brothels (See chapter 4). Until a few months ago the procurers, pimps and traffickers - were arrested for a couple of days, but then, with the help of mighty lawyers and financial bail, they were liberated until their process. We witness lately a change of police and prosecution procedures towards them, as the legal directive in these cases obliges to arrest the traffickers, procurers and pimps until the end of the investigation. According to a police report in 1998 - 377 files were opened among which none was opened on the grounds of trafficking in women* in 1999 - 522 files among which none was opened on the grounds of trafficking in women. In 2000 - 410 among which only 1 was
opened on the grounds of trafficking in women. In 2001 until July - 280 files were opened and
according to the police 40 files were opened until the end of 2001 on the grounds of trafficking in women. (See details in Chapter 3)
There are no exact statistics of the size of the phenomenon since these are outlawed activities,
which develop underground. A report of AP during 1998 states that during the last 10 years, about 10,000 women were trafficked to Israel for prostitution and according to another report, which was written by Martina Vandenberg from Global Survival Network, the figure of 3,000 women per year can
be considered. According to an estimation provided by the Ministry of Justice during a meeting of
the Law committee in the Knesset according to which 4,000 files are to be opened each year regarding trafficking in women we estimate that the official figures stated here are far from the reality.
A police report from 1999 stated that in Tel-Aviv alone there were 150 brothels and escort agencies. By the end of the year 2000 a police representative quoted the figure of 250 brothels in Tel Aviv and about 700 brothels in Israel on the whole. According to the same police report the sex industry represents up to 450 million Dollars per year.
* The files were opened on the grounds of different felonies like: Managing and brothel keeping, Pimping, incitement to prostitution, abduction etc.
