מכון תודעה

םלועב םישנה רחסו תונזה תעפות רקחל העדות ןוכמ
leah2000@bezeqint.net :לאוד 03-6045128 :סקפ/לט ;61221 ביבא-לת 22197 .ד.ת

Fifth Chapter: Measures taken by national and local authorities

On December 2000 Israel signed the UN Convention against transnational Organized Crime and on the
14th of November 2001 Israel signed the attached protocol dealing with trafficking in women.

On June 13th 2000 a parliamentary investigation committee was created and headed by MK Zehava
Galon from the party Merez. This committee includes 17 MK`s representing all the parties in the
Israeli Parliament. On December 13th 2000 the committee gathered for the second time and
representatives from NGO`s among which Center Awareness and Hotline for Migrant Workers were
invited for the first time. Representatives from the NGO`s declared themselves opposed to the
legalization of prostitution as a means to fight against trafficking in women. Machon Toda`a
and the Hotline for Migrant Workers are invited to each one of the meetings of this committee.

Until March 2002 there wew 21 meetings. Since March 2002 until March 2003 there were 10
meetings that resulted in a number of law proposals some of which have already been presented
to the Law committee of the Parliament and were accepted for voting by this committee on 7th
of February 2002. In December 2002 the Investigatioon committee issued its interim report,
which grants the phenomenon of trafficking in women for prostitution purposes the utmost
importance of national concern. In addition to the amendments of the existing laws some of
which have already been passed a first reading, the report offers a global operative legal
approach to the issue.

Following are the amendments that passed the preliminary hearing:

It was decided that the minimum penalty regarding the felony of trafficking in
women will represent a quarter of the maximum penalty which is 16 years. The
committee has decided that the court will be obliged to determine at least part
of this penalty as actual arrest and not only conditional arrest unless there
are special reasons to do so.
There is the possibility to judge an Israeli citizen that committed the felony
of trafficking in human beings for prostitution purposes in another country even
if in this country trafficking in human beings women is not considered as felony.
It will be possible to take evidence of the victim of trafficking before the
beginning of the trial to allow the victim to get back to her country of origin
as soon as possible. The evidence will be taken during 2 months from the day that
the court has determined that an early testimony is possible.
The victims will be allowed to testify without the perpetrator physically present
in order to avoid the threat that might constitute the meeting with the perpetrator.
The committee determined, with the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice, that
the legal assistance of the Ministry of Justice will assist the victims of
trafficking both in the question of their administrative detention and in their
civil suites against the pimps. As per estimation of the Ministry of Justice the
Legal assistance will deal with at least 4,000 files per year. Each file will cost
NIS 3,000.- which means that the Ministry of Justice will have to pay NIS 12 Million
( $2,500,000.-) per year.

Other law proposals have not yet passed the preliminary hearing. These are mainly law
proposals that request a considerable budgetary effort.

As there is a constant need to defend the witnesses there is a law proposal that
requests a witness protection program.
Victims of trafficking do not have medical insurance and when the police rescue
them from the brothels the medical treatment they need is not covered by the state
except for emergency cases. This need has to be taken care of by the state.
A law proposal that allows the victims of trafficking to stay in Israel for at least
3 months and with a possibility to extend the period on humanitarian grounds.
Law proposal - A work permit for 6 months to victims of trafficking.
A law proposal to protect women arriving to Israel in the frame of mail order bride
agencies. This law proposal wants to protect women in case they find out that marriage
was not the real purpose of their arrival to Israel.
A law proposal to add victims of trafficking to the list of plaintiffs that are allowed
to have hearings with closed doors. The rational behind this law proposal is the same
as is the rational according to which is a hearing in case of sexual offences.

In January 2001 an "Inter-ministerial committee to study and combat the trafficking in
persons for prostitution purposes" was created headed by Commander Avi Davidovitch. This
committee met several times and heard some NGO`s as well as other experts on this issue.
The interim report was published in November 2002. The main recommendations of this
committee include:

The construction of a shelter for the victims of trafficking - should have been
opened in March 2003 and was postponed to April 2003. The shelter will be a place
also for victims who do not want to testify and a two weeks period will be given to
them to decide whether or not they want to testify. In special cases this period
could be extended as per the individual case. During their stay in the shelter the
women will be entitled to psychological, social and medical assistance as well as
pocket money for their expenses.
The use of financial tools to hurt the traffickers and to enable the courts to confiscate
the earnings and possessions of the perpetrators.
The construction of a body that will coordinate among the different authorities
that treat the issue (Police, Public prosecution, tax authorities, Ministry of
foreign affairs, etc.) as well as coordinating between the NGO`s and the
governmental authorities.
Awareness campaign in the countries of origin as well as in Israel.
Israeli police should continue to implement the instructions of the Head of
the Investigation Department from 1.6.2000 and investigate cases of trafficking.
Develop the cooperation between the army and the south district police on
the Egyptian border, where most of the trafficking occurs. Try to influence Egypt
as a transit country to reinforce its action against the phenomenon along its
border with Israel.
Development of the cooperation with the authorities of the countries of origin.
Training programs for government officials that are facing this phenomenon:
police officers, Ministry of Interior, Public Prosecution, Ministry of Labour
and Welfare.
The state will appoint legal assistance to every trafficking victim at the
expense of the State.
In each case of deportation to the country of origin with the consent of the
victim, the origin country will be notified so that they will be ready to receive
her and give her the necessary rehabilitation and security, It will be possible
to be assisted by different NGO`s that help the victims of trafficking in their
countries of origin.
Proposed legal amendments:
- An Israeli citizen could face conviction also when he is committing
  the offence in a different country.
- Legal arrangement to confiscate the belongings of the traffickers.
- Legal assistance between countries should include the possibility to
  act according to an international confiscation act regarding these offenses.
- Issue an act that will authorize the police to close down brothels where
  there is use of trafficked persons.

First contacts were initiated between the government of Israel and the IOM (International
Organization for Migration) as well as with other INGO`s to set up a program to help the
victims of trafficking but no results have been published yet.

Introduction | Chapter: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | 6 | | 7 | | 8 |

Back