While Israel changed its policies at the urging of the international community and NGOs such as ATZUM, distancing itself from its previous disregard of cross-border human trafficking, trafficking in persons into and within Israel continues.
Indeed, Israel’s failure to address trafficking and prostitution within its own borders is clearly outlined in the American State Department 2014 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which calls for increased investigation of prostitution of Israeli nationals and stronger sentencing for convicted traffickers.
However, after ATZUM helped lead a successful campaign to reduce trafficking into Israel over the Sinai border, a new phenomenon has emerged. Traffickers and pimps, undeterred by the obstacle of a 245-mile fence now dividing the two countries, are getting creative.
In April 2015, police investigated complaints of individuals suspected of raping and pimping young women in a Holon apartment. The investigation exposed a sophisticated network that systematically “imported” women from Eastern Europe to Israel to work as prostituted sex slaves. The suspects allegedly brought women from Eastern Europe to Israel on tourist visas, but soon forced them into sexual slavery. Often the case, such women are duped and at the mercy of their abusers. This incident comes on the heels of a 2014 extended undercover police operation which revealed the existence of an Israeli-Ukrainian-Russian crime ring that trafficked women into Israel to work as sex slaves. The cover story was that the women were arriving for medical tourism.
If Israel is serious about reducing sex trafficking, closing its borders is a critical but not exhaustive strategy. To be sure, trafficking and pimping are only profitable as long as customers are able to purchase prostitution services, making it imperative Israel criminalize such behavior. ATZUM will reassert its past efforts to assure public attention is redirected to this issue and those responsible for anti-trafficking enforcement are held accountable.
