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NGO Report: Israel Fails to Crack Down on Human Trafficking

April 26, 2016 by

Government agencies aren’t cooperating enough and more sex workers are arriving from Eastern Europe than before, the report by Hotline for Refugees and Migrants says

Ilan Lior  Apr 26, 2016, HA’ARETZ

Human rights organizations are identifying far more victims of human trafficking than the state, a rights group says in a new report. According to the report, prepared by the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, about 80 percent of trafficking victims from the asylum-seeker community were identified last year by human rights organizations rather than state agencies. The Hotline itself identified 28 African asylum seekers as trafficking victims who had suffered torture in the Sinai Peninsula en route to Israel. At the organization’s urging, the state recognized 19 of them as trafficking victims, and four were released from Saharonim Prison.

The report adds that last year saw a rise in the number of women who came to Israel on tourist visas from Eastern Europe and were put to work in the sex industry. It says 11 such women, after being arrested on suspicion of engaging in prostitution, were deported by the Population, Immigration and Border Authority without any coordination with the police or examination of the circumstances that brought them to Israel. Even though the administrative tribunals that deal with such cases have harshly criticized this lack of coordination, there have been no signs of any improvement, the report says.

Over the past decade, Israel worked hard to improve its handling of human trafficking in order to earn a Tier-1 ranking on the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, Hotline says. And as long as Israel was trying to improve its ranking, state agencies were careful to coordinate in an effort to end human trafficking. But in recent years, cooperation between the population authority and the police has deteriorated, the report says.
As a result, women arrested for prostitution are sometimes deported even before police have questioned them to find out whether they were trafficking victims, making it impossible for the police to find the traffickers.

The recent decision to allow visa-free travel from Ukraine and Moldova made it harder to monitor human trafficking from those countries, the report says. The report notes that for the past few years, the Justice Ministry has run courses for both judges on administrative tribunals and prison staffers on how to identify victims of trafficking and torture. Still, Hotline activists have repeatedly identified trafficking victims who were missed by prison staffers and tribunal judges.

“The numbers show that the perception of trafficking as something that has been eradicated in Israel has prevented the authorities from taking action against the new face of this phenomenon,” Hotline director Reut Michaeli said in a statement. “The characterization of women working in prostitution as offenders who have to be deported, not as survivors who need rehabilitation, is problematic and reminiscent of the late 1990s and early 2000s, a period when the trafficking of women in Israel was at its peak.”

The Justice Ministry said it only heard of the report when asked about it by Haaretz and wanted to study it before responding. Nevertheless, it added, the ministry department that coordinates the fight against human trafficking has overseen fruitful cooperation between all the relevant parties, including state agencies, the Knesset, Israeli NGOs and international organizations. It said this cooperation had been underway since the department’s establishment in 2006 so that “human trafficking has been significantly reduced in a manner that has gained international recognition.”

The police similarly said they hadn’t received the report and therefore couldn’t comment, adding they had no idea what the statistics were based on. But they said they were fighting trafficking resolutely in close cooperation with other state agencies and with scrupulous attention to the rights of both suspects and victims.
The population authority said that as soon as someone is identified as a trafficking victim, he or she is treated as per the regulations.

 

Filed Under: In the Press

Important Update from ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking

September 3, 2015 by

TFHT-rally for G

For the last two weeks, Israel society has been deeply engaged in a dialogue about the evils of prostitution. The intensive public discourse on the exploitation of vulnerable, prostituted girls and women was triggered by a tragic event.

On August 13, G, a 36-year-old woman who made aliyah from the FSU at age 15 and had been prostituted for half her life, committed suicide in the brothel in which she was raped and abused nightly by 20-30 johns, six nights a week.

The place where this tragedy took place, located at 98 Hayarkon Street in the heart of Tel-Aviv, and in operation for a decade, is one of the area’s 200-250 brothels and “discrete” apartments well known to law enforcement agencies. It is also where nearly 900 Israelis gathered on August 22 to mourn G’s death, urge society to confront the brutal cost of prostitution, and act to assure its abolishment.

The event in G’s memory was organized by ATZUM-TFHT and a national coalition of NGOs working on related issues. The aim was to bring public awareness to the many other nameless, faceless women suffering the same debasement, who too often feel that they have no choice but to take their own lives in order to escape.

The evening began with somber reading of a list of 42 women who died in the last five years due to prostitution and trafficking. A moment of silence followed. NGO coalition members, Members of Knesset (MKs), and mayoral advisors spoke, as did women who had escaped prostitution. The mourners eventually moved to block the entrance to the brothel where G died and where johns were seen still entering the building. Two women prostituted in the same brothel joined the memorial service and told one of the other organizers, “Kol hakavod, good that you woke up. It really says something to us that so many people came to honor G. You just can’t imagine how many other G’s there are.”

TFHT has been in the Hebrew and English-language news (print, radio, and television) daily since publishing a public death notice in G’s name, a customary practice in Israel upon the passing of a loved one or revered member of the community. This itself was extraordinary—the first time that respectful notification of the death of a person identified as a prostitute was published.

G’s tragic end is important, a defining moment which insists Israel society open its eyes and take action. Her death lifts the veil that cloaks the public’s misconception that women choose prostitution, a falsehood perpetrated by those who claim it to be a harmless personal choice, and one that facilitates a woman’s independence. And who is actually claiming this to be true but the johns whose demand for sex finances prostitution and the pimps and traffickers who are the true beneficiaries of the flesh trade.

Einat Harel, 51, known as the Tel-Aviv Madam, who ran a brothel for nearly a decade, was interviewed on the August 31 segment of Channel Two’s highly popular Friday night program regarding her most recent indictment on charges of pimping, soliciting for prostitution and money laundering.  Without compunction, Harel suggested the police pursue “real criminals” instead of hounding those who seek to facilitate free enterprise. The public outcry was tremendous.  The interviewer was slammed for giving this woman a platform to glamorize and legitimize prostitution as a simple lifestyle choice. 

“I am glad to say viewers saw through Harel’s lie and are starting to engage in a serious manner,” said Michal Leibel, a lawyer and TFHT Director. Speaking in an August 24 interview in Media Line, Leibel argued that “Legalization has been shown to increase demand for prostitution, as the trade becomes legal and therefore no longer taboo…[failing] in its attempts to improve the lives of [the prostituted person]…Violence and sexual attacks towards [the] prostitute[d], and women as a whole across society, may increase in a culture where women can be purchased freely.”This is intolerable.

ATZUM, its TFHT co-founder the law firm Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar, and our philanthropic partners mourn G whose suicide prompts us to redouble efforts to ensure passage and enactment of law based on Nordic Model legislation, the international standard designed to criminalize pimps and johns and protect the prostituted person.

As the Knesset is currently in recess, our continuing lobbying efforts of MKs and government ministers must wait a few more weeks. However, we are in ongoing contact with Shuli Moalem Rafaeli (Ha Bayit Hehudi), Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) and Merav Michaeli (Zionist Union) who support our cause and are dedicated to promoting the bill the Task Force recently authored.

Hopefully, G’s death will be written in Israel history as the pivotal moment in the cause of criminalizing johns and supporting survivors of prostitution; hopefully, one day her real name will be known as a source for pride and respect.

Note: An in depth interview with Michal Leibel will follow in the coming days and an update from P119 will soon be issued. Recent English-language posts:

Filed Under: Blog, Current and Past Events

Human Trafficking Into Israel: The Return of a Trend in the Guise of Tourism?

June 7, 2015 by

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.

Filed Under: Blog, Task Force on Human Trafficking

Task Force on Human Trafficking: Facing New Political Realities

December 25, 2014 by


Facing new political realities

The 19th Knesset lasted 671 days, less than half its designated term. The government’s vote to dissolve on December 8, 2014 and call for early elections in March 2015 was a blow to those working to bring about critical legislative reforms to protect vulnerable populations. Many important initiatives have been shelved, at least for the time being. Understanding social change as a marathon, not a sprint, the work of ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking (TFHT) continues.

For the past three years, TFHT has called for passage of legislation based on the Nordic Model, the international standard designed to criminalize the purchase of sexual services and protect the prostituted person, nearly always a coerced girl or woman victim of childhood rape and/or incest. Following the dissolution of the 18th Knesset (February 24, 2009 – February 5, 2013), during which important strides were made with then MK Orit Zuaretz, TFHT maintained and increased its efforts.

From the day the most recent Knesset was sworn in, THFT lobbied and worked tirelessly with government officials from various ministries to advance the complicated process of presentation of legislation through its passage into law. (For detailed information, please see “Primer on Passing Legislation Based on the Nordic Model“.) Perhaps our most significant accomplishment of the past 22 months was bringing to the table three MKs from parties of considerably different political orientation — MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz), MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, and MK David Tzur (HaTnuah). In the next Knesset, the strategy will remain the same as we collaborate with those parties with which we have established ongoing relationships.


The next 100 days

There is much to be done to keep the issue front and center and assure we do not lose traction gained. Among other things, our work will focus on:

Legislation: Continue to liaise with past and potential legislators, and the NGO, academic, and law enforcement communities to author comprehensive legislation providing broader protection of prostituted persons than that previously tabled. Such legislation will more comprehensively address issues of demand, deterrents, and rehabilitation.

Legal: Bring to justice individuals renting or managing hundreds of brothels and “discrete apartments” openly operating with impunity; challenge increasing incidents of police violence against prostituted persons, particularly those from the LGBT community.

Advocacy and Social Action: Marshal our “Project 119” international volunteer corps in new ways during this transition between governments to better inform government ministry officials, influential media persons and Diaspora Jewish communal leadership.

Education: Facilitate continuing and new service-learning programs with the aim of encouraging informed activism towards the abolishment of trafficking and prostitution in Israel and the Diaspora.


Stay tuned

TFHT and our long-time pro bono partners which include the law firm of Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar and advertising company Y&R-Israel are committed to changing the social norms and criminal “industries” which allow women and girls to be exploited and diminished. No matter the obstacles placed in our path, we shall persevere for the stakes of human suffering and slavery are too high to abandon. To understand the need for a full-out attack on the prostitution industry, please view this 5-minute hard-hitting piece aired by Israel Social TV (with English subtitles) called The Customer Is Not Always Right.

Filed Under: Blog

About Human Trafficking

What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. It is among the fastest growing criminal activities in the world. It is estimated that 600,000 – 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked across borders worldwide every year.

Human trafficking happens in nearly every corner of the world.

How do people become victims?

Victims of trafficking are typically tricked or forced into sexual or labor exploitation. Desperately seeking an escape from a life of poverty, they are lured by the promise of high paying jobs and safe entry into a foreign country. Upon reaching their destination, they are forced to work in slave-like conditions in prostitution or other forms of involuntary labor.

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 come from the former Soviet Union. Most victims enter the country through Israel‘s border with Egypt. Once in Israel, victims are often sold and resold to pimps and brothel owners who force them to work in slave-like conditions. At every stage in the process, the victims are abused and exploited, often suffering severe beatings, rape and even starvation.

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.

Chain of Trafficking

From trafficker to client, the chain of trafficking involves many different people acting in different roles.

Step One: Recruitment
While some victims are kidnapped, most are recruited in their country of origin. Some are recruited personally by individuals, strangers or friends. Others respond to advertisements in the newspapers, promising high paying jobs and safe entry into a different country. Most of these women are living in abject poverty in the former Soviet Union and are desperately seeking an escape and a way to make a better life for themselves and their families. While some of these women are aware that they will be working in prostitution, none are aware of the terms under which they will be living. These women are recruited by or for traffickers, nationals of the FSU with ties to organized crime, who plan to sell these women as commodities to the highest bidder.

Step Two: Transportation
Most victims enter Israel through the border with Egypt. The traffickers arrange for them to be flown to Egypt where their passports are confiscated, preventing their escape. The victims are then transported across the Sinai desert by smugglers who often rape and abuse them along the way. The smugglers are mostly Bedouin tribesman with family relationships on both sides of the border, allowing them to coordinate the transfer of these women along with light weapons and drugs.

Step Three: “Sale” and “Purchase”
Once in the country, women are sold to pimps and brothel owners. Occasionally, a pimp will arrange to “purchase” a particular victim from a specific trafficker. More often, the women will be sold by private auction reminiscent of 19th century slave trade. They will be stripped and inspected and assigned a price tag of between 5,000-10,000 US dollars. Not all pimps and brothel owners have criminal records. Some men and women simply see this as an “industry” with relatively low risks and very high profits.

Step Four: Sexual Exploitation
Victims are transported to brothels and “discreet apartments” throughout the country. Pimps and brothel owners exploit the victims by forcing them to receive 10-15 clients per day on average, often without any pay. The average trafficking victim “works” between 14-18 hours a day regardless of her physical condition. Clients of trafficking victims represent a cross-section of Israeli society. It is estimated that men in Israel pay approximately 1,000,000 visits a month to brothels around the country.

Other Actors in the Chain of Trafficking
Private industries, like hotels and newspapers, also contribute to this atrocious human rights violation by providing services to pimps and brothels. Hotels provide special deals to brothel owners and pimps, promoting the exploitation of these women. Drivers transport the women to and from clients. Newspapers and Internet sites advertise “services” and print ads recruiting new victims into the chain of trafficking.

Has Israel Given Up The Fight Against Human Trafficking?

October 5, 2011 by

The Jewish Press
October 5, 2011

By Kayla Zecher

In June of this year, Israel’s police commissioner, Yochanon Danino, announced the dissolution of Sa’ar, a unit that specializes in cases dealing with the exploitation of foreign workers and refugees along with other issues related to migration and human trafficking.  In response, a special committee hearing was called by MK Orit Zuaretz, the head of the sub-committee against human trafficking. All in attendance, including government representatives and numerous NGOs, opposed the decision to dismantle what is the only law enforcement agency equipped to deal with these complex and increasingly important issues. [Read more…]

Filed Under: In the Press

Levi Lauer Discusses the Task Force on Human Trafficking at Brandeis

September 24, 2011 by

On Tuesday, September 13, 2011, Levi Lauer, Founding Executive Director of ATZUM, spoke at Brandeis University on the topic of “When Hope Ends in Slavery: Human Trafficking in Israel.” He discussed sex slavery and the trafficking crisis in Israel in general and the tactics employed by ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking (TFHT) to combat these egregious violations of human rights.

The event, which took place in the University’s Rapaporte Treasure Hall, was hosted by the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and the Schusterman Center for Israeli Studies, and was co-sponsored by the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute; the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life; the Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies Program; the Social Justice & Social Policy Program; the Women’s and Gender Studies Program; and the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University.

Prof. Ilan Troen, director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, delivered the opening remarks during which he introduced Rabbi Lauer as an “unusual and exceptional individual who blends the vision of a utopia with an energetic activist who is prepared to engage in unwelcome realities.” Florence Graves, the Founding Director of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism was very pleased with the turnout and the considerable and intense interest generated by the topic. She noted, “Rabbi Lauer is a wonderfully eloquent speaker, and I think he has made a huge impact here at Brandeis.”

LISTEN TO LEVI’S FULL PRESENTATION HERE.

 

Filed Under: Events and Announcements

Task Force on Human Trafficking

In the past decade, approximately 25,000 women, nearly all from the Former Soviet Union, were smuggled into Israel over the Egyptian border to be brutalized as sex slaves. Once in Israel, victims are repeatedly sold and resold to pimps and brothel owners. They are forced to work in slave-like conditions, ruthlessly abused and exploited, suffering severe beatings, rape and often starvation. Though Israel has made progress in the fight against human trafficking, there is still a great deal that needs to be done.

In 2003, ATZUM joined forces with Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar (www.knklaw.com) and established the Task Force on Human Trafficking (TFHT) to help Israel put an end to human trafficking within its borders.  The TFHT works tirelessly to engage and educate the public and government agencies to confront and eradicate modern slavery in Israel, and lobbies for reform in the areas of prevention, border closure, protection of escaped women, and prosecution of traffickers and pimps.

Lobbying

In January 2005, the TFHT began a full-scale campaign to lobby policymakers in Israel about the issue of human trafficking. Hundreds of letters and e-mails were sent to members of the Knesset (MKs) to educate them about trafficking and demand important policy changes. The TFHT also convenes frequent meetings with high-ranking police and military officials to ensure that it remains up-to-date on changing practices in the field.

Thus far, the TFHT has:

  • Convinced MKs, cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister  to raise the trafficking issue in key parliamentary committee sessions;
  • Conducted brainstorming sessions with individual MKs to explore ways in which Israel can improve its policy on trafficking;
  • Inspired MKs to initiate their own inquiries into what government agencies are doing about trafficking.

The Task Force also participates in the Knesset Inter-Office Parliamentary Committee against Human Trafficking, which was formed at its request.


Advocacy

The TFHT advocates on behalf of the victims of human trafficking by filing complaints in the courts or other formal agencies, demanding policy changes and requesting that pimps and traffickers be arrested and prosecuted. These initiatives draw greater attention to this issue and help protect the rights of victims throughout Israel.

Recent advocacy efforts include:

  • Government policies that impede justice are challenged and sometimes overruled in court. The TFHT filed a petition with the High Court of Justice requesting that the attorney general change certain policies which hinder the prosecution of pimps and traffickers.
  • Newspapers play a central role in promoting trafficking by publishing ads recruiting victims and advertising “services.” The Task Force filed several petitions in the courts and via the appropriate channels in the Israel Press Agency challenging this illegal advertising and demanding the newspapers be sanctioned and their publishers brought in for questioning.
  • Too often, court decisions endanger trafficking victims and violate their privacy rights by exposing their full names or addresses. The TFHT wrote a formal letter to the court directorate asking that judges protect victims by shielding this information in their decisions.  The letter was distributed by the court directorate to all of the judges in Israel.
  • The Task Force represents some individual victims directly in the courts and successfully pursued ground breaking damage suits filed against State agencies that violated the basic human rights of the trafficking victims.


Research & Policy Reform

Government agencies and NGOs around the world are working to find ways to put an end to modern slavery.  The TFHT believes that Israel should learn from the successes and failures of these entities and engages in extensive research into their “best practices.” This information allows the Task Force to make important suggestions on how Israel can improve its policies in the fight against human trafficking.

Research and policy reform is an ongoing process. The TFHT’s efforts include:

  • Maintaining a database of the projects undertaken by NGOs around the world to end trafficking;
  • Exploring ways to discourage the involvement of private industries like hotels and newspapers in the chain of trafficking through creative legislative proposals;
  • Participating in international list-serves and chat forums about human trafficking to stay up-to-date on trends.


Public Awareness & Education

Education is a key component in the fight against human trafficking.  Because too many Israelis know little or nothing about the country’s human trafficking crisis, the TFHT works to educate law enforcement personnel and private citizens about the facts on the ground and the best methods to help prevent modern slavery in Israel.

Educational projects include:

  • Developing curriculum materials for use in schools throughout Israel to help promote awareness and eliminate demand;
  • Designing workshops for law enforcement officers on how to identify and assist victims;
  • Organizing creative public events/installments that attract media attention and increase national awareness.

Task Force on Human Trafficking

How a courageous woman journalist exposed the duplicitous acts of a human trafficker/pimp and how you can help!

September 19, 2016 by

Notorious Israeli human trafficker and pimp turned real estate mogul has been identified, again. Help the woman who was brave enough to speak his name a second time.


No one forced him to do it.

David (Dudu) Digmi, described by Tel-Aviv District Court Judge Chaled Kabub three years ago as “… the central figure in the largest network in Israel trafficking in women, with operations and connections overseas” got himself in legal hot water all on his own. As reported by “Haaretz”, “The network [uncovered in 2009] smuggled hundreds of young women from small villages and towns in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia and Uzbekistan after convincing them to come to Israel.” These unsuspecting women were lured by the promise of work in legitimate industries, many trafficked against their will. “In some of the cases the traffickers, including Digmi, used severe violence against the women,” as they were shepherded surreptitiously from country to country until arriving in Israel.

After his actions came to light and the case uncovering the network’s activities went to court in 2013, Digmi was neither jailed nor fined as his underlings were; instead he managed to slither away, becoming a state’s witness and police informant. Ironically, Digmi thrived as he made swift use of the spoils accumulated from his international trafficking and pimping, reinventing himself under another name, as a partner of a purportedly legitimate business — Urban Real Estate (URE).


No one forced her to do it.

sharon-shpurer

Sharon Shpurer, former Haaretz journalist

Digmi continued to operate in this fashion, hiding in plain sight, until a courageous journalist, Sharon Shpurer, who had written a series of investigative reports for “Haaretz” and “TheMarker” relating to Digmi and his partners, exposed him on her Facebook page, calling URE “dubious” and urging the public not patronize the company due to its owner’s former crimes. Sharon was immediately hit with a NIS 1.68 million ($440,000) SLAPP suit filed by URE.  Though such lawsuits – intended to censor, silence, intimidate and bully critics by burdening them with crippling legal action – are prohibited in some countries on the grounds that they impede freedom of speech, in Israel they are allowed.  

While Digmi’s new name was subsequently released by Rotter, an online news forum, despite the continuing gag order forbidding its publication, Sharon and Sharon alone remains the target of a vicious libel lawsuit. Her courage and unwillingness to silently allow this man to accumulate additional wealth using ill-gotten gains derived from prostituting girls and women have placed Sharon in legal and physical peril. Her struggle is our struggle — the struggle for freedom of speech, and the struggle to protect victims of trafficking and prostitution.


What is TFHT doing?

Established in 2003, the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution (TFHT), a joint initiative of Israel NGO ATZUM-Justice Works and the law firm Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar, aims to eradicate human trafficking across and within Israel’s borders and ensure passage of Nordic Model legislation, the international standard designed to criminalize the purchase of sexual services and protect the prostituted person.  Our devoted professionals and volunteers have worked relentlessly with the last four governments in pursuit of legislative change toward the eradication of prostitution and human trafficking and legal enforcement of laws already on the books.

TFHT’s recent and continuing efforts to legally shut down a Tel-Aviv strip club, a front for a brothel prostituting trafficked girls and women, have led to recent threats of violence directed anonymously against the Task Force. This pressure notwithstanding, KNK, as TFHT’s partner, is providing Sharon with pro bono legal representation. (Haaretz is unwilling to do so.) The latest court decision determining that URE’s name can be connected to Digmi is a huge legal win made by TFHT/KNK and a significant step in helping Sharon’s case. 


What can you do?

  1. Sign the Hebrew petition, created by Israel’s Journalist Association, to help fund Sharon’s possible payout if she loses her libel suit. To date, 4,414 journalists, public figures, Members of Knesset, celebrities, and the general public have signed on to potentially pay a portion of her fine in the event that Sharon is financially penalized.
  1. Join TFHT’s Project 119 to help pass progressive legislation to criminalize the act of purchasing sexual services in Israel. Project 119 is an email campaign that matches individual MKs and Government Ministers with Israeli and Diaspora online activists. If you have five free minutes a week and want to help, Project 119 is for you!
  1. Advance TFHT’s work through your financial support. Funds are needed both in 2016 and in the coming year to help fund our legal, legislative, advocacy and educational efforts.


Thank you for acting today!

The Task Force on Trafficking and Prostitution
A project of ATZUM – Justice Works and Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar
development.atzum@gmail.com

PS:  Look for news of TFHT’s upcoming event when we award Sharon Shpurer ATZUM’s Ot HaDror Award recognizing public opinion makers and leaders who strive to abolish modern-day slavery. Past recipients include Dalia Dorner, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel; Zahava Gal-On, Knesset Member (Meretz); Adv. Rachel Gershuni, Israel’s National Anti-Human Trafficking Coordinator; Orli Vilnai, Israeli journalist and Channel 10 anchor; and Orit Zuaretz, former Knesset Member.

Filed Under: Blog, Task Force on Human Trafficking
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