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The Customer is Not Always Right

December 8, 2014 by

Israel Social TV
Mar 3, 2014

The sex industry in Israel generates nearly two billion shekels a year. Thousands of women find themselves trapped in the prostitution cycle due to sexual abuse in childhood, along with severe social and economic circumstances. The bill proposes to take legal actions against clients of prostitution services passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset, and social organizations are now trying to push for final passage. Implementation of the law is expected to cost a lot of money. There is concern that to pass the law, the rehabilitation track will be removed from the law. Therefore, these women engaging in prostitution for lack of choice will lose their source of income and also the possibility of rehabilitation.

Filed Under: In the Press

Opening London TAKUM Session 2014-2015

October 14, 2014 by

The TAKUM course has commenced. Fifteen eager readers huddled together in the synagogues’ Beit Midrash on Tuesday evening, each coming from different backgrounds and for different reasons. With the pouring rain outside, warm drinks and biscuits inside, the atmosphere was perfect for Maureen Kendler’s opening session. Through her selected passage we got to grips with the story of Lot and his daughters. We addressed our previous assumptions about the protagonist, the symbolism of the famous pillar of salt and the typically biblical treatment of women in chapter 19 of Bereishit. And all of this before we had even got to the “tikkun olam” part of the exegesis.

 As we delved into the language, Maureen helped us unravel the issues that the Torah and Midrash reveal. Peppered with our own analysis and discussion we discovered powerful messages within the text about morality and about how we engage with and respond to “The Other”. In fact, we learned that the story of Lot provides us with more of a “how not to” as opposed to the “how to” which we would expect and see in previous chapters with Abraham as our moral beacon. The Bible favours those extraordinary characters who behave with excellent compassion to strangers, to vulnerable members of society and the morally transgressive.

We were left understanding Lot’s final/moral implication on Jewish history; The creation of the Moabites, an enemy of the Israelites, born of his seed….Much to consider, much to learn. Two weeks to go until we huddle around table and text with familiar faces again. 

Note: the London cohort has been brought together with the assistance of Jhub, an organization that brings together people who share a commitment to Jewish values.

Maytal Kuperard

Communications and Community
JHub

Filed Under: Blog, Task Force on Human Trafficking

Report: 1 Million Visits to Prostituted Women in Israel Monthly

October 21, 2013 by

More than one million times each month, prostituted persons are exploited in Israel, according to an investigative report by Israel’s Channel 1 TV.

Gili Varon, Director of ATZUM's Task Force on Human Trafficking, being interviewed as part of the Channel 1 expose

Gili Varon, Director of ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking, being interviewed as part of the Channel 1 expose

The report exposed the extensive prostitution “industry” throughout Israel and the abuse, exploitation and misery of the thousands of women who are prostituted to serve the demand for paid sexual services.  

“Is there such a thing as a woman who wants to be in prostitution?” the reporter asked a formerly prostituted woman, who now works in a shelter helping other women and girls exit the nightmare and rebuild their lives.

“There is no such thing as a woman who goes into prostitution because that’s what she wants to do,” was her response. “It’s nothing more than emotional and physical abuse. It slowly murders your soul. I’ve never met anyone who does it by choice.”

The report explores possible solutions to this widespread degradation of women’s rights and dignity in Israel, including  the campaign to adopt the Nordic Model, which ATZUM is spearheading.

The Nordic Model criminalizes the purchase of sexual services, while decriminalizing the sale of such services. It thus protects vulnerable women, by sending a strong message that buying sex is not to be tolerated.  The model originated in Sweden, which has seen a major decrease in prostitution since its introduction, as well as a shift in the society’s view of people who buy sexual services.

Gili Varon, Director of ATZUM’s Task Force’ on Human Trafficking, was interviewed as part of the TV report. She was asked to respond to those who say that the sale and purchase of sex should be legalized and regulated, as opposed to the Nordic Model. 

“The model of regulated prostitution is unconscionable from a moral standpoint, and in fact it has failed in those countries where it has been implemented,” Gili said in her interview. “We have to pursue the proposed legislation to criminalize buying sex, whereby criminal status is imposed on buyers. They are perpetuating this injustice and exploiting women who have been fallen to a low place due to difficult life circumstances.”

View the full Channel 1 report here (in Hebrew):

YouTube Preview Image

This report highlights the urgent need for action against the prostitution scourge in Israel. 

To learn more about ATZUM’s campaign to fight prositution in Israel, visit the Task Force on Human Trafficking

Filed Under: Blog, In the Press, Task Force on Human Trafficking

You’re Invited to ATZUM’s Event in Chicago on October 8

October 3, 2013 by

Please join us for the eighth annual gathering of the Chicago chapter of Friends of ATZUM: Providing direct assistance to survivors of terror in Israel

 

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

7:00 p.m.

at the home of Lisa and Todd Fishbein

833 Kimballwood Lane, Highland Park

Please RSVP to
jcavanaugh@redsealhomes.com

 

We will be joined by

Rabbi Levi D. Lauer

Founding Executive Director, ATZUM

 and

 Yael & Micha Hershkovitz

Terror and Beyond: Relentless Memory, Old Wounds and New Dreams

 

About Yael Hershkovitz

yael picYael Hershkovitz, a practicing attorney, was born in 1977 in Ashdod and grew up in Jerusalem. Her army service was completed in the Ministry of Defense.

In 2004, on her way to work, Yael was gravely injured in a central Jerusalem, terrorist bus bombing that murdered 11 Israelis and injured many more. Gravely wounded, Yael

suffered facial burns and severe head, hearing and sight injuries and other wounds. She endured a lengthy hospitalization and prolonged, difficult rehabilitation, which included repeated surgeries to reconstruct her scalp, improve her eyesight and hearing, and repair extensive facial scarring.

Less than a year after the attack, with incalculable courage and determination, Yael began her BA studies in law and, soon after passing the qualifying exams and internship, began her LLM. In 2011, she married Micha Hershkovitz. They are currently living in San Diego where Micha is studying for an MBA and where, during the past year, Yael underwent three additional surgeries related to her hearing injury.

 We are fortunate to have Yael and Micha as our guests to share their story.

Filed Under: Blog, Current and Past Events, Roberta Project for Survivors of Terror

Who Cares About Murdered Prostitutes in Israel?

October 1, 2013 by

On August 26th, an article by ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking’s Rebecca Hughes’s was published on the Times of Israel website, entitled ‘Murdering a ‘Certain Kind’ of Woman’.

The article discusses the recent case of the murder of a prostituted woman in Tel Aviv.

It also explores other stories of murdered prostitutes, along with the societal and psychological issues that lead to one class of persons being so at-risk.

You can read the article here. 

Filed Under: Blog, In the Press, Task Force on Human Trafficking

Jewish Teens Confront the Evils of Prostitution

October 1, 2013 by

ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking’s Natasha Mann recently presented three talks about prostitution to Jewish teens.

Natasha’s topic was ‘Prostitution, Human Trafficking, and the Law’ at Noam Camp, an annual Jewish youth program. The first talk was aimed at a group of around 30 youth leaders, aged from seventeen upwards.

Afterwards, the leaders asked her to present talks to the two camps she worked with in France – one of which consisted of 14-year-olds, and the other of 15-year-olds. Each group consisted of around 60 teenagers.

“I was concerned that they were too young to process the subject, or to take it seriously,” Natasha remarked, “but they surprised me. They listened quietly, asked mature and thoughtful questions, and then many of them approached me afterwards to talk about it.”

Learn more about ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking.

 
Filed Under: Blog, Task Force on Human Trafficking

New Year’s Amends for Israel’s Shameful Prostitution Record

September 17, 2013 by

The Jewish High Holidays are a time for reflection and making amends for past wrongs. 

In this spirit, ATZUM’s founder and director Rabbi Levi Lauer’s call for awareness and change to Israel’s attitude to prostitution was published in The Jerusalem Post this week.

“The bad news is that because of the unabated, enormous demand for paid sexual services (i.e. the rape and exploitation of sex slaves and prostituted persons), thousands of Israeli women, and girls as young as 13, are coerced by the ravages of poverty, incest and rape, and inhospitable homes and streets, into sexual servitude,” wrote Rabbi Lauer.

As well as laying down the facts about the wide extent of the problem, Rabbi Lauer also pointed the way to begin rectifying this shameful situation in the New Jewish Year.

“In this season of collective Jewish repentance, now is the time to put an end to this evil. Now is the time to support the legislation pending in the Knesset to criminalize the purchase of sexual services and decriminalize the provider of that dehumanization,” he wrote.

Read the full Jerusalem Post article here

Filed Under: Blog, Task Force on Human Trafficking

A Tribute to Ellen Singer: Director of ATZUM’s US Office

August 13, 2013 by

The ATZUM family wishes to pay tribute to Ellen Singer, director of ATZUM’s US office, who passed away on June 9th.

Ellen Singer

Ellen Singer

Since its founding 11 years ago, Ellen managed ATZUM’s U.S. administrative responsibilities with extraordinary dedication and efficiency – from her home office in Youngsville, N.Y., without salary. Ellen’s work was not “volunteer” in the sense it embodied the highest standards of uncompromising responsibility, even as she met the demands of family and professional life, and engaged a relentless eight-year battle with cancer. Ellen was indeed our colleague in every meaningful expression that relationship might convey.
 
She was also far more than that to me and to nearly all who worked with and met her.  A fine Jewish educator and youth counselor; tirelessly devoted member of varied and diverse Jewish communities and learning groups; wonderfully generous contributor to efforts to address critical human need; unfailing source of plainspoken wisdom wrought frequently with usefully indelicate and unvarnished humor; and perhaps above all a woman, wife and mother of boundless caring and capacity to understand and respond to the pain or need of another. She taught us how to care more deeply, see more clearly, work more resourcefully.
 
We shall miss her dearly for that fine thinking she brought to our efforts and for her contagious determination to make the worlds of Jewish and other endeavor kinder, gentler, better educated and more decent than we would have been had we not been blessed by her friendship. I earnestly hope ATZUM shall prove worthy of her dedication and on behalf of our staff and the innumerable individuals who benefited from her work, extend tanhumim to Don and Vinny and to Ellen’s family and pray they will find comfort among the mourners of Zion and Yerushalayim.
 
Yehi zikhra barukh.
 
Sincerely,
 
Levi Lauer
Founding Executive Director, ATZUM

Filed Under: Blog

“Women For Sale:” ATZUM at the International Women’s Conference, Jerusalem

August 12, 2013 by

International Women's Conference JerusalemOn August 6th, ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking presented at the International Women’s Conference in Jerusalem. Young social activists from around the world, including North America, Europe, and Africa attended the conference.

Throughout the three-day conference they heard presentations on a variety of issues including the role of women in Israeli society and army, tools for change, and the challenges faced when attempting to blend traditional and modern values. Political leaders, businesswomen, journalists, and social activists gave presentations focusing on their experiences, work, and how to move Israel closer to gender equality.

TFHT’s Rebecca Hughes presentation was entitled “Women For Sale: Confronting Sex Trafficking and Prostitution in Israel.”

“Being able to speak to a group of people who are so motivated and committed to advancing equality was a privilege,” remarked Hughes. “Prostitution and sex trafficking are international issues, and if we are going to affect change we all need to be in this together. This conference was a great opportunity to start a conversation about how we can address these issues as an international community.”

 

Filed Under: Blog, Current and Past Events, Task Force on Human Trafficking

Retraction from the Jerusalem Post

June 26, 2013 by
We would like to bring to your attention that on Friday, June 21, the Jerusalem Post erroneously printed that one of the people associated with the ongoing investigation of the chief Rabbi of Israel is the director of ATZUM. We immediately made them aware of this error. As a result they removed the mistake from their website and printed the following in Sunday’s print edition:
 
The Jerusalem Post in its Friday print and electronic editions erroneously reported that one of the parties to the ongoing investigation of the chief rabbi is connected to ATZUM – Justice works. That individual has absolutely no connection to ATZUM. We sincerely regret the error.
Filed Under: Events and Announcements
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