Our TFHT authored legislation became law

December 31, 2018 will be remembered by many as the day Israel’s Knesset did the right thing by finally passing the “Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services Bill” based on Nordic Model legislation, the international standard criminalizing the sex buyer and protecting the prostituted person, nearly always a girl or woman trafficked or coerced into prostitution. In doing so, Israel became the tenth country to demand an end of socially accepted, paid rape.

The bill’s first iteration was conceived, and presented to the Knesset, by former Knesset Members Zehava Gal-On and Orit Zuaretz in 2007. TFHT led the campaign for its passage from that moment forward, lobbying lawmakers in four successive governments, all which dissolved before their full term; stood up to vociferous opposition and threats of physical violence; helped broker unprecedented cross-party cooperation; and when finally, on the last day of the 20th Knesset before its premature dissolution, cheered the bill’s unanimous approval. In the course of this eleven-year effort, we have authored a number of other pieces of significant, related legislation, subsequently enacted, all important steps to facilitate change for Israel society. Today, we definitively declare that the State of Israel will no longer abide the legal, brutal exploitation of another prostituted human being.

Financial support and constant encouragement from our contributors has helped us arrive at this historic moment.  We recognize our donors, in Israel and abroad, for sustaining the conviction that Israel could do better. For that confidence in our better future, we are thankful, even as we now begin to prepare new strategies for struggles on the enforcement front.

We are also gratified to note that on January 3, 2019, ATZUM–TFHT received the Ministry for Social Equality “Award For Outstanding Contributions To Eliminate Violence Against Women”  in a special ceremony at Beit HaNasi, chaired by Israel’s President, Reuven Rivlin.

Just to share the moment and hope for a better future: below, Ori Keidar of KNKB which pro bono partners with ATZUM, stands next to Gila Gamliel, Minister of Social Equality, and Rabbi Levi Lauer; the two women on Levi’s right are recipients for their projects advancing women’s self-defense workshops and economic and social security.

These exciting developments are product of the dedicated contribution of our present and past staff which includes: Adv. Yael Ben-Saadon and Adv. Nitzan Kahana, current Co-Directors; Adv. Michal Leibel and Adv. Avital Rosenberger-Seri, both former Directors; and Project Coordinators Kayla Zecher-Rothman, Ya’ara Hallakoun, Reuma Schlesinger, and Daphna Galili. We are deeply grateful to Ori Keidar and the law office, Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar-Blum without whose caring, wisdom and unstinting pro bono work we would never have come to this advance of dignity and decency on the streets of Israel.

Sex education at Machane Yehuda shuk

Shannon Nuszen, June 28, 2017, Times of Israel

During the peak lunch hour in the middle of Jerusalem, at the Machane Yehuda shuk today, the arrival of a new food truck caused quite a bit of rukus. Calls to “come get your meat” on a loudspeaker, and girls passing out small sandwich bags, brought about large crowds expecting to get a free taste.

Meet the Meat was a typical looking roadside food truck, with a large kosher sign.  The difference was that rather than selecting your cut of meat from the cow diagram, there was an image of the female body. Each portion of the female body was labeled and numbered. The menu consists of sexually descriptive names of the female anatomy.

If you were to take one of these free sandwich bags, you’d find a very graphic story of various women who resort to prostitution for income.  It also describes the type of client they serve, as well as the sexual services they provide. The sandwich inside was not edible, and was an unpleasant raw piece of meat between a bun. It was quite shocking to all who approached the truck, which was obviously the point.

A little-known fact that many learned today is that prostitution is legal in Israel, but there is very little legislation addressing the issue. For instance, the buying or selling of sex is completely legal, but the profit of those services cannot involve a 3rd party. In other words, it’s an individually run business – no pimping allowed.

The organizers are part of a local NGO named “The Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution” (TFHT), along with M&C Saatchi Advertising firm.

The legalized status in Israel is causing the industry to soar, and the demand for more prostitutes is a huge concern. “Beautiful young men and women end up trapped in the life of prostitution” explained one of the activists.  The organizers of the demonstration explained that they hoped to shed light on the problem, and promote bills currently being presented that introduce the “Nordic Model.” The Nordic Model approach to prostitution (also known as the Sex Buyer Law) decriminalizes all those who are prostituted, provides support services to help them exit, and makes buying people for sex a criminal offence, in order to reduce the demand that drives sex trafficking. “If we remove the legalized status of prostitution in Israel, we believe it’s an important step in solving the problem” said one of the young women handing out the sandwich packs.

The Criminal Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services and Community Treatment Bill was approved by the Knesset’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation

22 Tamuz, 5777

The Criminal Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services and Community Treatment Bill was approved by the Knesset’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation

TFHT – The Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution, a joint project of ATZUM and Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar: “A Historic Step Towards Changing the Face of Israel Society”

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved the proposed Criminal Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services and Community Treatment Bill, 2017, drafted by the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution and by MKs Shuli Mualem-Refaeli and Zehava Gal-On. The Committee also voted support for parallel measures submitted by MKs Dr. Aliza Lavie (Chair of the Sub-Committee on Sex Trafficking and Prostitution), Aida Toma-Suleiman, and Merav Ben-Ari (Chair of the Committee on Advancing Women’s Status).

Rabbi Levi Lauer, co-founder of the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution: “Today, the Ministerial Committee voted appropriately to take responsibility for 12,500 prostituted persons and for the image of Israel society by unequivocally saying “No” to sex trafficking and the purchase of prostituted services. We have struggled for a decade to bring Israel in line with many other states that have legislated that women’s bodies are not for consumption. We eagerly now anticipate speedy passage of the bill in the Knesset that we might truly bless, ‘She’he’heyanu’ – we have indeed come to a better time.”

Attorney Ori Keidar, co-founder of the Task Force Against Human Trafficking and Prostitution: “This is an exciting time in which the Knesset is taking a very important step in dealing with the severe social illness of prostitution in Israel. For the first time, the law provides a comprehensive response to all the components of the “industry”, foremost to the consumers who create the demand for prostitution and draw more and more women into the circle of prostitution.”

Attorney Avital Rosenberger-Seri, Director of the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution: “After a decade of difficult struggle, we are gratified the Israel government chose to convey a message of hope to women in prostitution and to Israel society as a whole. You can eradicate prostitution – you need decide to place responsibility on the consumers. It is possible that a generation will grow in Israel for which the purchase of sex and women will be illegitimate and illegal. We congratulate the Members of Knesset without whose cooperation with TFHT-The Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution this bill would not have passed. ”

The bill drafted by the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution includes three parts: the prohibition of the criminal consumption of prostitution, the penalty for which is a fine, or imprisonment, according to the gravity of the offense; rehabilitation and assistance for prostituted persons; and the establishment of a national authority to combat prostitution and assist its victims, including a public awareness campaign to strengthen the law’s impact.

It’s Time to Put the Pressure On

We are at the threshold of a potentially defining moment in the struggle against the consumption of prostitution in Israel!

On Sunday, July 16, a bill initiated and shaped by TFHT and  promoted by MKs Shuli Mualem-Refaeli and Zahava Galon, will be submitted to the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. The bill seeks to criminalize the purchase of prostitution and provide rehabilitation for prostituted persons.

In preparation for this ministerial decision, the first and critical step toward passage in the Knesset’s current session, we seek to mobilize all possible support to ensure that the proposal will be passed. Therefore, we ask you now to email the members of the Ministerial Committee of Legislation, urging their support of this bill  to abolish prostitution in Israel.

Please inform friends, relatives and community leaders so that they might also help. This Sunday is the time to demand Israel’s decision-makers fulfill the will of the public and act without delay to prohibit the consumption of prostitution and rehabilitate victims of prostitution in Israel.

Step 1: Copy the email addresses below of the members of the Ministers Committee of Legislation, to a new email:

Infovatikim@pmo.gov.ilsar@justice.gov.iluria@knesset.gov.ilsar@moh.gov.ilsar@tourism.gov.ilsar@moc.gov.ilsar@moia.gov.iloakunis@knesset.gov.ilministerts@most.gov.ilreligions@religions.gov.ilsar@sviva.gov.ilsar@moch.gov.ilSar@mof.gov.il

Please Bcc: project119.tfht@gmail.com 

Step 2:  Insert in subject line: This is your time to act – support the Criminal Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution!

Step 3: Copy and paste the letter to the new email. Sign your name at the bottom, and hit send!

We thank you for your action and support!

Letter:

Dear Government Minister,

On Sunday, July 16, 2017, the Knesset’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation will consider the Criminal Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services and Community Treatment Bill, submitted by MKs Shuli Mualem-Refaeli and Zehava Gal-On. I appeal to you to support this important bill.

71 Knesset Members and Ministers from the coalition and the opposition have declared their support for the bill, and polls reveal 76% of the Israeli public believes the government should act to abolish prostitution in Israel. Meanwhile, prostitution kills – in the last decade, 59 women have died as direct result of their lives in prostitution.

The bill turns the spotlight on the hidden side of prostitution – the clients who are the driving force of the “industry”, an industry turning over 1.2 billion NIS annually. Without client demand there will be no supply. A clear statement by the Knesset that consumption of prostitution is an immoral, illegitimate act to be legally proscribed will drastically decrease that demand.

The National Survey on Prostitution in Israel, conducted by the Ministries of Social Affairs and Public Security, reveals a harsh reality. In Israel there are 12,500 women, men, and teenage girls in prostitution; 97% are Israeli, 62% are mothers of children under the age of 18; and 1,500 are minors. The overwhelming majority of prostituted women report they entered prostitution as a result of economic distress, and 80% testified they would immediately leave the cycle of prostitution if they had the possibility to do so.

Law prohibiting the purchase of prostitution and rehabilitating the prostituted person has been implemented in many countries, including France, Sweden, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and more. Its message is clear: society is not willing for women to endure such extreme harm and therefore need act to reduce demand by deterring the consumers of prostitution.Studies show implementation of the prohibition against the purchase of prostitution has led to a marked reduction in the incidence of prostitution in all its forms, as well as to the reduction of human trafficking. In addition, the studies contradict the claim that prostitution “goes underground” or leads to an increase in sexual violence against women.

The voices of prostituted persons are barely heard. In Israel, few can say they have escaped the living hell of prostitution, or even mention it, because of the lasting, negative perception of women in prostitution. All this suggests prostitution is not an “occupation” like any other. It is an extremely violent life that ruthlessly exploits the body and soul for the gratification of another.

The following is an excerpt from a letter by S., a victim of prostitution:
“The post-trauma I suffer from my days in prostitution is not less than that of a child who was raped all her life. To hear someone say that the inability to eradicate prostitution is a reason to institutionalize it is like saying the inability to eradicate pedophilia is grounds for institutionalizing it.” 

For women in prostitution, suffering daily because of the Knesset’s apathy, time is running out. You have the responsibility and the ability to give thousands of women a chance for a different life.

We call upon you to support the Criminal Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services and Community Treatment Bill, and therefore create a more decent, humane Israel for all its citizens.

Meet the Meat

ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution has launched its latest campaign entitled, “Meet the Meat”. This campaign seeks to increase a growing awareness of the evils of Israel’s sex trafficking and prostitution “industries”. We want each person in Israel to understand that prostitution is never a choice, not a legitimate “job”. Prostitution is violent exploitation of the body and soul and should be delegitimated in a just society.

At Israel’s Knesset June 28, 2017

This campaign was launced at a critical time regarding the broadening positive consensus in the Knesset urging adoption of Nordic Model legislation in Israel criminalizing the client and rehabilitating the prostituted person. These significant achievements would not have happened without the help of our supporters who have joined us in becoming agents of social and policy change. Together we can significantly decrease and then eliminate prostitution in Israel.

Who are the prostituted people?

Ninety-five percent of prostituted people in Israel are women, nearly all Israel citizens; 87% of them are Jewish. Prostituted women come from all social and ethnic backgrounds. Despite that diversity, there are many similarities of personal history and the causes that led them to prostitution. Most prostituted women grew up in an environment of home violence and suffered severe abuse within the family. Eighty percent of prostituted women were sexually abused during childhood; most report fleeing home before engaging in prostitution.

Nearly all women in prostitution come from low socioeconomic strata. According to the National Survey on Prostitution published last year by the Ministry of Social Affairs, 62% of prostituted women are mothers, and 82% of those women are single parents to children under 18 without family or other support. Ninety percent of women in prostitution are controlled by pimps.

Extreme physical and emotional violence and PTSD are ubiquitous and inherent to prostitution. Such violence includes constant humiliation, beatings and rape by both clients and the pimps. Seventy percent of prostituted women questioned in the National Survey testified that they had been raped. There is a disconnect between body and mind, often resulting in amnesia, depression, eating disorders and heightened mortality rates. Few women in prostitution in Israel live to age 50.

Many prostituted women use addictive drugs. Contrary to the prevailing view, for most the use of drugs began only after entering prostitution as a means to create a sense of separation between body and consciousness, a desparate attempt to mask the pain that accompanies prostitution. No surprise then that 80% percent of the women wish to leave prostitution if they had the support to do so.

The National Survey reveals there are 12,500 prostituted persons in Israel. Prostitution itself (not including “deriviative” pornography sites, strip clubs etc.) handles more than 1.2 billion NIS/30 million USD annually. A prostituted woman is demanded to service six clients daily, an estimated one million visits per year in brothels, ”discreet” aparmtents and hotel rooms.

Myths about prostitution:

“Prostitution always existed and will always exist.“ – Prostitution is not a profession, it is a violent social phenomenon which ruthlessly exploits women and children selling their bodies.

“If prostitution is prohibited, the incidence of rape will increase.” The motives of rapet are not of sexual release but the violent control of a woman’s body. In those countries which criminalize the purchase of prostituted services, there is no increase in the rate of rape.

“It’s easy, fast money.“ – The vast majority of women in prostitution are destitute. Profits from prostitution are overwhelmingly those of traffickers and pimps.

About the criminalization of johns

The most practical way to halt the abuses of prostitution is to reduce demand, which will reduce supply. Criminalization of the purchase of sexual services ihas proven by far the most effective way to eliminate prostitution.

The Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution
is a joint initiative of ATZUM-Justice Works and Kabiri Nevo Keidar & Co.
project119.tfht@gmail.com

A Brief Primer on Prostitution in Israel

The Knesset 2016 Winter Session has just commenced and will soon consider legislation prepared by TFHT and Government Ministers spanning both sides of the political divide. In advance of this extraordinary opportunity to advance Nordic Model legislation in Israel and leading up to International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25), TFHT has prepared a Legal Primer (Vol. II) outlining  in simple term the very complicated legislative process.

 

A Brief Primer on Prostitution in Israel
Prepared by the Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution, 
an Initiative of ATZUM – Justice Works and Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar
(Volume II – October 2016)

 

Prostitution’s Legal Status in Israel

In Israel it is legal for adults to purchase and sell sex. However, purchasing sexual services from a minor is punishable by three years in prison; pimping carries a five-year sentence; and it is illegal to traffic in persons, own or operate a brothel, or advertise for sex.  Despite existing law to define and police prostitution in Israel, demand continues to increase and enforcement is minimal, leaving Israel’s flesh trade a thriving industry where the average age of entry is 14.

First National Survey on Prostitution in Israel

The Ministries of Social Affairs and Public Security recently published the first national survey on prostitution in Israel. The survey of 600 adult females in prostitution refers to data collected up to 2014.  Below are select findings:

  • There are between 11,200 and 12,000 people in prostitution in Israel, 95% female.
  • 1,260 minors were found to be active in prostitution.
  • 62% of women surveyed reported being mothers, 80% of whom have children under 18.
  • 65% of women surveyed reported having less than 12 years of education.
  • 52% of women surveyed were born in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 97% are Israeli citizens and 86% are Jewish.
  • There are approximately 670 adult sex websites, reflecting a shift in procurement.
  • The primary reason reported for entry into prostitution was economic hardship.
  • 80% of the women working in brothels, “discreet” apartments, massage parlors and on the street have expressed a desire to leave prostitution.

It was estimated that Israel’s sex industry handles NIS 1.2 billion ($308.2 million) annually. The Social Affairs Ministry’s current budget for combating prostitution is NIS 22 million ($7.5 million), two-thirds earmarked for dealing with minors, though many maintain current laws protecting the underage are inadequate and difficult to implement. From the data we see that while Israel has succeeded in appreciably decreasing trafficking into the country, Israeli women of low socio-economic status continue to be drawn into the world of prostitution.

Worldwide Legislative Models for Addressing Prostitution

The most discussed ways to address prostitution in Israel include attempting to regulate it as a commercial industry, or modifying current law to criminalize its purchase and decriminalize the prostituted person, nearly always a girl or woman coerced into sexual servitude.

  1. Realities of Legalization and Decriminalization: Legalization includes making lawful activities involved in and surrounding prostitution, often imposing “industry-specific” regulations. Countries and states that have legalized prostitution include: Senegal (1969), states in Australia including Victoria (1994) and Queensland (1999), the Netherlands (2000), and Germany (2002). Decriminalization includes repealing all laws or provisions against prostitution. Countries and states that have decriminalized prostitution include the Australian State of New South Wales (1995), and New Zealand (2003).[1] Below is a look at some of the realities in countries that have legalized or decriminalized prostitution:
  • Holland – After legalizing prostitution in 2000, only 1,000 of Holland’s estimated 30,000 prostituted persons were able to meet the legal criteria to be identified as licensed sex workers, thus falling short of providing relevant protections. Moreover, the government and non-profit organizations reported a steep rise in illegal forms of prostitution, particularly trafficking and child prostitution.
  • Germany – Germany legalized prostitution in 2001. In 2010 government officials reported sex trafficking into Germany had drastically increased as the country had become a more attractive market for traffickers and pimps. Additional information here and here.
  • New Zealand – Prostituted people in New Zealand reported legalization hadn’t financially empowered or protected them from violence, and women’s organizations expressed concern over the many young girls who continue to enter into prostitution. Additional information here.

It has been demonstrated in many countries…that prostitution cannot be effectively regulated, and that legalization does not bring emancipation to those trapped in the sex trade. According to the US State Department, “Where prostitution is legalized or tolerated, there is a greater demand for human trafficking…and nearly always an increase in the number of women and children trafficked into commercial sex slavery.”


 

  1. Criminalizing the John, Protecting the Prostituted Person – The Nordic Model:

Legislation based on the Nordic Model — the international standard designed to criminalize the purchase of sexual services and protect the prostituted person — has been adopted by Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Norway and, most recently, France. The model asserts that:

  • Prostitution is a violation of human rights as its target has been relegated to a base commodity for market exchange, like any other object for sale and trade.
  • There is a direct link between human trafficking and the proliferation of prostitution.
  • The most effective way to combat both trafficking and prostitution is to reduce the demand for paid sexual services.  

 


Legislation based on the Nordic Model has proven itself an effective deterrent to potential sex buyers in countries that have passed it. Moreover, these countries have witnessed a significant decline in all forms of prostitution, including sex trafficking and child prostitution.


 

  1. TFHT is Created: The Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution was created in 2003 as a joint initiative of Israel NGO ATZUM – Justice Works and the law firm of Kabiri-Nevo-Keidar to engage the Israel Government, enforcement agencies, and the public to confront and eradicate human trafficking and prostitution by lobbying for legislative reform designed to protect the victim.  TFHT is the only initiative focused entirely on bringing about legislative change related to trafficking and prostitution in Israel.
  1. The 17th Knesset: In 2008, Knesset Member Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) proposed the first version of the The Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services and Community Treatment Bill based on Nordic Model legislation. TFHT worked intensively with MK Gal-On to develop and promote the bill. However, before it could move through the legislative process, the Knesset disbanded after two years and eleven months of its four-year seating.
  1. The 18th Knesset: The 18th Knesset opened on February 24, 2009. Three years later, after considerable lobbying efforts, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation unanimously approved a second version of the bill proposed by MK Orit Zuaretz, with whom TFHT worked intensively for many years. The Committee’s endorsement revealed a readiness of Israel’s government to begin to more seriously address the demand for sexual services. Unfortunately, while the then ministers supported the law, some of their ministries’ staffs opposed it, and the proposed bill did not complete its first reading before the Knesset’s dissolution in October, 2012.
  1. The 19th Knesset: Leading up to and throughout the 19th Knesset, which lasted less than half its designated term, TFHT managed, with unrelenting effort, to secure further progress, bringing to the table three MKs from parties of radically different political orientation — MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz), MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli (Habayit Hayehudi), and MK David Tzur (HaTnuah). The government’s vote to dissolve on December 8, 2014 and call for early elections was a blow, though it motivated us to build on past momentum and use the time to collaborate with other NGOs to expand the reach of the proposed legislation.
  1. The 20th Knesset: The 20th Knesset was sworn in on March 15, 2015. After working assiduously to sustain past legislative gains following the disbandment of the 19th Knesset, TFHT was able to maintain the cross-party collaboration between MKs Shuli Moalem-Refaeli (Habayit Hayehudi) and Zehava Galon (Meretz), in support of Nordic Model legislation. Our revised version of the proposed legislation is more comprehensive in terms of recommended budget and rehabilitation/enforcement needs than previous, leaner versions.

 

Specifics of TFHT-Authored Proposed Legislation

  1. The legislation assumes that every male found at brothel is there to purchase sexual services.
  2. If someone is caught purchasing or attempting to purchase sexual services, they will face up to one year in prison and a fine of not less than 1,250 shekels ($325).
  3. If a man is convicted of going to a brothel in order to purchase sexual services, and the court doesn’t award damages to the prostituted person, the court is obligated to explain its decision.
  4. The legislation seeks to offer a wide range of rehabilitation options for prostituted persons

 

Where Things Stand Today

It is difficult to move the Knesset and Israel’s political machines toward action, though THFT has remained steadfast in the effort. We anticipate the previously stalled legislative process will get underway as the Knesset’s winter session is about to commence. The bill in question can be introduced by:

  1. The Government (“Government Bill”)
  2. One or more Members of Knesset (“Private Member’s Bill”)
  3. A Knesset Committee

To become law, a bill must pass numerous readings, each of which is adopted or rejected by a vote of the Knesset members present in the plenum. Between each reading, the bill is discussed and modified by relevant Knesset committees. After passing the third reading, the bill is published in the Official Gazette and becomes a law of the State of Israel. The majority required to pass a bill varies according to the nature of the proposed legislation. If the government supports TFHT’s proposed bill, a simple majority of MKs present and voting will suffice. If the government does not sponsor the TFHT proposed bill, then the support of at least 50 MKs will be required.

Presently, the Ministry of Justice, through reluctant to add another offence to the penal code, is deciding its official stand on this subject. Notably, the Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, as well as Haim Katz, Minister of Welfare and Social Services, have publically indicated support for significant portions of our bill.  TFHT is currently focusing on making the case for the Ministry of Justice to promote this legislation as a Government Bill, making the road to ratification shorter and easier.

 

Additional Information

Links to research and information regarding prostitution, the Nordic Model, and the quest to reduce demand:

  1. Who buys sexual services? Sex buyers come from all segments of society! The Growing Demand for Prostitution – Newsweek 
  1. Ten Reasons for Not Legalizing Prostitution and a Legal Response to the Demand for Prostitution – Professor Janice G. Raymond 
  1. Prostitution Research and Education – This site calls for the eradication of prostitution and for providing prostituted persons with viable alternatives.
  1. Machon Todaa – This site provides visitors with up-to-date information about prostitution in Israel.
  1. Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – This site gives an overview of prostitution and sex trafficking around the world.

————————————–

For more information or to communicate with Adv. Avital Rosenberger,

please contact TFHT at info@TFHT.org or visit our new website at www.tfht.org

[1] Equality Now: “Does Legalizing Prostitution Protect Women and Girls?

As Prostitution Goes Online, Clients Come Out of the Shadows

Abuse more, pay less: The internet is the new pimp.

Vered Lee, Oct. 20, 2016, Ha’aretz

“Something is twisted inside, mediocre sex like in a puppet show, you have to work too hard,” “A midget, not a great face, a bimbo,” “Suggests sex with her husband present; older, looks terrible.”

These are detailed descriptions of prostitutes from their clients’ perspective. The “critiques” were submitted by a member of the online Hebrew portal Sex Adir (“Great Sex”), aimed at consumers of sex for pay. These descriptions, which included nicknames identifying the women, were accompanied by a call for a “consumer boycott”: “If every one of us would stop going to girls that don’t deliver the goods, the results wouldn’t be long in coming,” the writer suggests.
As in many realms, the internet has also changed the way sex is consumed. Nowadays a client can get information about a “discreet apartment” or arrange sex for pay on his own in a manner even more private and discreet than in the past. Moreover, the anonymity the internet provides allows clients to find each other, support each other, disseminate information and conduct themselves as a community. In other words, the internet is the new pimp.

“When we speak about the sex industry, there’s a type of triangle – the prostitute, the pimp and the client,” says Yeela Lahav-Raz, who wrote her doctorate on the Sex Adir portal, which contains several different forums. “In the past the pimp had a lot more power in this equation because he was the one who mediated, traded and sold. Today a sex client can surf the site, which acts as the pimp in terms of making information accessible. It has also shifted a great deal of power to the sex consumer at the expense of the pimp.”

The Sex Adir website has 28 forums divided into different categories based on venues (street prostitution, discreet apartments, strippers’ clubs); preferences (older/younger prostitutes, transgender prostitutes, homeless prostitutes at the central bus station); and geographic areas.

Lahav-Raz, 36, who teaches at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and at the Tel Aviv Academic College, says the Sex Adir portal has 18,764 registered users, all consumers of sex for pay, and that over the past year there has been a sharp increase in their number. “When I started my research six years ago there were around 11,000 users,” she says. “In the past year alone there were 4,000 new ones. This is a very large increase, and of course does not reflect the overall number of sex consumers in Israel, only those who choose to share their experiences on the forums. Most sex consumers don’t share.”

Lahav-Raz became interested in the sex industry a decade ago, when she was doing research for her master’s degree on the sociology of the home and its significance for the homeless teens being helped by a center for young prostitutes run by the Elem association for youth in distress.

“I had planned to write my doctorate on teen prostitutes,” she says. “But when I went out to the street for the first time with the Elem car that cruises through areas of prostitution, I was struck by the presence of the johns. When we think of prostitutes we think of the prostitutes, but the client is faceless and nameless, an amorphous, abstract entity, protected by the gloom.”

One objective of her research was to analyze the significance of the texts written by the sex clients. “On the surface the declared purpose of the forums is purely consumerist in nature,” Lahav-Raz explains. “‘I’m a consumer like any consumer and I want to get better service at a lower price.’ And how do they achieve this? By uniting as a consumer community … through which they can exert pressure to reduce the prostitutes’ prices.

“But that’s just the declared, open purpose,” she continues. “In fact, the forums serve as a confessional for sex consumers. The internet facilitated their transition from single, isolated consumers to an active community of anonymous members. Because of the anonymity component the sex consumers can share their sexual experiences. They also share the difficulties they have – for example impotence during sex with a prostitute or guilt feelings about cheating on their partners, the fear of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, fear of being caught, and more. What has developed is not just a confessional space, but a type of support group that serves as a therapeutic self-help environment.”

Lahav-Raz divides the sex clients on these forums into three groups – the consumer, the hunter and the addict. The consumer has a neoliberal, capitalistic outlook and is aware of his power as a consumer who aims to “improve the terms of service.” Many prostitutes are in fact aware of the forum and know that they will be subject to criticism and oversight, she says. “They know if they don’t give ‘good service’ as defined by the forum members they will get bad reviews that could harm their livelihood.”

The hunter holds antiquated ideas about the man as the hunter and conqueror, she says. “They call the prostitutes names like ‘street cats’ and ‘street dogs.’ It shows that they see them as wild animals … which makes it legitimate to use force with them and relate to them as inhuman.”

The addict, she says, “defines himself as a victim responding to his drives. Defining himself as an addict frees him from all moral responsibility because from his perspective it’s like a drug controlling him. They are focused on their own suffering.”

She says that these users get support and sympathy from the group. “The empathy is not for the prostitutes, but for themselves.”

Lahav-Raz has also examined how prostitutes react to these online discussions.

“It’s clear that this environment multiplies the resonance of the exploitation and humiliation, since suddenly 19,000 people are reading about people’s sexual experience with the prostitute, ranking her body, reading about how her genitals smell and about their weight and whether their home is dirty – these are all things clients write about.”

But interestingly, she notes, the forum also provides a platform for the prostitutes to fight back.

“Prostitutes have slowly begun to enter the forums and respond,” says Lahav-Raz. “During an actual encounter with a client they would never react that way; he might not pay, he might rape her or get violent. But in the online forum they dare to and are able to express themselves.”

Lahav-Raz has identified ways in which the prostitutes have begun to use these forums strategically. “One of the amazing things is in their posts they try to hit back at the clients, often with humor; they rank the client to show them how it feels to be ranked. They write, for example, ‘The client was hairy, he smelled awful, he was stingy and argued a lot.’ They are using the same tools. I don’t believe that this breaches the wall or brings about a change in the power structure, but this is a very intelligent use of this arena, demonstrating their understanding of the discourse and concepts, in the hope that it can provide
little sisterhood.”

 

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

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.


Remembering G and reflecting on the year following her August, 2015 suicide

On August 13, 2015, G, also known as Jessica, a 36-year-old immigrant from the FSU, prostituted for 15 years at Tel-Aviv’s infamous 98 Ha’Yarkon Street brothel, committed suicide rather than endure one more night’s repeated rapes. Her death and the events it triggered continue to impact Israel society.

ATZUM’s Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution (TFHT) immediately posted a death notice, common practice upon losing a loved one, and also organized a 900-person commemoration march lamenting her tragic death and protesting the so-called “profession” that was its cause. TFHT was also a critical player in the swift issuance of an urgent petition to the Tel-Aviv Magistrate’s Court requesting closure of the brothel. Member organizations of the THFT facilitated Coalition for the Fight against Prostitution, as well as thirteen MKs, joined the petition.  As result, the brothel was closed for the maximum period permissible by law. The police and the courts were waking up to the problem as some months later, another brothel well-known to law enforcement, located at 36 Yitzhak Sadeh Street, too was shut down.

Nine months following G’s suicide, the first National Survey on Prostitution in Israel, commissioned by the Ministries of Social Affairs and Public Security, was published. Referencing data collected as of 2014, the survey revealed there are approximately 11,600 prostituted persons in Israel. An estimated 95 percent are female; most are Jewish, Israeli mothers over 30 who entered prostitution for financial reasons. On average they see six clients daily. While some members of the public would opt to regulate prostitution as a legitimate industry, the survey revealed 76 percent of its victims seek escape, making a clear case that protective and rehabilitative legislation be adopted and the criminal industries that permit human beings to be trafficked into a life of sexual slavery dismantled.

In the year since G’s suicide, TFHT has authored the most comprehensive piece of legislation proposed to date, outlining annual costs for support services, enforcement, and income sources. Based on Nordic Model law, the international standard designed to criminalize pimps and johns and protect the prostituted person, THTT’s proposed bill has garnered broad cross-party support so necessary to legislative change.

A year has passed – from a “wake-up call” to a true “call to action”

On August 25, 2016, TFHT organized a memorial event around the anniversary of G’s death to remember her and the nearly 12,000 others who remain trapped and demoralized by prostitution. Approximately 300 people participated and considerable press coverage tracked our activities. Significantly, on the eve the gathering, Israel’s Minister of Welfare and Social Services, Haim Katz, went on record to support legislation to criminalize johns, except in cases where the perpetrator is a minor. Though this falls short of a full endorsement of TFHT’s bill, it is a considerable step in support of TFHT’s lobbying efforts which will coincide with the start of the Knesset winter session in late October.

G’s tragic end lifted the veil cloaking public misconception that women choose prostitution, a falsehood perpetrated, in part, because pimps pay and threaten prostituted women to lie on record to convince themselves and others that prostitution is a choice.  While we will report on the event and its implications in greater depth in the coming weeks, we want to share with you some recent news commentary in response to our efforts:

g-memorial2

Photo credit: Oren Ziv, Activestills

What have we learned and how can you help?

What have we learned? In the past twelve months, public awareness of the evils of trafficking and the abuses of prostitution has grown exponentially; high-profile instances of the suffering of prostituted women have attracted much media coverage, as have the instances of the sexual abuse of women by public figures; and the culture of business-as-usual buying people for sex is slowly beginning to be seen as unacceptable.  If you are not already part of TFHT’s Project 119 online campaign to help pass progressive legislation to criminalize the act of purchasing sexual services in Israel please do so today! For information on how to sign-up, click here!

TFHT: Progress Towards Passage

It is a difficult process to move the Knesset and Israel’s political machines to recognize the urgent need to pass Nordic Model legislation, but THFT has made much progress. Our recently drafted legislation, more comprehensive than previous, leaner versions, has garnered wide support across party lines, only to be frustrated twice by the disbandment of the Knesset and new elections. After recent months of arduous meetings with MKs Shuli Moalem-Refaeli (Habayit Hayehudi) and Zehava Galon (Meretz) and others, we have now reconstituted and expanded that base of support in advance of the pending re-submission of the legislation.

We are cautiously optimistic: the bill’s cross-party sponsors are adamant in seeking the coalition Government’s approval; public awareness of the evils of trafficking and the abuses of prostitution has grown exponentially; and high-profile instances of the suffering and suicide of prostituted women have attracted much media coverage, as have the instances of the sexual abuse of women by public figures. And, as this report is being prepared, it was announced that Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked called for the formation of a special committee to examine the possibility of making the purchase of prostitution a criminal offence.

Despite the forward motion, we remain aware of very resistant opposition to such legislation: an annual 1.2 billion NIS enterprise has well-connected attorneys; the Ministry of Justice is hesitant to add another offence to the penal code; and the constant distractions of terror attacks, Iranian threats, and the Government’s fear-mongering produce a climate less inclined to see the priority of at-risk citizens’ concerns.

Countering these challenges is the support and inspiration which comes from our donors, pro bono partners, and volunteers who join us in insisting on the betterment of the status of women and their well-being. Together our voices bellow in protest of the daily rape of thousands of prostituted and trafficked women and girls on our streets.