The Jewish Week: February 17, 2006
It is no secret that human trafficking — a discreet way to describe a horrific form of sexual slavery – is an increasingly worrisome problem in coun all over the world. That includes Israel, where it is big business, estimated at between $500 million and $ 1 billion a year.
It is also no secret that while a number of Jewish organizations in this country are concerned about the problem and some have lobbied Israeli officials privately about it, most are unwilling to speak out publicly for fear of embarrassing the Jewish state. We understand that apprehension, but as one official of Atzum, an organization promoting social justice in Israel, told us this week, “It is better to wash your dirty linen in public than to wear it.”
The story behind the human trafficking is a tragic one. Most of the women are between 18 and 30, from the Eastern countries of the former Soviet Union. Some are orphans, and all are living in great poverty. They are recruited through false advertis ing, led to believe they will earn a good income as nannies, waitresses or dancers. Instead, they are flown to Egypt, trucked to the Israel-Egypt border (mainly by Bedouin tribesmen), sold in Israel at human auctions for the best price, then forced into prostitution.
At any given time, an estimated 3,000 of these young women are required to have sex with clients 10 to 20 times a day, every day. They are beaten, raped and sometimes starved by their captors, then flown home after a year or so, once they are no longer physically or mentally able to be of any use to those who control them.
While prostitution is legal in Israel, human trafficking is illegal because the women are not paid and are held against their will. Atzum. which has a task force on human trafficking, estimates that 80 percent of the women in the sex industry in Israel are victims of human trafficking, and that Israeli men and foreign workers make one million “visits” a month to the country’s 450 brothels. Some of those profiting from these women are Jews, some are Israeli Arabs and some are Russians, Jewish and non-Jewish.
According to the annual State Department report on human rights, Israel has improved its standing from Level 3, the worst, to Level 2, where it is now categorized (along with most countries) as making ef relieve the still-serious problem. But it could and should be doing more. One option is to close the border with Egypt or enforce the border patrol, making transportation of these young women into Israel far more difficult. Another is to crack down on organized crime, which is involved with and profit from the human trafficking.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the um group of Jewish community relations organizations, will take up the issue of global human trafficking at its plenum, Feb. 25-28 in Washington. But when it comes to Israel, American Jews can do their part by lobbying Israeli officials to improve the government’s policies and increase public awareness of this tragic situation. Our history, tradition and val have taught us that every life is precious, created in the image of God. We must speak out against this cruel form of slavery that is flourishing today in the Jewish state.