Israeli Sex-slave business has soared

[Moses]

Israel women trafficking soars

Between 3,000 and 5,000 women have been smuggled into Israel in the past four years to work as prostitutes, according to a parliamentary inquiry.

The report described how the women are sold at public auctions for as much as $10,000 and forced to work up to 18 hours a day.

On average the women receive only three percent of the money they earn from prostitution, the report said.

Most of the women are from the former Soviet Union. [Pat Robertson's orgs may be involved in this]

Many are raped and beaten as they are smuggled into Israel over the Egyptian border, the inquiry found.

Attitudes

Zehava Galon, of the opposition Yahad Party, presented the report to the speaker of the Knesset on Wednesday.

"We began this inquiry to investigate the extent of this phenomenon and raise political awareness of their plight and the brutal nature of the trafficking of women in this time of globalisation," said Ms Galon.

She said the biggest challenge in addressing the plight of women in the sex trade was changing the attitudes of the Israeli public and police.

The inquiry also criticised judges for passing light sentences, sometimes only community service, for men running prostitution rings.

The report called for minimum jail terms of 16 years for those convicted. London-based rights group Amnesty International and the US State Department have also reported an alarming increase in prostitution rings in Israel.



Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4380067.stm

Published: 2005/03/24 17:07:06 GMT

© BBC MMV

[Moses]

Israel's Sex Trade Escalating

JERUSALEM, March 23, 2005

Between 3,000 and 5,000 women have been smuggled into Israel over the past four years in a burgeoning, illegal sex industry, according to a parliamentary committee report issued Wednesday.

Zehava Galon, who heads the Committee Against Trade in Women, said the four-year inquiry showed how women are smuggled across the Egyptian border into Israel and "along the way, raped, beaten and then sold in public auctions." Most of the women are from the former Soviet Union, she said.

Galon, from the opposition Yahad Party, presented the report on Wednesday to the speaker of the parliament, Reuven Rivlin.

The panel faulted judges for light sentences, sometimes only community service, for men running the prostitution rings. The report called for minimum jail terms of 16 years instead.

The report said women are sold to pimps for as much as $10,000 each, work 14-18 hours a day, charge about $30 a client but receive only a small fraction of the money for themselves.

Galon said the biggest challenge in addressing the plight of foreign sex slavery in Israel was to change the attitudes of the public, and especially the police.

When the committee met with the law enforcement agencies, she said, "the prevailing attitude was to treat the women as illegal residents."

Since then the police have slowly begun to see the women as victims of crime, she said.

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Note: The Israeli cops not only look the other way, they participate.