Human trafficking in
By Miri
Hasson
Published: |
03.23.05,
12:44 / Israel News |
TEL AVIV - Thousands of women are being smuggled into
The
Parliamentary Inquiry Committee, headed by Knesset member Zehava Galon of the left-wing
Yahad party, commissioned the report in an effort to combat the sex trade in
The report, issued annually, said some
10,000 such women currently reside in about 300 to 400 brothels throughout
the country. They are traded for about USD 8,000 – USD 10,000, the committee
said.
The U.S. State
Department ranks
Most foreign
prostitutes in
The committee
found that the women work seven days a week for up to 18 hours every day and
that out of the NIS 120 paid by customers, they are left with just NIS 20,
while the rest of the money is passed on to their traders.
The prostitutes
face constant threats of abuse and murder, the report said, and Israeli law
does little to help them. Delays in trial dates and prolonged hearings force
the women to remain exposed to violence for more than a year until they are
called in to provide testimony, and courts rarely collect early testimonies, as
permitted by law.
To help combat the
problem, the committee recommended that the state prosecutor's office refrain
from making plea bargains with sex traders. It also advised to raise the
threshold of punitive measures and pushed for financial compensation for sex
trade victims.