During the course of 2005, human traffickers who forced women to engage in prostitution have received an average prison sentence of five to six years despite the 16-year maximum sentence afforded by the law, a new report reveals Thursday.

The relatively light sentences stem from the fact that two-thirds of all women trafficking cases have ended in a plea bargain, according to the report which was commissioned by the human rights group Hotline for Migrant Workers in conjunction with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The report examines 25 criminal convictions and dozens of rulings issued throughout the year 2005.

"The ruling indicates progress on the part of the judicial system with regards to its treatment to trafficking violations even though the situation still requires significant improvement," the report's authors, chief among them attorney Naomi Labenkrun, note.

Of 25 cases which resulted in a conviction, attorneys in 17 of those instances reached a plea bargain according to which all references to human trafficking were deleted from the indictment while "lesser" crimes, such as procuring women for prostitution, wrongful imprisonment, assault, and kidnapping.

The average prison term resulting from plea bargains is four years. Convicts who did not reach a plea bargain served an average of six years in prison.

Despite the fact that the law permits compensation payments to victims of trafficking, only in nine instances was such an option exercised. The sums of money range from NIS 2,000 to NIS 15,000 while the law stipulates a maximum award of NIS 228,000.

The report also revealed that various judges behave differently towards sex trade victims. Tel Aviv District Court Judge Shelly Timen ordered compensation payments in half of the cases which came before his panel while his colleague in the same court, Judge Saviona Rotlevy, did not reward compensation payments in any of the cases in which she heard.

"Israeli victims receive completely different treatment from the same panel [of judges]," the report states. "Out of eight sex offense cases against Israeli women which came before Rotlevy's panel, compensation was awarded in five of them. The average sum reached NIS 47,000 to each victim."

In 11 cases, judges imposed a sum total of NIS 260,000 in fines against the defendants. The report's authors argue, however, that the funds which the traffickers made through exploitation of their victims should be transferred to a fund geared towards rehabilitating and aiding the women.

The authors also criticize the fact that women's claims against the traffickers need to be submitted to labor courts.

"Prostitution which takes place within the framework of human trafficking is not work, but slavery," the report said.

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