The Influence of the War With Lebanon on the Status of
Prostitution and Trafficking in Women in Israel
Submitted to Knesset Member Zehava Gal'on, chairman of the
parliamentary sub-committee of the fight against trafficking in women, Israeli
Knesset, by Isha L'Isha—Haifa Feminist Center
September
3rd 2006
Written by Rita Chaikin
The
following evaluation is based on phone calls, meetings and tours in the area of
Haifa and its suburbs, during the war in the
North Israel during July-August 2006. Due to
the great difficulty of collecting numeral data, we would like to present to you
with the general trends of the situation in the above-mentioned locations
in several main fields:
Police
Isha
L'Isha learned, after a conversation with the representative of the national
police headquarters in charge of trafficking cases, that no new police cases
were opened during the war in the North. It is worth noting that, in fact, no
trafficking, brothel administration nor pimping cases had been opened during the
period prior to the war as well. Surely enough, the tendency remained as it had
been. Now we see that as in the past, the police continue to neglect the
handling and enforcement of the above-mentioned phenomena, in the Northern
region.
Courts
The
Haifa district
court worked in an emergency format with lawyers on duty, and therefore handled
only part of the criminal and civilian violations.
Brothel
activity in Haifa and the Northern
region
Most
of the active brothels in Haifa and its suburbs were closed during the
war. However, due to the fact that in the last few years most of the activity
related to the sex industry has gone underground, the use of private apartments
or "escort services" has expanded. Now the women more often come to an
apartment, to the client's flat, or to a hotel, rather than working in a
brothel.
During
a tour among brothels which took place on August 14th 2006 (the day when the
cease-fire became valid), Isha L'Isha staff and volunteers detected partial
activity at the brothels in Kiryat Ata; clients were seen arriving there. It is
worth mentioning that no bomb shelters or other protected space could be seen in
the area, as required due to the hazardous situation, and the working women were
under the administration and supervision of the pimp, who decided what to do
with them.
In
addition, some of the strip clubs in Haifa continued to work, usually when there was
a lull in the missile attacks on the city. When it became clear that the missile
attacks generally occur during the day time, the night time activity in these
places became more intense.
We
inquired about women in locked apartments and whether they had the ability to
reach a shelter or a safe room. According to our information, only some of the
brothels we visited, which continued their activity during the war, had a safe
room. In some cases, women continued to work even when the siren was heard!
Moreover, one of the missiles fell in a carpentry shop in Kiryat Ata, which was
located near a brothel. We do not know whether any women were there when the
missile fell. Another unanswered question is the security level of the women who
provided sex services in private homes of clients.
According
to our estimation, the number of women who worked in the Northern region during
that period reached several dozens. Whereas local women who dealt with
prostitution moved to the center of the country and continued working there,
trafficked foreign women were not able to leave the North. Our research has
shown that during the war, the amount of advertisements in the Tel Aviv local
newspapers regarding recruitment for sexual services increased, probably because
many people moved southwards from the North, as a result of the war. The city of
Eilat (located in the southern-most part of
Israel) became one of the most
widespread areas of sexual services for clients, probably as a result of the
above-mentioned migration.
Clients
As
mentioned above, a massive movement of the population to the central and
southern regions of the country caused an increase in the consumption of sexual
services in these regions. It is probable that the war also influenced the
habits of sexual service consumption as a means of dealing with stress.
We held conversations with strip club owners and women who were employed in
prostitution, and realized that the clients who visited such places during the
war came from all segments of the population and included both Jews and Arabs.
Furthermore, it became clear that most clients were not afraid of the hazardous
situation and consumed sexual services as usual.
Health
As
a result of the continuous missile attacks in the Northern region, the array of
health services for civilians was disrupted. Health clinics were prepared to
handle patients on a limited basis and some of the area's hospitals operated in
an emergency format. It is highly important to remark that trafficked women, who
lived in Israel illegally, have had problems
in the past turning to the various hospitals or HMO clinics. As a result, the
women usually turn to private doctors. What made the situation more difficult
for the women during the war was the fact that many of the private clinics were
closed due to the situation, and some of the doctors were drafted to the army or
recruited to one of the Northern hospitals.
The Ministry of Health's gynecological clinic in Haifa was closed, with the
Ministry's consent, since the second day of war in the North. The decision was made based on the small
number of patients and because of concerns for the safety of the staff. When
unusual cases occurred, the clinic workers were ready to go to work and serve
the public. In addition, no appointments for HIV testings were made at
Rambam Hospital. The only clinic which
served the needs of the trafficked women for no charge operated until August
6th. It was the
gynecological clinic in Tel Aviv. It was closed due to reasons not related to
the war, from August 6th through August 20th.
Detention
facilities
No
changes were observed in the work of the detention facility in Hadera, except
for an instruction to transport the women who stayed on the top floor of the
building to the ground floor. Furthermore, it was reported that because of the
missile attack on Hadera, a foreign worker who had been held in the facility
became ill with fear and was taken to the hospital for further treatment. In
addition, as a result of the war in the North, the activity of the Immigration
Administration was reduced.
Requests
from abroad
During
the first days of the war, three urgent requests made to the project by NGOs of
the former Soviet Union were registered. They
requested assistance locating women whose relatives had been looking for them
and who were concerned about their health. During regular times, one or two such
requests for assistance are received per month from NGOs in the former
Soviet Union.
Calls
to the hotline in Israel
During
the war, two calls were made, in various ways, by trafficked women who panicked
due to the situation and wished to leave the country as soon as possible. It is
highly important to remark that we usually get one such call per month from
trafficking victims.
Conditions
in the shelter
No
new applications were received in regard to the government shelter for
trafficking victims, with the exception of one made by our organization to
enable to one of the trafficked women, living in a town near the Northern
border, to stay in the shelter with her two children until the end of the
fighting. Our request was overruled, claiming that the shelter was not a place
to absorb children and because of the concern that the woman would not agree to
leave the shelter when the war ended. The woman remained with her children in
the Northern town.
The
influence of the war on our volunteers
Isha
L'Isha's anti-trafficking in women project, established several years ago, is
mostly carried out by Russian-speaking volunteers, many of whom are new
immigrants from lower social classes and single parents. The majority of the
women who volunteer had to leave Haifa due to pressure put on them by their
children and relatives to move to the center and south of the country. A large
majority of the volunteers was in a state of a severe stress regarding taking
care of their children and were unable to treat their own emotional needs as a
result of the war. One of the volunteers, for example, was afraid to give birth
during the war in a Haifa hospital, and decided
to move temporarily to Jerusalem. Many of the volunteers gave up
various projects which were supposed to be executed in the time of the war. In
addition, our organization was invited to participate in two international
conferences abroad. Almost none of the volunteers applied to go to this
conference, and those who did apply, abandoned their plans due to the situation.
The project continued to run thanks to two permanent volunteers, who went to the
detention facilities and conducted touring examinations of the brothel areas of
Haifa and its
suburbs, as well as Netanya and its surroundings.
The
influence on the project
The
project continued to operate during the war and functioned as usual. However, a
few elements were postponed due to the beginning of the fighting. One of the
most important things postponed was a knowledge-exchange seminar about
prostitution and trafficking in women, which was scheduled to take place in
Haifa. Isha
L'Isha had arranged the seminar and invited Dr. Natalya Khodyreva, General
Director of the Assistance
Center for Women in St. Petersburg, to
participate. As a result of the situation, Dr. Khodorova decided to postpone her
arrival to an unknown date, in accordance with the political and security
developments in the region.
Israeli
women working
in
prostitution
Direct
examinations showed that during the war—even while missiles fell—women continued
to stand in the area of the Carmel beach (!), offering
sexual services. Some of the women were economically impaired because clients
didn't arrive and they were not able to support themselves. It is important to
mention that these women belong to the lower social segments of the
population. They have no option of
assistance nor economic compensation. Even if prostitution were to have been institutionalized, the
women are highly unlikely to have officially declared this their occupation, but
rather view it as a temporary job.
International
Forces
We
are deeply concerned about the arrival of the International Peacekeeping Forces
in Lebanon and the Northern
regions of Israel. Based on our experience and
the documented experience of other nations, the arrival of international
military forces increases the consumption of sexual services, while in areas of
armed conflicted there is also an increase of prostitution and trafficking in
women. This should be taken into account and examined officially.
Recommendations
and instructions
- In
the case of a trafficking victim who has experienced the fear of war in the
North, applying to a hospital or any other organization of this kind for
assistance, she should be given the same rights as though she were a resident
of the North, emphasizing medical treatment and psychological services in her
own language.
- The
police should be alert to the increase of sexual services consumption and
trafficking in women in the region of Eilat and in Central Israel.
- A
massive campaign should be organized against the consumption of sexual
services, aimed at Israeli men and foreign factors, such as the International
Forces.
- Inspection
and alertness must be strict in regards to the concern of growth in sexual
services consumption and women trafficking in the Northern region, especially
after the arrival of the International Forces.
- An examination by the
Intelligence Services must be made in relation to the conditions of the
victims of trafficking in the North as soon as possible.