Last update - 00:00 16/10/2006
Court rescinds ruling funding disabled man's brothel visits
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
The Supreme Court on Monday rescinded a district court decision that awarded NIS 150,000 in compensation to a disabled man to pay for sexual services.
The plaintiff, 31, was seriously injured in a car crash in 1988 as a result of which he was diagnosed as suffering from a mental disorder and erectile dysfunction. His lawyer argued that ever since, his condition has necessitated visits to prostitutes.
Justice Eliezer Rivlin wrote in his decision that the claimant would not be given funds that would be used to violate the law by encouraging prostitution.
"The proper way of society to deal with prostitution has been subject for contention over many years," Rivlin wrote. "There are those who see prostitutes as slave laborers and others who claim there are those among them who make a calculated choice to make a living thusly. The difficult questions over prostitution shall not be resolved, here but we cannot ignore the fact that criminal law frowns upon it."