Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., October 06, 2008 Tishrei 7, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:13 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 10:11 03/10/2008
From The Fringe, Post II / Israel and modern-day slavery
By Kim Gouz
Tags: Jewish World 

Bombs and warplanes aren't the only controversial commodities that Russia has been transporting abroad. Just ask Russian newspaper reporter Yaroslava Tankova.

Tankova went undercover to expose the work of Russia's trafficking mafia (watch from 1:55).


Advertisement
She joined a group of women and girls who were promised jobs as waitresses in Israel. Unfortunately, Tankova's group won't be found dishing up hummus on Tel Aviv beach. They were trafficked to Israel via Egypt by Bedouins to be sold as sex slaves.

"One of the girls nearly died from sunstroke. Another was raped by an Arab guard. He used a plastic bag instead of a condom," Tankova reports in the video. "We were treated like meat. One man hit me but the other guards intervened. They didn't want the commodity spoiled before it was sold."

These events witnessed by Tankova are not isolated. Every year, several hundred women and girls, as young as thirteen and primarily from Russia, the Ukraine and other Eastern European countries, are induced to leave their homes with promises of work as caregivers, waitresses, maids and secretaries.

But Israel is not the "promised land" for women forced into the sex industry.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of all is the public sale of women to pimps, known as an "auction." Like traders in a cattle market, the traffickers inspect the "goods" and bid for the women they want to buy.

According to one report, one woman was stripped naked, intimately inspected and sold for $6,000 in the men's room of a McDonald's restaurant.

Fortunately, activists from organizations such as the Migrant Workers' Hotline and Isha L'Isha (Woman to woman) Haifa Feminist Center have been working diligently to combat this trend since its peak in 2001.

During that year, the U.S. State Department released its first Annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which named Israel a 'tier three' human trafficking destination - the lowest category - alongside Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Since the 2001 report and due largely to the efforts of activists, the number of women trafficked into Israel has declined from estimated highs of 3,000 women per year in 2000 to fewer than 1,000 women today, according to Isha L'Isha. Additionally, Israel has held a "tier two" ranking since 2002, excepting the 2006 report when it was demoted to the "tier two" watch list.

Despite these many advancements, there is still much work to be done. The recently released 2008 report by the State Department points out that "the Government of Israel does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking."

Compounding things has been the recent cutback in funding to NGOs who support trafficking initiatives. According to recent reports, NGOs are receiving less money both internally and abroad to fund their initiatives.

Rita Chaikin, who works part-time as Isha L'Isha's coordinator in the fight against trafficking in women, notes she "is nervous that the good work the organization does on both a micro level, helping individual women, and macro level, lobbying the government to take an interest in the issue, could come to an abrupt end due to cutbacks in funding and a growing recession."

But the situation can improve. The Government of Israel must continue to do its part. As stated in the 2008 report, it should significantly increase criminal law enforcement efforts against forced labor and extend protection services to victims. Pressure should also be placed on the governments of Eastern European countries who are allowing their women to be trafficked and sold.

Perhaps then Israel will be one step closer to being the promised land for all.

Kim Gouz is a graduate student at the University of Chicago. She recently spent six months living, volunteering and studying in Haifa.

Related articles:
  • Israel arrests citizen suspected of trafficking women to U.K.
  • National service volunteer fights trafficking in women
  • Kim Gouz / Let's talk about sex(ism)

  • Back to Jewish World homepage
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Forgotten peace
    French FM: I fear distracted world may forget Mideast peace process.
    Settlers vs. Shin Bet
    Daniela Weiss: Shin Bet behind attack on left-wing advocate prof. Sternhell.
      1.   McDONALD`S AN APPROPRIATE SPOT 23:43  |  Barry S. Roffman 02/10/08
      2.   Human Slavery 00:38  |  The Maintenance Man 03/10/08
      3.   SLAVERY 07:20  |  TOM 03/10/08
      4.   Are women so naive 07:57  |  Expert 03/10/08
      5.   Who´s naive here, Mr Expert in dumbness? 11:21  |  Tom Kaufmann 03/10/08
      6.   unknown known, #1 12:59  |  nina 03/10/08
      7.   You have come a long way, baby - women`s rights 14:48  |  Anonymous 03/10/08
      8.   Trafficing human beings 15:24  |  MazalUK 03/10/08
      9.   how hard is it to find these women and send them home 15:37  |  victor hardman 03/10/08
      10.   #6 - BEEN THERE, They were not kosher 18:34  |  Barry S. Roffman 03/10/08
      11.   nuts 21:20  |  Sar Chasm 03/10/08
      12.   # 4 Expert 21:39  |  Bill H. 03/10/08
      13.   Look at the past and present bus terminal section in Tel aviv 00:59  |  beneath the lines 06/10/08
     Read & React
    French FM to Haaretz: Israel will act before Iran gets bomb
    Responses: 151
    Editorial: IDF complicit in settler thugs' violence
    Responses: 46
    Akiva Eldar: The PA is a fig leaf covering the nakedness of occupation
    Responses: 26
    ANALYSIS / IDF plans to use disproportionate force in next war
    Responses: 115
    Gideon Levy: Olmert has euthanized the Israeli right
    Responses: 47


    More Headlines
    00:59 Livni: Annapolis will continue, regardless of political upheavel
    00:32 Economic woes put a strain on coalition negotiations
    00:36 U.S. Jewish committee recruits former Israeli defense officials for pro-Obama ad
    16:47 French FM to Haaretz: Israel will act before Iran gets bomb
    12:10 ANALYSIS / IDF plans to use disproportionate force in next war
    16:03 Iran: We won't halt enrichment even if nuclear fuel supply guaranteed
    13:01 Lithuanian academic blasts war crimes probe of ex-Yad Vashem chief
    21:49 NGO appeals decision to hand over J'lem compound to Russia
    14:00 Israeli hacker 'The Analyzer' accused of masterminding global fraud
    19:26 Environment Ministry: 60% of Israeli factories exceed air pollution limits
    20:41 Comptroller hears Dichter testimony over police wiretap case
    15:56 Hezbollah dismisses Israeli threats of destruction in next war
    01:37 NEW ON HAARETZ.COM / Play the news: Build your own Israeli government
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Fattal Hotel Chain
    Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
    Dial 013 for your long-distance calls
    and get all your money back
    US CITIZENS
    Vote for real change. Request your ballot today!
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
    Jewish Singles Personal Ads
    Find the love of your life on JDate.com
    Israel's Premier Real Estate Website
    www. israel-property.com
    Hebrew Summer courses
    From $39.95
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
    Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel
    birthright Israel | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved