- There are between 1,000 and 3,000 women in Israel who
are subjected to sex slavery, and there is an intensive commerce in women
in the country, say editors of the most recent survey conducted by the
Knesset's Center for Research and Information examining the public's attitude
toward trafficking in women.
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- "Nobody knows exactly how many there are, but I
would add another 0 to that number. The figure is probably more like 30,000,"
argues Annette Collins, founder of the women's self-help group Anachnu
Shavot ("We Are Worthy") and one of the organizers of this week's
international conference on the sex industry.
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- The three-day conference entitled "Our Voice,"
opening on Wednesday, has been organized by women who have been involved
in the sex industry.
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- The conference grapples with fundamental issues pertinent
to the trade, such as how women become involved in the sex industry, whether
legalization of prostitution is beneficial to prostitutes or pimps, and
what networks can be established to help women caught in the sexual underworld.
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- In addition to lectures, "Our Voice" will also
include psychodrama workshops, music sessions, and art exhibitions showcasing
work created by women in the sex trade.
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- International speakers at the conference, hosted at the
Tel Aviv Cinemateque, include Janice G. Raymond from the US-based International
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Norma Hotaling from Sage (San Francisco),
Mikko Roth from Hope (Sweden), and Christy Ten Broeke, from P.I.C. (Holland).
Local speakers include representatives from Isha l'Isha ("Woman to
Woman"), Elem, and Tair, as well as former MK Yael Dayan and current
Meretz MK Zehava Gal-On, head of the parliamentary investigatory committee
against the trafficking of women.
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- Gal-On, who will be speaking against the legalization
of prostitution, told The Jerusalem Post: "There's a terrible exploitation
of poverty in the sex trade. Women are dragged into prostitution as the
last choice when they simply have no other options. The money that's made
on their backs fuels the world of organized crime in Israel.
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- "[While] it's impossible to overcome the problem
entirely, we can attempt to fight against it and establish safety networks
to help these women."
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- Gal-On called the conditions for prostitutes working
in this country "catastrophic," saying they form what is possibly
the worst characteristic of the Israeli sex trade today.
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- "It's the first time an international conference
on this subject is being held in Israel and it's not academic, it's the
initiative of women in the business," Gal-On added. "Hopefully,
it will enable people to understand what forces women into this business,
what it's really like, and how one can get out. I see this conference as
being hugely symbolic."
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- "This conference provides a very positive, optimistic
model," said Dorit Freedman, head of Erim Balayla ("Awake at
Night"), Elem's outreach program for sex trade workers who are under
21. "It gives women hope that one day maybe they too will be able
to leave that world, It takes a lot of courage to put a conference like
this together, and the women deserve to speak and to be heard."
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