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Sex-trade panel: Go after johns, too
By Hilary Leila Krieger
August 18, 2004
Zalman Vinder echoed many of the panelists gathered to discuss the fight
against sex slavery when he rose from his seat in the audience and called for
stricter sentencing of traffickers.
But his words had special resonance, since his plea came against the backdrop
of his personal experience. Vinder himself used to work as a prostitute.
His eyelashes coated with the mascara that was part of the drag get-ups he
would use to attract clients, his voice high-pitched and insistent, he
declared: "In and out, it's not good. Give him 15 years, 20 years. One year is
nothing."
And it wasn't just the pimps he wanted incarcerated. "They need to arrest the
clients and not give them bail. Put them away for a long time."
Israel doesn't prosecute johns, even when the prostitutes, unlike Israeli-born
Vinder, were smuggled into the country illegally and live a life of virtual
enslavement.
Nomi Levenkron, who heads the legal department for the Hot line for Migrant
Workers, argued that changing that practice could be a useful weapon in the war
against the trafficking of women, which is her aim and that of the other
panelists at Monday night's conference on the subject.
She said that those who knowingly patronize trafficked women – as opposed to
other prostitutes – could be tried under Israeli law.
According to Levenkron, "The law says that women are raped when they're in a
situation that doesn't allow them to resist," such as physical restraint or
intimidation. "If he [the customer] could know that she was there against her
will, he should be prosecuted."
Itay Frost, a Tel Aviv deputy district attorney who also participated in the
panel, argued that prosecuting clients isn't such a simple matter, particularly
because it raises the issue of criminalizing prostitution, which unlike pimping
isn't currently illegal.
"Nobody's arrested as a client. There's no such offense. Just like nobody's
arrested for being a prostitute," he said.
"There's no question there's an intrinsic connection between prostitution and
trafficking in human beings, but it's a whole different value field."
He continued, "On the subject of prostitution there's a huge discussion in the
world whether it's a consensual thing or a debasing thing... I'm not saying not
to criminalize prostitution and criminalize the customer. But be very careful.
It's a whole different thing. This is criminal law and you don't play around
with criminal law."
He also noted that sentencing of traffickers has become much stricter recently
thanks to a law toughening prison terms. Minimum sentences are likely to range
from five to eight years, while maximum time for a major trader is 16 years.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women has also decided to go after the
clients through an ad campaign designed to raise their awareness about the
experience of the women they are visiting. Mimicking the design of the small
newspaper ads which invite men to call "exotic" women, the ad explains how the
women in question are treated on their way to Israel: raped, robbed, sold.
"Call this number," the ad says, "and you'll be paying for this abuse."
"Many men calling brothels," Levenkron maintained, "just don't know – or prefer
not to know – where the women are coming from. We believe they'll change their
minds, or some of them will, if they know the truth."
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