Keeping It Israel

Human Trafficking In Israel, Lydia Morgan of Jerusalem Institute of Justice

July 28, 2020 Jeff Futers Season 1 Episode 16
Keeping It Israel
Human Trafficking In Israel, Lydia Morgan of Jerusalem Institute of Justice
Show Notes Transcript

Lydia Morgan, COO of Jerusalem of Justice shares a compelling webinar revealing the problem of human trafficking in Israel and how JIJ is working to raise awareness and to solve it. She shares poignant, sometimes sad stories and shocking statistics as well as information about the progress being made because of JIJ's work over the years.

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Chris Atkins, One Media :

Welcome to the 'Keeping it Israel' podcast with Jeff Futers, where Jeff and his guests talk everything Israel as it relates to Christian faith and the church. If you are a Christian and you stand with Israel, you will be encouraged and challenged by this podcast. And if you're not so sure about the whole Israel thing, you need to learn how your faith connects with Israel, and why standing with Israel matters. Now here's Jeff with today's guest.

Jeff Futers :

Hi, my name is Jeff and I'll be your host today. Thanks for joining us for The keeping it Israel podcast. Instead of me interviewing a guest today we have an audio recording of Lydia Morgan. Lydia is the CEO of Jerusalem Institute of Justice, and she's sharing a webinar on the subject of human trafficking in the land of Israel. This is a real problem in Israel and JJ has worked tirelessly to help to stem this, this problem, Lydia is going to share some statistics. She's going to share some very, very helpful information in order to help us understand what's happening there in the land of Israel. And I think you're gonna find this extremely educational and informative. Now let's join Lydia.

Lydia Morgan :

Welcome. We are so glad you have joined us to learn how you can positively impact the future. I'm Lydia, and today we will be covering a very sensitive and difficult topic, prostitution and human trafficking in Israel. I will be taking questions at the end. Please keep yourselves muted so we can cover the material in the time that we have. I'll begin by sharing Alexis story. I was raised by my grandmother or Baba, as I call her. She could not afford to send me to school after the age of eight. So I stayed with her each day. Selling oranges by the roadside. We worked hard, often standing in the heat for hours. But I always enjoyed her company and knew it was important to help. My beloved grandma. It was us against the world. As a teenager, I found a job in a salon. One of my customers was a glamorous businesswoman I called Auntie. She offered to take me to Israel where I could work for a family and go to school. My grandmother did not want me to leave. But we were struggling to make ends meet. And I was so excited by this vision of a new life that I agreed to go. I was hoping I would make enough money so I could help my grandma. At the airport Auntie gave me a document that had my picture on it, but it had a different name than mine. It was just crowded and confusing at the airport and Auntie said don't worry just to trust her and follow. So I did. We went to a house where I was taken to a room and told to get some sleep. The next morning Auntie woke me and told me there was a problem with the family that I was supposed to work for, and they didn't need me anymore. Auntie explained that I owed her a lot of money for the travel, and that to pay her back, I would have to work in her business, prostitution. My nightmare began. Every day men would come to my room. Sometimes five men, sometimes 10. The only escape I found was in my mind. "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless, maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." This is found in Psalm 82:3. For those that have just joined us, my name is Lydia Morgan, and I am happy and proud to serve as the Chief Operations Officer of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice. We are an Israeli NGO that works in both local and international arenas in order to promote and protect human and civil rights by utilizing legal research and advocacy tools. We work and serve those whose voices are not heard. We provide free legal representation for Christian minorities in Israel and work to eradicate human trafficking and advance the State of Israel among the nations while defending human rights for all peoples in the Middle East. Let's talk today about why we're here. The reality of prostitution. Here are some statistics regarding Israel. 14,000 women, men and children are trapped in the sex trade in Israel and live in hopeless despair. 3,000 of these are children being exploited through prostitution. The average age of those entering the sex trade is 14 years old. 46 years is the average life expectancy for a woman in the sex trade. 26,000 times per day, there is a purchase of sex in Israel. 62% of women in prostitution are mothers whose children are under the age of 18. 66% of women enter prostitution due to economic hardship. An Israeli person in the sex trade sees an average of five clients a day, which means some see as many as 10 a day. 75% of those enslaved in prostitution have been raped. Only 7% of prostitution occurs on the streets 51% takes place in apartments and private homes. 76% polled said they would leave this exploitation if they had any alternative. There has been a 210% increase in requests for rehabilitation and help in the last three months alone. Proverbs 28:27 says "Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed." Here in the historical land of Tamar and Rahab, prostitution was accepted as a norm, something that always has been, and always will be. JIJ, we had our work cut out for us. Trafficking in persons has taken on various forms throughout the years. The State of Israel had touted its success in the war against human trafficking, while traffickers continued to bring women into the country. This resulted in a severe situation in 2001, when Israel along with Pakistan and Bahrain received the lowest ranking on the trafficking in persons or TIP report and were facing sanctions by the US. At this time, most of the traffic for sex victims were from the former Soviet Union. In light of pending sanctions, Israel was motivated and strengthened the laws against human trafficking, creating a national unit under the Ministry of Justice to fight this type of slavery. Israel closed its border with Egypt, which reduced Trafficking in Persons by 4,000 per year. The government, criminalized pimping, brothels, advertising sex, and increased the criminal charges for the prostitution of minors. For more than 10 years, JIJ has been at the forefront of the movement and very active at the Knesset level, promoting legislative reforms that address the scourge of prostitution and human trafficking in a holistic way. Due to the dissolution of the Israeli government several times before the end of term, our efforts were stalled and had to be restarted with each new administration. Let me tell you, wow, there are many times that we were discouraged. But we refused to give up the fight that would bring freedom and help for so many victims. The JIJ team has worked diligently to address the issue of prostitution, and bring it to the attention of Israeli society. We have done this in a number of ways. We have created a curriculum for high schools. We have educated young people that are about to enter the army through policy developments, and through various national and social media campaigns, we have hosted forums with this international experts to come and teach us what they know. We have worked with the police and we continue to work with the police, so they know how to approach and handle victims of sex trafficking. All of this has resulted in a comprehensive community collaboration to raise awareness and attempt to change public perception regarding prostitution. On December 31 2018, after a decade of work by the Jerusalem Institute of Justice at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset passed a bill that prohibits paying for sex in Israel, as well as forbidding being present in a location chiefly used for prostitution, such as a brothel. This bill imposes fines of 2,000 shekels for a first offense...It is then doubled for a second offense. Repeat violations could carry fines of up to 75,000 shekels in addition to criminal prosecution. That's the equivalent of $20,000 dollars. The law went into effect on July 10, 2020, just last week, which also happened to be my birthday. What a way to celebrate! The 18 months since the passing of the bill were important to give the State of Israel a chance to create rehabilitation services and programs. Knesset also approved a 90 million shekel program aimed at the rehabilitation of former sex workers and to assist them with their re-integration into the labor market. In line with international law, the plan will address the issues of enforcement, protection of victims prevention and cooperation with civilian bodies. This program includes and establishes emergency housing for former sections. workers. Minor sex workers are eligible for rehabilitation, a rehabilitation plan for mothers in prostitution. The Ministry of Health is increasing the operations of clinics that treat former sex workers as well as opening more clinics in new locations. The Ministry of Education is creating new content for sex education classes. The Public Security ministry is adapting its enforcement methods used by the police, including those used online. You can tell that the country is taking this very seriously. And this legislation directly impacts the lives of 14,000 Israeli male and female sex workers. Here's Emma's story. The first time I sold myself for sex was a single traumatic incident. If I hadn't, my son would have had no food on his birthday, let alone a gift. The next time I allowed it to happen, I was alone and in a state of mental and emotional collapse. My world had imploded. But I kept pushing on going until I made one stupid mistake that landed me with nowhere to go, and hardly any money. I could only afford a coffee. A woman sat opposite me as I drank it. We started to talk. She also worked the street. She explained how she went about doing it. There was no grooming, no trying to exploit me. She was lonely too. And in many ways, we were in a similarly nightmarish situation. We talked to each other about the things through no fault of our own set us apart from the world. I went out that night with nothing and came back with 600 shekels. The concept of punishing sex buyers was first introduced by Sweden in 1999 sex purchase act. This law requires consumers to pay a fine or face up to six months in jail. Since then, this act has been adopted by Norway, Iceland, Canada, France, Northern Ireland, and now a similar law was implemented in Israel. Defending the apparent contradiction in making the purchase of sex illegal, while allowing the sale of it to remain legal, these countries have contended that prostitution is essentially an act of exploitation and violence by the customers. They hold a position of power and should bear the brunt of the penalty. When it comes to leaving the trade, people need emotional and psychological support, time to recover not just money. They need a non judgmental environment to make sense of their experiences. So they begin to make the choices that are right for them and start the healing process. They need to be treated like human beings, and yes, they need jobs. As we saw on the slides, 66% of women said they entered prostitution due to financial hardship. And 70% said that this form of work failed to solve their financial problems. Unless you've got a plan for finding another source of income, leaving that life behind can be very frightening. Olga as Former sex worker said, "Usually when a woman escapes prostitution, she doesn't want to talk about it. What man would desire her as a wife? What person would hire her and their employment. I just wanted to get a job. I wanted to be normal. I wanted to be like everybody else." It takes a whole team to restore dreams. Some of us are changing laws, and some are attending to the physical and psychological wounds of the survivors. And some provide them with work. Here are Hadassa's words, "I entered the sex trade to pay for my college education. I had no intention of ending up there. I started in a strip club to make ends meet. A couple weeks after I started working there, I was raped. I sought help from the police, and even they didn't want to help me. Instead they told me 'you're a prostitute. What do you expect?' My life spiraled out of control after this incident? I became aware of JIJ's efforts, and they, along with patient counselors gave me the courage to leave my awful situation. JIJ continues to work with the authorities and police to make sure they are educated on how to treat the victims. In recent years, we have witnessed court decisions that express the idea that engaging in prostitution harms those that are involved in it. Clear example of this is evident in the two thous..., excuse me, 2017 ruling issued by Judge Agmon Gonen regarding shutting down a strip club that had been operating in the Ramat Gan diamond exchange area for 20 years without out a suitable license. The judge ruled and in her ruling, she stated that Israeli legislation acts to prohibit and prevent the objectification of women, their degradation, humiliation and affront to their dignity as women and as human beings, and that the courts must be vigilant. It was in this spirit that she interpreted the regulations of the local authority and did not authorize continued operation of the strip club, the essence of which was the objectification of women. In March 2019, JIJ had another success. After a presentation at the Knesset by the JIJ team, lap dancing is also now considered prostitution. This means that if money exchanges hands for a lap dance, the club's owner could face criminal criminal charges for running a brothel, which is illegal. I've covered a lot of information and given you a lot of statistics. I want to take a few of your questions now. And while I've been talking, we received some questions. Tom, I'd like to answer your question. He is asking, Where does most of the prostitution take place in Israel? Mostly in the larger cities, and as we saw on one of the slides 51% occurs in private dwellings. Deborah. Deborah is asking, "Do anyone who works in prostitution currently oppose the law?" Or is someone who is actively I think this is what she's asking is Did anyone who is actively in prostitution oppose the law? Yes, they did. Those most opposed to the law are part of the transgender community as unfortunately, this is a way for them to survive. Now that the bill is being implemented, the government is establishing a shelter for them. And counselors and social workers are being trained to treat sex workers specifically coming from the LGBTQ community. Martha. Martha is asking "what segment of the population visits prostitutes in Israel?" Martha, unfortunately, the john's or buyers of sex come from all walks of life and sectors of Israeli society, from secular Jews to Orthodox Jews and Muslims and from a wide variety of socio economic backgrounds, from politicians to street sweepers, and everything in between. Nicole. Nicole is asking "what about Corona? How has it affected these victims?" As in many places around the world COVID-19 has only exacerbated the hardships of those in the sex trade. We are finding that they are ashamed to approach social services, which makes even more vital, putting into practice the rehabilitation programs created by the government. Thank you for your questions. We are just about out of time. But I really appreciate the fact that people are engaged and that you care about this topic. To summarize, we have seen laws passed and we are glad that the nation is taking good strides to address these human rights issues. But there is much more to be done. Much more to be done. A relationship between personal misfortune and a failure to help the poor is clearly indicated in biblical scripture. In Proverbs 21:13, it states "The person who fails to hear the cry of the poor will later also cry, but will not be answered." We must remember, people were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in such chaos is because things are being loved, and people are being used. There's a beautiful quote by Augustine, who said, "God loves each of us, as if there were only one of us." We encourage you to join us in our endeavors to restore dignity and hope to these precious people. With been exploited. There are several ways you can do this. You can educate yourself and your family. Learn the laws where you live. You can get involved through social media. Please host a watch party. We encourage you to pray forJIJ. And we need you to donate to JIJ, so we can continue our work.

Unknown Speaker :

Thank you for joining us for the podcast today. I hope that the information that's been shared was helpful to you, and that you have a new understanding of the challenges that ah many are facing in the land of Israel, that there are many who are trafficked, and that there is a real problem with prostitution and human trafficking there in the land. Thank God for Lydia and for Flavia Sevald and for Jerusalem Institute of Justice and the work that they do to uphold the rights have individuals and to fight for legislation that will help to stem the tide of human trafficking and prostitution there in the land of Israel. We're grateful to be partnered with Jerusalem Institute of Justice on some humanitarian projects that First Century Foundations is involved in helping Holocaust survivors and Lone Soldiers. And we want to encourage you, First Century Foundations is worthy of your support. Jerusalem Institute of Justice is worthy of your support. And if you want to know more about JIJ, just go to their website, jij.org. That's jij.org. Also, you can find our website firstcenturyfoundations.com. That's firstcenturyfoundations with an s.com. And we help to support over 70 of these very worthy ministries in the land of Israel. They've all been vetted, we have a relationship with them. We know that the work that they're doing is great work and so if you want to help bless Israel you want to help support Christian and Messianic ministries in the land of Israel, you can do so by donating to our ministry on our website, firstcenturyfoundations.com/donate, and we would love to have you partner with us in that way. It's been great to have you listening in today. I hope you'll check in with us next week. God bless you and remember, as Christians, we stand with Israel.