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| On the Agenda | | | Video Conference |  | | | Family Group Conferences | | | | Cost of Crime | |  | A Refuge for the Victims of Trafficking In Women | | | | Vehicle Confiscation | | | | Automatic Electronic Enforcement Project | | | | Electronic Monitoring | | | | Prison Privatization | | | | Security On Public Transportation | | | | Israel-USA cooperation | | | | "City without Violence" Program | | | | Policing high school studies | | | | Prison Space Forecast in Israel | | | | Victims of Crime Services | |
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| A Refuge for the Victims of Trafficking In Women |
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At American urging, the international community has set itself the object of combating the trade in human beings, and in particular the trafficking in women for prostitution. Israel is, of course, a willing ally in this battle and in December 2002, took the decision to set up a shelter for foreign women who have become the victims of this disgusting trade. The shelter will take in foreign women who have entered the country illegally and with respect to whom there is prima facie evidence that an offense of human trafficking for prostitution or an associated offense has been committed against them.
The two aims of the shelter project are, first, to provide a humanitarian solution to the situation of a trafficked woman freed by the police but forced to stay in Israel until she has given her evidence to a court of law and is deported home, and secondly, to encourage trafficked women not yet discovered by the police to themselves take the initiative and file a complaint against their traffickers.
The shelter, located in the center of the country, opened its doors in February 2004 with places for fifty women, priority being given to those willing to give evidence against the traffickers. The government appointed the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs responsible for running the shelter and the team of carers employed there. The shelter does not have the status of a prison or a place of custody under the laws on Entry into Israel. Rather, the women stay there under 'release on bail' orders issued by the Director of Border Control. Any woman who violates the terms of her conditional release is transferred to a regular prison.
The shelter's physical security is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Security via its executive arm, the Israel Police. The security envelope provision put in place by the IP includes physical and electronic security devices and equipment, and perimeter guards (the latter supplied by a commercial security services company and operating under IP oversight). There is surveillance of all persons entering and leaving. The security envelope is a necessary precaution against attempts to harm the women and prevent them giving testimony. Every woman leaving the shelter to give evidence in court is escorted by guards.
The shelter is divided into two sections, one closed, the second open. In the closed section, live the foreign women whose identities have not been established or who have decided not to give evidence and who are waiting for the conclusion of their deportation procedures. In the open section live the women whose identities have been established or who are waiting to give their evidence — a vital contribution to the battle against the organizers of the sex-trade trafficking network. This latter group of women may stay in the refuge for up to a few months, after which they are deported from the country by the immigration authorities. Women who refuse to give evidence are deported as soon as possible after stating their refusal. Women in the shelter's open section may come and go from the building, with some limitation and surveillance placed on their movements, designed to prevent them returning to prostitution or committing other associated related offenses.
Shelter staff provide short-term medical, psychological and social care and therapy; and inmates have the right to legal assistance from the Ministry of Justice. They also receive pocket money sufficient to cover minimum basic personal needs. Shelter managers maintain working contacts with the relevant embassies and consulates in Israel, as well as with the support agencies who assist the women with their return to their home country.
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לגרסת הדפסה |
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| Illustration |
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