A living hell

[CENTRO ANTI-BLASFEMIA]

A living hell


Thousands of sex slaves bought and sold each year face danger,
threats, violence; run-aways dealt with quickly: one home in Moldavia
firebombed; Tel Aviv exhibit explores 'women as chattel'

By Miri Chason Published: 03.18.05, 09:18 / Israel News



TEL AVIV - Several dozen women have successfully escaped the grip of
pimps that have turned their lives into a living hell. These women
live in a secret shelter in Tel Aviv until they testify against their
former pimps, then they are deported to their countries of origin.



Thursday, some of them went public as part of a new exhibition in Tel
Aviv’s Central Bus Station, sharing the harsh details of their
experiences.



The exhibit, called “Over the Road”, focuses on the public’s approach
to women as chattel. It is intended to be a harsh protest against the
underground brothels that continue to flourish despite legislation
banning them.



Thousands sold each year



The women say the exhibit is primarily intended to reach the customers
of their former bosses - the individuals who keep the business rolling
along.



Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of women, men and children are sold
each year. In Israel, 1,000-3,000 women are sold annually, all for the
sex industry.



Volunteers from the Center to Help Foreign Workers and the Clinic for
the Fight Against Women Trafficking at Hebrew University have
collected many testimonies of victims of women trafficking and
documented the way in which they were brought to Israel.



Testimonies



K., from Russia, worked on Erlinger Street in Tel Aviv. She says her
boss would “fine” his workers “for everything—if I asked to have


a shower between customers, if I went out without permission. At first
we had enough food, but after a while it they said it was too
expensive. We barely had enough soap—and during the dirtiest time of
my life.”



N. says her pimp used the women for bartering. “If he wanted
vegetables from the supermarket, he would ‘give’ one of the girls to a
worker in exchange for the vegetables. He bartered us for food,
jewelry and other things.”



Y., from Moldava, says she was forced into sado-masochism. “Customers
would beat us. They had special instruments. They would drip hot wax
all over my body and force me to do painful, degrading things. Of
course they enjoyed it—they paid extra for it.”



One woman, also from Moldava, said she received no wages for her
services. “(My boss) told me he bought me for 50,000 shekels, and that
I had to ‘return’ the money (by working for free) before I could start
to earn wages. They also made me pay 50 shekels a day for food and
condoms”



Locked Door



N., from Ukraine, worked on Peretz Street in Tel Aviv, explains why
women don’t run away. “We all dreamt of escaping, but they even
managed to steal the dream from us after someone did leave. A week
after she disappeared, her family's home in Moldava was firebombed.”



She says they were given one rest day per month: the first day of
their period. “The first day we could take off. The rest of the time I
was having my period, I had to use a diaphragm to prevent bleeding.
But I had to continue taking customers.”



Nowhere to run



“We had nowhere to run,” says H. from Ukraine. “The door was always
locked, bars on the windows, and there was a closed-circuit TV in each
room.



“And even if you managed to get out—where would you go? What would you
do? Several customers were police officers, and other cops would check
our visas and leave. So who would we have turned to for help?

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3060127,00.html