After more than a decade of social struggles, the Prohibition on Prohibition of Prostitution Act goes into effect next Friday • The punishment - an administrative fine of NIS 2,000 and prosecution

Next Friday, after more than a decade of struggles, private legislative attempts and finally drafting a government bill, the law banning the consumption of prostitution in Israel, which states that anyone who tries or tries to consume prostitution, is going to be a criminal offense. 

This is a new offense that is being added to the criminal offenses that already exist in the Penal Code in connection with the phenomenon of prostitution, including pimping, advertising prostitution services, holding a place for prostitution and consuming prostitution, which already constitute criminal offenses.

The purpose of the law is to bring about reduction of prostitution in Israel and to mitigate it as much as possible by establishing a prohibition on prostitution, as part of an integrated process that includes enforcement, education and public information, along with expanding treatment and rehabilitation methods for prostitution populations. This is in recognition of the abusive characteristics of prostitution and the damage involved. In order to embark on the rehabilitation and treatment program for prostitution practitioners, the government has allocated NIS 30 million for the first year of implementation of the law, for the purpose of addressing torture by the welfare, health, education and other government and civil society agencies.

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According to the new law, anyone who is caught committing a crime of prostitution will be able to impose an administrative fine of NIS 2,000, and a repeat offense of the law will be grounds for double the fine (NIS 4,000). The fines will be imposed by police officers who identify the perpetrator of the offense (consuming prostitution, or attempting to consume prostitution or even being in a place that provides prostitution services to consume them). If multiple violations of the law or other considerations are committed, it will also be possible to file a criminal indictment that could end with a fine of up to NIS 75,300.

At a Knesset hearing last Monday for the law to take effect, the police representative updated that the Israeli police are preparing for law enforcement and training police officers, including patrol officers, detectives, intelligence coordinators and investigators, to implement the enforcement on the ground. The registration of administrative fines imposed on those who commit a crime of prostitution will enter the administrative record of the police, similar to the fines currently registered for smoking cannabis or the Corona virus-related offenses.

As mentioned, alongside the enforcement, a broad program for rehabilitation and dealing with prostitution deals has recently been launched, which has been budgeted by the government for NIS 30 million. This will include: establishing day centers in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that will address the needs of prostitutes, establishing a hostel and transgender women's assistance center, establishing mothers' rehabilitation and transitional housing, implementing a prevention program and youth preventive education, creating an outpatient alternative for women with sickness , Men's detox programs addicted to prostitution and more.

The new law was further formulated under the recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee headed by former Justice Department Director Emmy Palmore, appointed by former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, to look at ways to reduce the consumption of prostitution in Israel. 

The adoption of the Nordic model

The Commission reviewed the options available to the government to combat the phenomenon of prostitution, including the "Nordic model", which was first implemented in Sweden and Norway, where prostitution is prohibited, but there is no parallel ban on prostitutes. This is because of the perception that those who are in the prostitution circle are victims, and the state must assist them.

The government decided to adopt the Nordic model, stating that the issue would be promoted in a government bill. It should be noted that the law passed as an hourly instruction for five years, and will be accompanied by a study to assess the effect of the law on the status of women and men in the prostitution cycle and on the dimensions of the phenomenon. The results of the study will be submitted to the government after four years from the date of application of the law, on which basis the government will be able to make a decision on the effectiveness of the law on reducing the phenomenon of prostitution. 

According to Attorney Dina Dominic, director of the government's human trafficking unit in the Justice Ministry, "when the law came into effect, the era of ambivalence and speech with two voices in relation to the phenomenon of prostitution ended. Today, the state says in a clear voice - women and men are not commodities that can be rented for an hour, and their dignity and liberty are not futile. We hope that the law will bring relief and aid to thousands of people in the prostitution circle, reduce the phenomenon that also allows human trafficking to exist within us, and also bring about real social value change for women. "

"The law will help, because the men will be afraid to be exposed"

H, who escaped from the practice of prostitution with the help of a rock, a rehabilitative framework run by the Ministry of Social Affairs in cooperation with the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality, tells of life under the dangers, threats and daily difficulties of the women in the prostitution circle.

"I don't really know how I got there. Today I know I was naive, I thought I could control what was happening, but it really wasn't like that. I started a massage, I told myself not to take off clothes, but very quickly it deteriorated. From what I thought I would no longer go through, ”she says.

She adds that "Anyone who is into prostitution is in danger all the time. Obviously, people do not want to do things, but do them not to lose a client; even when using force, even if it causes injuries and bleeding for days. I didn't know how to get out of it, and then I saw an advertisement About an institute that helps. I wrote that I wanted to get out of the "industry." I couldn't even say the word. I was referred to a rocky outcrop, and for the first time someone helped me. "

Regarding the law, she says: "From my experience of getting out of prostitution, as well as being active in nonprofits, and getting acquainted with rocket - when there is a law, there are budgets and some professionals know how to help. You know how to get out of it. The new law is important for men to be exposed and some stop coming, and in the end they say it's an illegitimate act. "