By Dimitri Tsolakis
Introduction
Sex trafficking victims fall vulnerable to abuses stripping people and survivors of their humanity and sense of self, which are heightened by other human right abuses and mistreatment. This report analyzes sex trafficking in Palestine, linking an increasing vulnerability of trafficking of Palestinians to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Israeli occupation has been governed “through oppression and domination”[i] of Palestinians. This report identifies the human rights violations and effects of the Israeli occupation on Palestinians, in relation to the vulnerability to sex trafficking that Palestinians face. Additionally, this paper highlights how oppression increases vulnerability of sex traffic through occupation, economic restrictions, and societal norms. Developing a coherent understanding of Israeli occupation in Palestine will better coincide with an understanding that oppression and discrimination from on occupying power exacerbates an individual’s vulnerability to a range of human rights abuses, such as sex trafficking.
The region has undergone years of conflict as native Palestinians have seen British forces occupy their land and Israeli forces dominate their land, pushing thousands out since November 2, 1917 when the Balfour Declaration was signed.[ii] The resulting, occupation has led to many human rights violations, including sex trafficking of Palestinians[iii]. This history of occupation has raised the question regarding to what extent have social and political practices of Israel affected the frequency of sex trafficking in Palestine. Research indicates that the Israeli occupation in Palestine exacerbates the vulnerability of Palestinians making them more susceptible to sex trafficking along with repressive societal and cultural norms. To provide a comprehensive understanding of how Israeli occupation increases Palestinian’s vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking the research conducted here will primarily address an understanding of sex trafficking, a brief glance at Palestinian history, and an explanation of human rights abuses complimentary to the occupation. This research will address the violent conflict in the region, measuring the way it affects vulnerabilities to trafficking, and finally addressing cultural norms in the region that influences the frequency of trafficking patterns.
Understanding Sex Trafficking
Every year, hundreds of women, men, and children fall victim to sex trafficking. According to the 2020 United Nations Global Report on Trafficking in Persons[iv], sex trafficking makes up to fifty percent of the forms of exploitation detected among trafficking victims. This paper specifically focuses on sex trafficking and seeks to understand how the Israeli occupation affects the susceptibility and frequency of trafficking for Palestinians.
According to the 2000 UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Supplemental Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, sex trafficking refers to:
the recruitment, transportation, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.[v]
This entails that the use of force, coercion, deception, and manipulation are used to push individuals to engage in sexual activity in exchange for monetary gains with no consent. The definition from the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime states exploitation in its definition, which in this case will refer to sexual exploitation in forms of coercion and abuse.
A vital misconception in the field of sex trafficking is that these victims are often perceived and charged as criminals of prostitution when they need to be treated as victims. It is important to understand the definition of sex trafficking and differentiate it from prostitution and sex work. Individuals are treated “like commodities, buying and selling them for profit.”[vi] This misconception furthers the victimization and exploitation of these individuals. It is vital to understand the role of consent which differentiates victims of trafficking and sex workers. Sex workers’ major differentiation from victims of trafficking is the consent an individual gives to practicing the profession of providing sexual services; in return, they collect money directly while trafficking victims are forced against their will to provide these services receiving no economic input.
Oftentimes, policymakers and law enforcement illustrate these victims as criminals of prostitution due to a lack of education and due to the misconception of consent into the industry. This causes these victims to be depicted as sex workers rather than trafficking victims. Many traffickers manipulate victims into trafficking due to a promise of “a better life somewhere else”[vii] with the “hidden objective of getting them engaged into forced prostitution activities.”[viii] In the context of Palestine with “about four million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East,”[ix] a promise of a better life outside of refugee camps is a compelling promise that many are willing to follow.
To gain a better understanding of sex trafficking, analyzing the demographics of victims increases knowledge of the crime itself. A United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime report points out that “female victims continue to be particularly affected by trafficking in persons”[x] and acknowledge that “in 2018, for every 10 victims detected globally, about five were adult women and two were girls.”[xi] This is specifically important to understanding for trafficking in Palestine when applying the context of gender equality in the region and female norms in Palestinian culture. When analyzing sex trafficking in Palestine it is important to recount the prevalence of the practice of underage marriages which is often exploited by traffickers as girls are sold into marriages in exchange for providing families with monetary gain. The practice of underage marriages in Palestine puts a monetary value on young girls and, consequently, they are sold like property from one family to another. In Palestine “two out of every ten women aged 20-49 were married before the age of 18 in the West Bank and this number increases to three out of ten women for the Gaza Strip, based on PCBS data from 2014.”[xii] This, along with the false promise of a better life are some of the practices traffickers engage with in order to coerce and exploit victims in occupied Palestinian territories.
Brief Overview of Occupied Palestine
Situated between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan river, Palestine has a long history of Arab rule. Scholars refer to the indigenous people who lived in the area as “philistines who occupied part of the region in the 12th century B.C.”[xiii] and was later ruled by “Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Fatimids, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Egyptians, Mamelukes, and lastly from 1517-1917 ruled by the Ottoman Empire.”[xiv] After the Ottoman Empire fell in 1918 at the end of World War I, Palestine fell under the control of British.
This marked the beginning of the end of an independent Palestine. Britain occupied Palestine which gave Britain administrative control over the region. In 1947, the United Nations, with support and efforts from Britain through the Balfour Declaration, established the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. This broke the region into two sectors, one a Jewish state and the other an Independent Arab state, which created mayhem throughout the region as violent insurrections broke out. Despite Arab opposition in 1948, Israel declared itself an independent state as Britain withdrew. The declaration of independence led to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War which left Israel with more land than it started with and thousands upon thousands of displaced Palestinians. Violent conflicts in Palestine raises concern for an influx in the frequency of sex trafficking of vulnerable individuals like females and youth. The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child conducted a report in the Middle East addressing sex trafficking of youth stating that “disaster and emergency situations – including war – also puts children [and women] at increased risk of sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking.”[xv]
In 1964, following the Arab-Israeli Wars, the Palestinian Liberation Organization – an umbrella organization, comprised of numerous organizations of the resistance movement, political parties, popular organizations, and independent personalities[xvi] – was founded, giving Palestinians a political voice. In 1967, the Six-Day War commenced and left Israel in control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. This heightened tensions between Palestinians and Israelis.
In the following years, violent uprisings and protests broke out throughout Israel. This included the violent 1987 and 2000 intifadas that left hundreds dead and further hindered Palestinians. These continued violent struggles raise concern for international humanitarian groups as they stress that “the situation of illegal child immigrants and refugees from Iraq, as well as Palestinian child refugees, should be investigated to determine whether they are being victimized in commercial sex”[xvii] as they fall susceptible to a variety of risk factors such as child marriage. Research indicates that “early marriage is considered a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children when it involves the marriage of underage girls in exchange for financial or in-kind compensation, usually to their families. Child marriage is common in the Middle East, with nearly half of all girls younger than 18 in Yemen and Palestine married.”[xviii]
The context and history of Palestine is vital to the understanding of the issue of sex trafficking in the region. This paper seeks to understand if the Israeli occupation in Palestine increases the risk of sex trafficking among Palestinians. The literature on sex trafficking, details possible threat factors that increase the risks of trafficking, which align with the context of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. For example, research states that “social isolation, gang involvement, poverty, under-resourced schools, high-crime neighborhoods increase the likelihood”[xix] of trafficking which is apparent in the case of the Palestinian occupation.
Israeli Occupation in Palestine
The research conducted here points to the Israeli occupation as being a factor in the increased vulnerability of Palestinian susceptibility and likelihood of being sex trafficked. The Israeli occupation brings an array of human rights violations to Palestinian citizens that are directly linked to factors of trafficking. The Israeli occupation prohibits Palestinian freedom of movement “through a complex and multilayered system of administrative, bureaucratic and physical constraints that permeate almost all facets of everyday life.”[xx] The Israeli constraint of movement imposed on Palestinians through checkpoints, walls, roadblocks, and earth mounds affects the agricultural sector which is one of the main sources of economic independence and a major source of employment for Palestinians in the West Bank. These roadblocks negatively affected this sector and has led to a drop in the value and abundance of productivity.[xxi] Overall, this infrastructure imposed by the Israeli government seriously hinders Palestinian economic stability and human rights. The restrictions on movement have had a damaging effect on the Palestinian economy, depleting job opportunities and requiring a majority of citizens to depend on unstable international aid.[xxii]
The Israeli-imposed geographical fragmentation also impairs youth access to education, unification of families, Palestinian political activeness, and further ostracizes and polarizes Palestinians. Geographical fragmentation and apartheid-limiting movement raising economic and personal insecurities have led to stories like this one from a twenty-four-year-old Palestinian woman:
After S was raped by her husband’s uncle, she ran away. She met a male who was trafficking women from the West Bank into Israel, mainly into Tel Aviv. Taking advantage of the vulnerability of the woman, he convinced her to work for him. Using a fake Israeli identity card, her passing through the Israeli checkpoints was possible.[xxiii]
The Israeli occupation exacerbates Palestinian’s vulnerability to sex trafficking as the restriction of movement impairs economic stability, which is a leading factor of trafficking. This is proven in research done by the Poppy Project in 2008, which found that “women’s motives for accepting offers from traffickers were primarily financial, for example, in order to escape poverty or debts.”[xxiv] In addition, the World Bank released a report stating that “poverty in the Occupied Palestinian Territory during 2014 reached 25 percent, with rates in Gaza at 39 percent.”[xxv] In this case, Israel’s action in restricting movement in Palestine negatively affected the economic stability of Palestinians which increases the risk of individuals turning to sex trafficking as a form of income due to high poverty rates. Constraining apartheid from Israel pushes individuals to conduct activities that go against the moral principle of many Palestinians in order to obtain an income; for example, a common practice seen in many case studies of vulnerable Palestinians is forced marriages and fathers selling their young daughters. In Hebron, there is a story of two daughters who were sold by their father multiple times in exchange for monetary gains. The case study reports:
A. and S. are two sisters that have been sold by their father recurrently to Palestinian men inside Israel through Urfi marriage at the age of 13 and 14 years old. The duration of each urfi marriage does not usually last more than 2 to 3 months. In general, the father forces them to get a divorce, he collects the money and the gold that were bought by their husbands, then the two women return to live with their father. S., who is now 18 years old, tells to the field researchers her story with sorrow: “I got married to around 12 men under the Urfi marriage. And I ran away from my last marriage as the wife of my husband knew of my pregnancy and tried to burn me… A. also ran away from her father and returned to search for her last husband. She killed him and is currently in the prison in Nablus.[xxvi]
Conflict Region and Violence
The Israeli occupation comes along with Palestinian oppression which oftentimes is perpetrated through violence. The region is no stranger to violent conflicts as has been shown through the intifadas. Demonstrations in the first intifada started nonviolently as mass boycotts but ended with many Palestinian fatalities. Israelis saw fewer fatalities as they countered with heavy force. The second intifada ended with “about 1,000 Israeli and 3,200 Palestinian” fatalities.[xxvii]
Yet, despite the mass amounts of casualties, these were not the only uprising and protests that broke out in opposition to the occupation. To this day, Palestinians are attacked and killed for standing up against the Israeli regime. The intifadas and other conflicts raise dramatic concerns for sex trafficking as an array of trafficking scholarship states that “there are factors, then, that increase the vulnerability of women and girls to being trafficked and forced into prostitution, such as poverty, inequality, and discrimination, including violence against women.”[xxviii] Concerningly, women, and girls in Palestine fall susceptible to these array of threat factors making the apartheid and occupation of these people so alarming.
The violent conflicts and violence against Palestinians are tragic and hold negative effects that many are not aware of. Traffickers usually seek out victims who are vulnerable and easily manipulated, which is why there are high levels of accounts of child sex slaves. In 2017, UNICEF USA released a report that states “inequalities and disparities make certain groups much more vulnerable to exploitation. Mass displacement, conflict, extreme poverty, lack of access to education and job opportunities, violence, and harmful social norms like child marriage are all factors that push individuals into situations of trafficking.”[xxix] Violence is a key disparity that pushes the vulnerability of individuals making them more susceptible to trafficking; which illustrates a direct link between the violence Palestinians face to the susceptibility to trafficking. Evident in the several uprisings and harsh violent control from Israeli officials allowing researchers to form a link between the violence and displacements of Palestinians to the vulnerability to trafficking of these victims.
Political Establishments and Norms
The violent Israeli regime has suppressed and divided the Palestinian government by creating new political establishments and norms differing from the norms Palestinians are accustomed to. This was accomplished through Israeli oppression of independence movements led by the Palestinian Liberation Army, Palestinian Authority, and through citizen led riots also know as Intifadas. The UN Secretary-General shows special concern for this division by acknowledging his particular concern “about the negative impact of the eight-year intra-Palestinian political division between Hamas and Fatah.”[xxx] In exchange, this results in “Palestinian disunity exacerbated through the fragmentation of Palestinian territorial integrity in a way that is similar to the effect of Israeli restrictions on free movement, and thereby contributes to undermining a broad range of human rights.”[xxxi] This, in effect, has led to a lack of statistical data recording victims of sex trafficking supported by a report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which states that “no governmental or non-governmental organization (NGO) is compiling accurate statistics and archiving all received cases in this regard.”[xxxii] This lack of statistical data and recording further exacerbates the vulnerability of these victims as there is no governmental overview or regulation on the crime which allows it to operate with no regulations. In addition, the lack of data and recording of the crime hinders research on the issue in the region which halts the progression of understanding of the crime and aid to these victims. A unique research report that actually conducted research on Palestinian describes the phenomenon of limited data and research in this field stating that:
Gauging the level of trafficking and prostitution in the oPt [Occupied Palestinian Territory] with precision is difficult since it is not visible but rather an underground problem. Not only are these considered immoral activities but both are regarded as illegal under Palestinian and Israeli laws. Estimates of the problem in the OPT vary, given the limited case studies appearing only in local newspapers, NGO hotlines, and police records. At present, no governmental or non-governmental organization (NGO) is compiling accurate statistics and archiving all received cases in this regard.[xxxiii]
The lack of governmental control on the issue is further exacerbated by the lack of resources for victims. Due to the scarcity of awareness on the issue, there is a “lack of social networks and shelter houses in comparison to the increasing problem of women trafficking and their sexual exploitation” in the region.[xxxiv] Insufficient resources for these victims further perpetuates their victimization as they will often feel like they have no support or ways of escaping their trafficker. The division of the Palestinian government illustrates how the occupation intensifies the issue of sex trafficking in Palestine.
Societal Norms
Lastly, this paper aims to take into account the societal norms of Palestinians due to the effect it holds on the frequency of trafficking. As stated earlier, a UNICEF report addressed that harmful social norms can increase the vulnerability of trafficking. Some harmful social norms in the region pertain to the gender roles of women in society. An example of a harmful social norm that is still practiced in Palestine that aids in perpetuating the vulnerability of trafficking is child marriages.
A report by the Protection Cluster, a network of non-governmental organizations states that “child marriage remains a real and present threat to human rights, lives and health of children in the occupied Palestinian territory and is still practiced in part due to persistent poverty and gender inequality, which is exacerbated by the protracted Israeli occupation.”[xxxv] This factoid is evident through a case study illustrating how a “Palestinian father sells his two daughters in Tulkarem. On the 16th of June 2006 a father from Tulkarem sold his 13-year-old and 14-year-old daughters to two brothers (16 and 17 years old) from Qadura Refugee Camp in Ramallah for 1150 Jordanian Dinars.”[xxxvi] The economic instability caused by the occupation influences the continuation of this repressive societal norm that poses a threat to these victims. Families in Palestine who are under financial burdens sometimes resort to selling their daughters to marriage in order to relieve these financial burdens and gain an economic boost.
The dangers of this societal norm include domestic abuse which makes individuals increasingly vulnerable to sex trafficking. This is evident from a Palestinian study that used interviews with sex trafficking victims. It found that these victims were “violently abused by their families, especially their fathers. According to their testimonies, they refer to prostitution as a means to escape the violence and abuse they face at their homes …key informants have revealed that these women were battered continuously and forced into marriage.”[xxxvii] This study depicts how women would resort to working with traffickers to escape their domestic abuses and forced marriages which adds to the many push factors leading individuals into trafficking.
Lastly, societal norms in the region further their vulnerability due to the societal perception of women and their sexuality. The same report states how “the social stigma of prostitution is also a problem as Palestinian women trafficked into Israel who are returned to the OPT [xxxviii] This pushes many victims to stay with their traffickers as they feel that they have no option or resources to escape their cycle of abuse and judgment.
Conclusion
This paper reveals how the Israeli occupation perpetuates socioeconomic inequalities, violence, and oppression upon Palestinians which increases the vulnerability of sex trafficking for Palestinian women and children. The occupation restricts movement through the region which tightens Palestinian’s economic availability, pushing many individuals into poverty. Poverty in the region can then lead to families selling their daughters and pushing others to seek sex work for economic stability. Forced marriages can result in repeated domestic abuse by pushing women to run away from their homes and seek safety and stability elsewhere. The violence in the region also aids in the vulnerability of these people increasing their susceptibility to trafficking. The Israeli occupation of Palestine has led to many human rights violations. Hopefully, from this paper, it is visible that human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of Palestinians are considered, as well.
[i] Amnesty International. “Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories Archives.” Everything You Need to Know about Human Rights in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories, 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/report-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/.
[ii] “British Palestine (1917-1948).” Political Science, University of Central Arkansas, 2022, https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/middle-eastnorth-africapersian-gulf-region/british-palestine-1917-1948/.
[iii] UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery, June 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4bcc13862.html [accessed 14 April 2022]
[iv] UNODC. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. 2020. https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tip/2021/GLOTiP_2020_15jan_web.pdf
[v] UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000). Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children. Convention text and protocols can be viewed at http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/a_res_55/res5525e.pdf.
[vi] Hughes, Donna M. 2005, pp. 1–65, The Demand for Victims of Sex Trafficking.
[vii] UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery.
[viii] Ibid.
[ix] Hanafi, Sari., and Are J. Knudsen. Palestinian Refugees : Identity, Space and Place in the Levant / Edited by Are Knudsen and Sari Hanafi.Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ;: Routeldge, 2011.
[x] UNODC. “Chapter I Global Overview.” United Nations on Drugs and Crime. UNODC, 2020. https://
http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tip/2021/GLOTiP_2020_Global_ovErview.pdf.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), PCBS, UNICEF and UNFPA, 2014
[xiii] History.com Editors. “Palestine- History, Religion, and Conflicts.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 11 Aug. 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/palestine.
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. Information accessed on 23 March 2009 from: http://www.sparcpk.org/infogateway_trafficking.php
[xvi] State of Palestine. “Palestine Liberation Organization.” State of Palestine Mission to the United Nations, 10 Aug. 2021, https://palestineun.org/about-palestine/palestine-liberation-organization/.
[xvii] UNODC. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. 2009. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/globalreport-on-trafficking-in-persons.html
[xviii] United States Agency for International Development. New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage. accessed on 23 March 2009 from: http://www.icrw.org/docs/2007-new-insights-preventing-child-marriage.pdf
[xix] Greenbaum, V. Jordan. “Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Children in the United States.” Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care, vol. 44, no. 9, 2014, pp. 245–269., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2014.07.001.
[xx] United Nations. Officer of High Commissioner, 2016, Freedom of Movement Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem.
[xxi] Ibid.
[xxii] Ibid.
[xxiii] UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery.
[xxiv] Hoyle, Carolyn, et al. “Labelling the Victims of Sex Trafficking: Exploring the Borderland between Rhetoric and Reality.” Social & Legal Studies, vol. 20, no. 3, Sept. 2011, pp. 313–329, doi:10.1177/0964663911405394.
[xxv] United Nations. Officer of High Commissioner, 2016, Freedom of Movement Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem.
[xxvi] UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery.
[xxvii] Beauchamp, Zack. “What Were the Intifadas?” Vox, Vox, 20 Nov. 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080066/israel-palestine-intifadas-first-second.
[xxviii] UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery.
[xxix] Gould, Hannah. “What Fuels Human Trafficking?” UNICEF USA, 13 Jan. 2017, https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/what-fuels-human-trafficking/31692.
[xxx] Ibid.
[xxxi] United Nations. Officer of High Commissioner, 2016, Freedom of Movement Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem.
[xxxii] UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery.
[xxxiii] Ibid.
[xxxiv] Ibid.
[xxxv] Protection Cluster. 2016, pp. 1–4, Child Marriage in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
[xxxvi] UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Palestinian Women and Girls: Forms of Modern Day Slavery.
[xxxvii] Ibid.
[xxxviii] Ibid.
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