A Jewish Lens on Trafficking
Trafficking, Through a Jewish Lens
Jodi Jacobson & Ruth Messinger
Human trafficking places people in conditions of or akin to slavery. Trafficked persons are made vulnerable to trafficking and subsequent enslavement because they already live in conditions of economic and social marginalization so desperate they are willing to believe promises made by traffickers of a better life elsewhere, irrespective of the lack of evidence for these promises or the trustworthiness of their source.
Trafficking in Israel: A Laboratory for Social Change
Rahel Gershuni
Trafficking to Israel began in the 1990s when young women from the former Soviet Union Republics were trafficked to Israel for the purpose of prostitution. When trafficking began, government agencies did not identify it as a new phenomenon, but rather classified the victims in known categories — as illegal entrants or foreign prostitutes.
From Teacher To Trafficked Woman
Karyn Gershon
In her faded jeans, a black blazer, flats, and delicate earrings, Tanya looks more like the school teacher she was trained to be than a woman who lived through six years of hell as a trafficked woman in Spain. Until now, she has not shared her story publicly because the Russian press has insensitively portrayed the experiences of trafficked women in sexually charged ways and exposed their identities in the communities where they are being repatriated.
Immigration and Trafficking
Wendy Chapkis
In 1999, the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was a startling achievement in a time of deep hostility to the poor, to immigrants, and to women engaged in non-reproductive, non-marital sex. In passing the TVPA, Congress voted to provide welfare benefits and residency permits to a small class of abused and undocumented immigrants, including those engaged in prostitution.
Landlords and Tenants
Jill Jacobs
Residents of a rent-stabilized apartment building in the Bronx were recently shocked to receive rent increases of up to 16 percent, far above the currently permitted increase of 4.5 percent.
Discussion Guide – A Jewish Lens on Trafficking
What is the relationship between gender-based oppression and the trafficking of women?
Why is trafficking a Jewish issue?
How might Jewish communities draw on human rights and Jewish textual sources to address the issue?
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