Now for the first time there is a definition of trafficking as a criminal offense. And the country's resources are being mobilized. In the past few months, there has a marked increase in the number of arrests and prosecutions in Israel, as well as in news reports about the industry and the crackdown. Maroz is representative of a new awareness by the country's judges, who were sent the Amnesty International report in the hope they would come to view ordinary prostitution charges as only the tip of a much larger iceberg. Dayan, daughter of the late Gen. Moshe Dayan, said she is working on legislation that would allow victims to receive temporary asylum so they would be protected in shelters while they wait to testify and could perhaps leave the sex trade.
Similar efforts are under way in countries around the world, including the United States.
Dayan said authorities worldwide will have to follow Israel's lead and make the battle against sex trafficking a priority. And governments around the globe will have to cooperate and share information so that globalization and free trade do not abet exploitation and slavery. Secretary Albright agrees. There is more and more cooperation. The United Nations is drafting a treaty that would make trafficking in women an international crime with severe penalties around the world.