A two-day expert mission on combatting trafficking in human beings and impact of prostitution laws took place in Israel this week, one of a series of activities in which Israel and the European Union are exchanging know-how and experience through the TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange) mechanism. 

Experts from France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria discussed with Israel’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Reducing Demand for Prostitution, the impacts of criminalisation of customers of prostitution on sexual exploitation. The focus of the exchange was on ways to reduce the demand for prostitution.

The Expert Mission briefed Israel on legal approaches in EU Member States and presented policy tools used to fight human trafficking and transnational organised crime. 

In light of the current debate in Israel, since the submission of a bill in 2015 for criminalising the purchase of prostitution services and support for victims of sexual exploitation, the input provided by the mission will add to Israel’s comparative research and the review of its policy and legislation on the issue.

“Israel has had extraordinary success in eradicating trafficking for prostitution, a phenomenon that began in the 1990s and has been almost entirely eliminated in its traditional form,” EU Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen said at the start of the mission. “Challenges, however, remain, as new patterns of trafficking have evolved and Israel is searching for ways to meet these challenges, including through its cooperation with the EU,” the Ambassador said. 

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Press release 

EU Delegation to Israel

TAIEX website