On Saturday, October 7, 2023, Israeli society woke up to a shocking terrorist attack unprecedented in its history. In the following weeks, the economy came to an almost complete halt. Many people stayed in their homes; there was an atmosphere of fear and terror; many areas in the country were under missile attacks that paralyzed everyday life; numerous communities were evacuated; and there was a massive mobilization of reserve soldiers.
This life-changing reality also affected sex workers who experienced the same range of emotions as the general public. In addition, due to their unique characteristics and circumstances, many of them faced challenges that do not necessarily affect the rest of society. The population of sex workers (those engaged actively in sex work or in the process of exiting the profession) is mostly composed of women who face challenges in many areas of life, often without family support or stable, supportive networks. The war that broke out on October 7, 2023, had a large impact on them.
The National Anti-Trafficking Unit (NATU) approached the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute to conduct a quick review of the implications of these events. This document presents the insights gained into how the war is affecting sex workers. The information was collected by means of interviews with professionals in the health services (particularly at the Levinsky Mobile Unit and Levinsky Clinic, Social Services – Mercazei Halev), in organizations representing sex workers (Argaman and Trans Israel), and the NGO Lo Omdot Mineged, which provides assistance to sex workers. Two women who until recently were sex workers were also interviewed. Information was also gathered from social media. Additionally, an analysis was carried out of searches for “prostitution services” on the internet, using Google Trends, during the initial months of the war and the results were compared to the searches before the outbreak of the war.
Citing suggestion: Inbar (Aizik), I., & Rivkin, D. (2024). The Effect of the War on Sex Workers. Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute. (Hebrew)