Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Israel (Ratification: 2005)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance 5733-1973 makes it an offence to: manufacture, prepare or produce drugs (section 6); export, import or supply drugs (section 13); induce a minor to use dangerous drugs (section 21); and instigate a minor to obtain or use a dangerous drug (section 21(a)(3)). The Government indicates that although there is no specific mention of a minor in relation to the manufacture of drugs, this constitutes a criminal offence in the State of Israel. The Government further states that to date there have been no recorded cases relating to the production and trafficking of drugs by minors.

Article 7(1). Penalties. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government with regard to the prosecutions and convictions made during 2012–15 for the offences related to the sale and trafficking of children, child prostitution and child pornography. According to this data, 70 cases related to child prostitution were initiated, (involving 18 males and 51 females between the ages of 10 and 17), and in some cases the perpetrators were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from five months to five years, in addition to fines and compensation to victims, while some cases are still pending in the courts. With regard to cases related to child pornography, 341 cases were initiated (involving 53 males and 257 females between the ages of 6 and 17). Court sentences of imprisonment ranging from six months to nine years, in addition to conditional imprisonment and fines were imposed on those convicted. As regards offences related to trafficking of children, in 2013, a person who was charged with multiple offences related to trafficking of a minor for sexual exploitation was convicted and sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment with a fine of 100,000 Israeli Shekels (ILS) (US$25,000). The Committee also notes that a case is currently pending against an Israeli citizen charged for the offences related to trafficking of teenage boys from Israel and abroad for sexual exploitation.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking in children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the Inter-Government Protocol for identifying victims of trafficking which contains a procedure including a comprehensive list of indicators for recognizing victims of trafficking. According to this Protocol, once a victim is identified, every government official is obliged to inform the police. The Government report also indicates that numerous trainings on the Protocol have been conducted for all relevant governmental staff and officials, including the Israeli Prison Service, relevant airport staff, hospital staff and the Immigration Authority. The Committee also notes from the Government’s initial report of 2012 concerning the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography that there exist two Government-funded shelters, Atlas and Ma’agan shelters created specifically for victims of trafficking which house male and female victims separately. This report also indicates that though these shelters do not house child victims of trafficking, they constitute a well-founded platform for establishing shelters for children if the need were to arise. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s information that from 2012 to 2014, there were approximately 15 minor girls who were trafficked from the Egyptian border for the purpose of prostitution. Some of these girls were initially held in detention facilities and then referred to boarding schools run by the Ministry of Education, while approximately nine girls were housed in shelters for victims of trafficking.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services and the Ministry of Public Security will be conducting a national survey regarding prostitution in Israel with the goal of assessing the extent of the phenomenon and establishing an estimation of the number of minors that are engaged in prostitution. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the proposed national survey regarding prostitution, once it has been completed.