Tricked and Trapped: Human Trafficking in the Middle East, ‎pdf 4.1 MB

Parents in Middle Eastern countries are also involved in financial transactions
with their daughters’ suitors, who according to custom will pay a bride price.
It is not clear whether the fathers know that the husbands will then force
their new wives into commercial sexual exploitation. A journalist in Lebanon
who carried out undercover work on the sex industry found that “the father
of the girl will receive between US$500 and US$1,000. The amount varies
depending on the age of the girl.” 157 In Jordan and Lebanon, the victims are
primarily women from Syria, Egypt and Iraq, whose husbands have taken
them to a neighbouring Arab country and forced them to work in nightclubs
and bars or exploited them in private apartments. The Lebanese ISF uncovered
several cases involving husbands forcing their wives into commercial sex
work. In one investigation, a Syrian woman explained that she had married a
Syrian man who had taken her to an apartment in Jounieh, Lebanon, taken
away her ID card, locked her up, and brought men to the apartment for
sex. 158 Another case involved a Lebanese woman who sought protection from
her former husband who had beaten her and forced her into prostitution. 159
Heartland Alliance also uncovered cases in which Iraqi women were deceived,
threatened and sometimes kidnapped by prospective husbands, who then
attempted to transport them across international boundaries to countries
including Syria, Iran and the UAE in order to exploit them. 160
Box 3.12. Blackmail within marriage
“There are lots of cases of Iraqi and Syrian girls who arrive in Lebanon and
think they will have a great life here. After a few weeks, the husband will tell
his wife that they do not have enough money to survive and that she must
just go out once with another man, just one time, to get a little money. He
pushes her mentally and she finally accepts. Once she has had sex with one
guy, she is stuck. The husband will tell her, ‘If you don’t continue, I will
tell your parents in Syria that you are a prostitute and they will kill you.’
The girl can’t go back to her family, she is stuck and has to begin prostitute
herself. This man often has several wives.”
Interview with bar owner, Jounieh, Lebanon, 24 April 2012.
157
Interview with a journalist, Lebanon, 15 May 2012.
158
According to the ISF, the case was referred to the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in
Mount Lebanon on 7 Mar. 2012. The Syrian woman was later released and a search
warrant issued against her husband.
159
According to the ISF, the case was referred to the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in
Mount Lebanon on 28 Mar. 2012. The woman was referred to the Mary and Martha
Society and a search warrant was issued against the former husband.
160
Email correspondence with an official from Heartland Alliance, 18 Sep. 2012.
85