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

Box 3.14. Cases involving the retention of documents
“I received a call from a mother saying her daughter was forced to work at a
nightclub. I spoke to the Public Security Directorate who helped free the women.
The owner was Lebanese-Jordanian and went to jail for six to seven months for
sexual harassment, withholding of papers etc. They could have charged him with
the crime of trafficking if the specialized law had been in place then.”
Interview with an official from the National Center for Human Rights, Jordan,
17 November 2011.
“During an attempt to arrest a pimp in Jounieh, the patrol vehicles were
shot at. The pimp ran away but the patrol was able to stop his car. Two
Syrian girls were inside it. The investigation showed that both girls had
been brought to Lebanon by one pimp and were sold to another pimp for
US$10,000. The pimp also took their identity cards. They were forced to
prostitute themselves in order to reimburse the pimp.”
Interview with an ISF official, Lebanon, 7 December 2012. 170
170
Many of the key informants interviewed spoke of the harsh conditions in
which the women lived, whether they were housed in designated hotels
for artists or in private apartments. According to the NGO Dar Al Amal
in Lebanon, “the hotels are like prisons. They are closed with steel doors.” 171
A client described the situation of artists working in super nightclubs in
Lebanon as “unimaginable”, adding that “four to five girls live in one room
and they work at night and sleep from 5 a.m. till 1 p.m. Afterwards they see
the clients from the night before from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. They are never free.” 172
A Lebanese judge expressed his disapproval, saying: “The artist system has
spurred some concern and condemnation. The 1962 decree establishing the
artist system includes a lot of provisions that are humiliating and degrading
in both form and content.” 173
A sex worker in Amman was well aware of the confinement suffered by
others doing the same kind of work, admitting having overheard that “a lot
of women working in other nightclubs are locked up in apartments after they
170
According to the ISF, this case was referred to the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in
Mount Lebanon on 14 Jan. 2011.
171
Interview with an official from Dar Al Amal, Lebanon, 14 Dec. 2011.
172
Interview with a client, Lebanon, 15 Dec. 2011.
173
Speech of Judge Samer Younes during a workshop organized by the Ministry of Social
Affairs, the Higher Council of Childhood and World Vision on combating trafficking
of children, 27 Mar. 2012.
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