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Students Output : Prostitution in Lebanon

Posted by Peter Hanna on 2010/5/17 13:30:00 (449 reads) News by the same author

Prostitution in Lebanon
Youmna Bassem Hachach

1. Abstract

Prostitution is a profession that has been around for centuries, and Lebanon is no exception. However, in recent decades, it has been accepted less and less. With this lack of acceptance comes the push of such an industry underground. There are many key factors that play into the acceptance of prostitution: such as lack of equal opportunity, socio-economic conditions, and of geo-politics; albeit, prostitution goes hand-in-hand with trafficking persons. These people’s conditions are exploited to better suit the needs of the clientele. How much is the government really doing about it? Or Medical officials? Or even NGO’s? This qualitative field research is directed at trying to answer such questions. It is a cross-sectional study on prostitution in Lebanon using snowball sampling, with the goal of trying to interview prostitutes in prison. However, researching such a topic comes with great difficulty. Government officials are scared of giving out any incriminating evident and scared of being implicated, and sex workers are scared for their safety. There is also a lack of transparency within the government and a high risk of underreported cases.

2. Literature Review
In recent years, governments and NGO’s have been taking serious initiatives at trying to understand the phenomenon of prostitution and trafficking. In doing so, they either find ways for the government to better improve conditions and standards or try to find out more on the topics through conducting interviews as well as field research
In the report of Trafficking in Lebanon, the Republic of Lebanon attempts to prove that in fact the government is doing all it can do to try and remedy the situation. The report shows that the government is trying to set standards and is trying to raise awareness on the issue. However, it also shows that the Lebanese law is faulty. Even though Lebanon is a member state of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, the law lacks a clear definition of the terms prostitution and trafficking. The law also lacks a clear and severe enough sentence for violators.
NGO’s, such as Investor Relations Information Networks (IRIN), which is part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, have taken it on themselves to try and figure out how people get involved in such a messy business. They have managed to interview 5 women from different age groups: Nadine 16, Zeina 21, Rima 31 and the NGO Worker, and Jaqueline 54. Each had her own story to tell. “At a glance, Nadine is an innocent, 16 year-old-girl, but a conversation with her soon reveals the shocking details of the hard life she endured as a child. ‘I didn’t choose to work as a prostitute,’ she said. ‘It’s just my luck in life.’ Explaining how she was raped at the age of nine by a neighbor, and therefore ‘had nothing to lose’ when she accepted money for the first time in exchange for sex with an older man, Nadine blamed her situation on her family’s financial needs. ‘My parents needed money so they sent me to work as a housemaid at the age of 12. Do you know how much I had to put up with in my situation?’ Nadine asked rhetorically. ‘All men want is one thing- your body! So I decided to ask for money in exchange for what I was offering.’ Now in her fourth year of working in the sex trade, Nadine talks about the abuses she suffered by men she has slept with. ‘I’ve been beaten up, forced to have unprotected sex, thrown out in the middle of the night without getting paid… but life goes on,’ she said. ‘I can’t go to the authorities and file a complaint. What would I say? ‘I slept with this man and he refused to pay me my money’?’ said Nadine, refusing to say how much she usually charged customers.”
“Zeina, 21, said she was sold to a man for sex by her mother when she was just nine-years-old. She has since continued to sell herself. ‘People are very judgmental, but at that age, if your own parents don’t want you, how are you supposed to survive? Tell me if there is any other way,’ she said.” “One of the last things that Rima, a 31-year-old commercial sex worker, said to the staff at Beirut-based NGO Dar al- Amal was that she wanted to be buried with her mother. Three days later, a drug addict shot her six times in the shabby room in which she lived and worked in the Sabra refugee camp on the city’s outskirts, according to Dar al-Amal staff. The women she had been talking to identified her body and buried her the following evening. The murderer’s motive remains unknown.” “The man is like God - he can do anything, and beat a woman. It’s also society - girls have to do what their fathers or husbands say,’ said Jaqueline, 54, a former sex worker who regularly visits the centre for moral support. Jaqueline said she married at 18 to escape life with an aunt who wanted her to prostitute herself: ‘She said I must go out like her and sleep with Gulf and Saudi men for money,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to.’ Later, her husband turned violent, eventually throwing her out but keeping their five children: ‘I worked in a bar, selling myself,’ she said. ‘I had a boyfriend who took all the money I earned.’ One of her sons, she added, now follows his father’s example and beats his own wife.”

3. Design

This qualitative field research is a cross-sectional study of prostitution and trafficking. It explores the independent factors that contribute to such an industry: such as the socio-economic conditions - high unemployment, civil conflict, underdeveloped economies, lack of state support, poverty, illiteracy, presence of economic crisis - lack of equal opportunities, and geo-politics. The units of analysis in this research are the individuals. Non-probability sampling is used, specifically snowball sampling. The interviews consist of open-ended qualitative questions.

4. Analysis

Introduction:
Since the dawn of time and the evolution of the world’s culture, prostitution has been a prevalent profession. It can be found in ancient “mythology, art, sculpture, drama, literature, music, and archaeological structures and ruins” (MNHS). However, in recent centuries, this profession has been subjected to stigmatism. According to the Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, prostitution is “the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual relations especially for money.” Prostitution falls under the crime of trafficking of persons, according to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. Therefore, in order to discuss prostitution, one must touch on the issue of trafficking of human beings- either across international borders or within the state itself.
Prostitution is one of the most profitable industries; earning billions of dollars yearly. However due to the stigmatization of this profession, the exact figures are unclear. Prostitution “frequently involves an economically exploitive relationship with a pimp or a madam; young girls are at even high risk of abuse and exploitation than their older counterparts” (Vedder). Factors that affect trafficking usually consist of “… social conditions, regional geopolitics, and human aspects…” which help traffickers dodge the law. Society is faced with a lack of equal opportunities…” for one (especially women) to improve their “… personal quality of life and to escape poverty” (RoL).
In trafficking, countries are either listed as origin, transit, or destination countries. It usually depends on the societies socio-economic characteristics, namely such as poverty level, illiteracy rate, acute character of the economic crises, lack of state support, political changes due to regional and civil conflict, high unemployment rate, lack of equal opportunities, and underdeveloped economies. There exists a “… confusion on the definition [which] complicates victim identification… [which is] further aggravated by the violation of basic human rights…” (RoL).
Lebanon tends to be more of a destination for trafficked people who tend to work as ‘artists’, prostitutes, or domestic workers. Due to the ‘black market’ nature of prostitution and the lack of transparency methods, cases are underreported. Therefore, there are no official victims, only ‘suspected’ victims. However, Lebanon is the first country in the region to take measures to fight trafficking. It has established project LEBR61 which strives to create “measures to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings in Lebanon [such as] strengthen[ing] Lebanon’s capacity to draft and implement legislation in compliance with the Protocol… facilitate[ing] networking nationally and internationally within the judiciary, the law enforcement, and the civil society… [and] increas[ing] investigation and prosecution capacities and training of personnel of the agencies involved”. There exists many limitations when trying to research such a culturally taboo topic, and that is due to the “… lack of a consistent definition of the problem, lack of standardized data… lack of consistent data collection… lack of legislation determining trafficking in persons is a crime… [and] lack of available information on women in prostitution…” (RoL).
Historical Survey:
Prostitution is considered to be one of the oldest professions in the history of civilization- after hunting and gathering. “[W]herever there [has] been money, goods, or services to be bartered; somebody has bartered them for sex” (Head). “Through most of history there were few professions open for women, especially if they had little family support or they lacked the education or class status to aspire to the few professions that respectable women could participate in” (Vedder).
“[P]riestesses of Babylonian temples were prostitutes…” For example, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest epic in the world, the Harlot that is paid to sleep with Enkidu and civilize him is actually a priestess of the temple of nature. In “… ceremonies of Astarte, [Dionysus], Ishtar and Aphrodite… women entered into promiscuous relationship… at special celebrations” (CMAJ). Hammurabi’s Code “… includes provisions to protect the inheritance rights of prostitutes:”
If a ‘devoted woman’ or a prostitute to whom her father has given a dowry and a deed… then her father die[s], then her brothers shall hold her field and garden, and give her corn, oil, and milk according to her portion. If a ‘sister of god,’ or a prostitute, receives a gift from her father, and a deed in which it has been explicitly stated that she may dispose of it as she pleases… then she may leave her proverty to whomsoever she pleases (Head).
Prostitution gained ground in its presence within Greek society. There existed three classes of prostitutes: slave prostitutes (pronai), freeborn (street) prostitutes, and educated prostitutes (hetaera). Pornai and street prostitutes were either male or female. Hetaeras were entertainers to the high class society (CMAJ). They “… enjoyed a level of social influence that was denied to nearly all non-prostitute women.” They were never men- always women (Head). These women were “… admired for their mental and social talents. Government-supported brothels were established in certain areas- usually busy urban areas. They were “… staffed with inexpensive pornai that all men, regardless of their income, could afford to hire. These women “… set their seal on the fashions of hair, dress and jewelry” (CMAJ).
There also existed a great presence of male prostitutes. They have been “… attached to the temples of the Canaanites and [are] mentioned in the Old Testament… [and] seem[ed] to have had in view the transfer of blessings to the worshippers.” Even though prostitution continued into the Roman period, they started to feel the wrath of persecution. The common prostitute was treated with disdain. They were forced “… to dye [their] hair or wear a wig, to clothe [themselves] in garments which made [their] profession easily recognizable…” It was strongly frowned upon during the Christian Roman Empire, but tolerate; the Christian church pushed for abstinence (CMAJ).
In 590 AD, there was an attempt to ban prostitution in Spain. This was done to try and bring it closer to the Christian Ideology. There was “… no punishment for men who hired or exploited prostitutes, but women found guilty of selling sexual favors were whipped 300 times and exiled…” In about 1161, it made another appearance in Europe. It was regulated within society. “[P]rostitutes must be single and ordered weekly inspections of… brothels to ensure that other laws were not being broken” (Head). In 1269, brothels were destroyed in France. This resulted in “… prostitutes mix[ing] more freely than ever with the general population and their baneful influence increase” (CMAJ).
In 1358, prostitution was declared, by the Great Council of Venice, to be “absolutely indispensible to the world” (Head). In medieval Europe, prostitution was “… licensed and regulated by the law, but by the 16th century an epidemic of venereal disease and post-Reformation mortality led to the closure of brothels”(Britannica). By 1751 in Vienna, Marie Theresa “… imposed fines, imprisonment, whipping and torture for violations of the prohibitory law.” She even enforced rules that prevented “… the wearing of short dresses and… remove[d] all female servants from public houses and restaurants” (CMAJ). France had also experienced tighter control on prostitution. In 1802, the Bureau of Morals was established. It was created as a “… police force [which was] responsible for monitoring houses of prostitution in order to ensure that they complied with the law, and did not become center of criminal activity…” (Head).
In Japan, a geisha “… occupies a position in society comparable to the European actress, with her free artistic existence (CMAJ). In WW II in Japan, women living in occupied areas were forced into prostitution (“comfort battalions”), in militarized brothels. In 1956, India had created and enforced anti-prostitution laws; albeit, it tolerated it in specific areas (Head).
In recent years, in many countries around the world, prostitution has been de-criminalized and regulated. Some believe that this would better ensure the safety of the women who enter into this profession. They also believe that by doing so, it would help decrease the other crimes that tend to be related to prostitution - such as drugs and weapons trading. All-in-all they believe it creates better control.
Human Rights, Convention, and Protocol:
Trafficking prostitutes violates numerous amount of the basic human rights that many people tend to take for granted. It infringes on their
“Right to be born free and equal in dignity and rights… right to life, liberty and security... right not to be subjected to torture or inhuman treatment… right to work (and receive pay)… [and their] right to health.”
This crime also violates these people’s right not to be enslaved; right to be equal before the law anywhere is the world, and to a fair trial while not being subjected to arbitrary arrest; right to privacy and respect of honor and reputation; right to freedom of movement; right to rest and reasonable working hours; right to participate in cultural life; and their right to social and international order (Refer to Appendix E). Violations come in the forms of “… rape, torture, forced abortion, starvation, murder and/or torture of family members (RoL).
Lebanon has signed and ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children which was ratified by 96 other member states. The Protocol requires that the crime of human trafficking be clearly stipulated in the member state’s law. Article 3(a) defines trafficking as
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by mean of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, or abduction, or fraud, of deception, of abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs (Refer to Appendix G).
According to the Protocol, member states must protect victims’ identities and privacies by providing confidential legal proceedings. States are required to provide victims with “… information on relevant court and administrative proceedings; or assistance to enable their views and concerns to be presented and considered at appropriate stages of criminal proceedings against offenders, in a manner not prejudicial to the rights of the defense.” They must provide measures for the “physical, psychological and social recovery…” for victims. The states must also “… take into account the age, gender and special needs of victims… including appropriate housing, education and care.” Other organizations, such as NGO’s, can go a step further by providing “… appropriate housing… counseling and information, in particular as regards to their legal rights, in a language that the victims… can understand… medical, psychological and material assistance… employment, educational and training opportunities” (RoL).
Lebanese Law:
Under the Lebanese law, human trafficking is not a specific crime. However, the components of this crime are visible in the law. Therefore, under the law, there are no official victims, only ‘suspected victims’. The Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labor, and Ministry of Interior are attempting to take steps in order to remedy this problem - such as creating Complaint Offices and General Directorate. NGO’s are also taking an initiative to help by creating programs to tend to the victims’ needs.
According to a law passed in 2/6/1931, “[p]rostitution is legal in Lebanon. Women in prostitution must be registered and must undergo medical examinations.” Article 17 (as amended) stipulates that “[t]o be legal, women in prostitution cannot be virgins, and they must be older than 21.” Article 12 allows brothels to exist “… providing that they are owned by a woman over the age of 25.” However, article 7 limits the existence of brothels to “… be located in specific areas and be completely separated from all neighboring buildings.” While at the same time, article 51 prohibits streetwalkers and ‘secret prostitutes’. Article 273 of the Lebanese criminal law dictates that “… if it is established before the court that the act took place and that it is a criminal act; and if it is proven that the defendant is guilty, then he is incriminated and sentenced to a determined time. The court shall also rule that compensations shall be paid to the plaintiff if he required that…” (RoL).
According to the Lebanese Penal Code, “any person who forces someone other than his companion, by means of violence and threat into sexual intercourse shall be sentenced with hard labour for 5 years at least, the sentence shall be strengthened whenever the aggressed is under 15 years of age or any person who cannot resist due to a physical or mental disorder or due to the trickery used against him if the sexual intercourse takes place with a minor, the perpetrator shall be sentenced with temporary hard labour or jail according to the age of the aggressed, even if the aggressor does not exercise any trick or violence or deceit and even if he does not resort to trickery or does not benefit from a physical or mental disorder.” This gives the husband the right to prostitute his wife. If a person is not his wife or is a minor, then the person is ‘held’ accountable to the law.
Article 523 of the Penal Code states that “any person who is used to instigate one person or more, whether a male or a female, under21 years old, to prostitute or corruption or to facilitate them for him or help him to do them…[and] any person who practices secret prostitution or facilitates it shall be sentenced with imprisonment from a month to a year…[also if] any person who earns his life or some of it, from the prostitution of others shall be sentenced with imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years.”
To protect the public from prostitution, article 73 establishes that “any person who seduces a women or a girl under the age of 18 into committing prostitution and embellishes for her the road to wrongdoing and corruption by the means of promises or threats or misleading or coercion shall be sentenced with imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years.” These threats are also punishable under article 573 which dictates that “any person who threatens another person with a felony punishable by the capital punishment. Life in prison with hard labour or more than 15 years in prison or life in prison, either by means of a written document, even if it was an implicit one, or through a third party, shall be sentenced with prison from 1 to 3 years if the threats include the order to perform an act, even if it is legal to refrain from performing it. If the threat with any of the felonies does not include an order or if it does include it but happens verbally without a third party mediation, it shall be sentenced with prison from 3 months to 2 years.”
The Criminal Court Code stipulates that under article 7, “… the victim may take legal action before the examining magistrate in serious crime or misdemeanor… The victim may as well join the public lawsuit before the criminal court.” It must be noted that article 53 does not “… establish that taking legal action is limited to one kind of victims not taking into account the nationality or the type of damage… [however, it] guarantee[s] the confidentiality of the investigation.” And article 59 expresses that “… the examining magistrate starts the investigation proceedings according to a direct charge by which the victim has taken personal legal action.”
When presenting a charge before the magistrate, article 68, paragraph 2 stipulates that “…if the plaintiff is a foreigner he is required to submit a monetary or real estate guarantee…” Paragraph 3 “… exempts the plaintiff from an advance payment if the offence is a serious crime.” But one must ask, what is considered a serious crime? Paragraph 4 “… stipulates that the plaintiff may be exempted from an advance payment if his financial condition does not allow him or her to pay it if the offence is a misdemeanor. The foreigner plaintiff may be exempted from the advance payment for the same reason.” Article 70 gives the general prosecutor permission to “… contend with the plaintiff before starting the investigation.” If the interrogated victim does not understand Arabic, then a sworn translator would be appointed to them.
According to the Decree for Organizing the Work of Foreigners no. 17 561 article 2, “… each foreigner wishing to enter Lebanon to work therein, with or without wage, shall get an authorization in advance from the Ministry of Labour prior to his or her entry, unless he or she is an artist. Then, the approval is issued by the Directorate of General Security.”
Interviews:
‘Suspected’ female victims come from specific regions of the world: Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Romania, Ethiopia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and from many more underdeveloped states all over the world. They are generally restricted by “… work permits and conditions for entry… [which are] enforced on all foreign workers…” They must “… respect the working hours of 22:00 until 5:00; remaining at their hotel from 5:00 until 13:00, being allowed to leave the hotel daily from 13:00 until 19:00; and being prohibited from marrying a Lebanese national.” Those who have “… worked as [an] artist… [are] not permitted to enter the country for tourism or even employment purposes in a different field until 12 months have elapsed since cessation of their artistic activities in Lebanon.” Due to these factors, “… it is difficult to find victims of trafficking related to this vulnerable group, especially when one ‘artist’ complains about sexual exploitation, her contract is [terminated] immediately and she is deported.” Therefore, the victim very rarely gets prosecuted. Usually the sponsor is held responsible. “Measures can be administrative such as: restriction from (importing) bringing in artists… or orientation complaints to the judiciary” (RoL).
Most of these groups of women (especially Eastern European) enter on an artist visa which stipulates that they are “… permitted [to enter] only after signing a contract [(an employment contract)], upon prior approval by the General Directorate of the General Security…” According to the General Security, “… approximately 5,500 women [enter] Lebanon each year working as ‘artist’…” The problem of trafficking and prostitution seems to be a small one. Only about 60 cases are reported per year, which is a greatly under-estimation of the actual amount of cases. Traffickers deceive victims by promising them a better life in order to convince them (RoL).
The following interview was conducted with Dr. Joseph Hallit, a doctor at World Medical Center (WMC) and a prison doctor. The interview revealed that what these doctors do is check the health of the prisoners. They check on three prisons a week. They have been doing so for a few years now. They don’t get into their medical history, because then it raises problems. They don’t practice preventive medicine; they deal with every issue as it happens - primary health.
There are about 4,500 people in prison involved in trafficking. There are around 1,200 women from all backgrounds - Arabs, Africans, and some Europeans. The number of men trafficked into Lebanon is more than the women. Over the years, they have been catching less and less. There do exist some cases that of prostitution. However, there aren’t that many cases of ‘artists’. That is because their employers have enough money to pay for required ‘legal work’. According to what they know, there is no abuse that goes on in prisons. The prisoners are able to make one phone call when they first arrive. And they can send a message with people who are released. The minimum sentence for an illegal is 1 month plus a fine - he is not sure how much. If they are unable to pay, then they stay in prison until their debt is paid off. Every night they spend in prison is about 35,000 L.L. (about US $23.30) off their sentence. When their sentence is put, they are then deported. Once, authorities put a group of Egyptians on a boat and sent them back. If you want to work in Lebanon, you need to have the proper permits. The government needs to crack down some more (Refer to Appendix B).
The following interviews were conducted by Investor Relations Information Networks (IRIN), which is part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The translations are reported as done and are not edited. “At a glance, Nadine is an innocent, 16 year-old-girl, but a conversation with her soon reveals the shocking details of the hard life she endured as a child. ‘I didn’t choose to work as a prostitute,’ she said. ‘It’s just my luck in life.’ Explaining how she was raped at the age of nine by a neighbor, and therefore ‘had nothing to lose’ when she accepted money for the first time in exchange for sex with an older man, Nadine blamed her situation on her family’s financial needs. ‘My parents needed money so they sent me to work as a housemaid at the age of 12. Do you know how much I had to put up with in my situation?’ Nadine asked rhetorically. ‘All men want is one thing - your body! So I decided to ask for money in exchange for what I was offering.’ Now in her fourth year of working in the sex trade, Nadine talks about the abuses she suffered by men she has slept with. ‘I’ve been beaten up, forced to have unprotected sex, thrown out in the middle of the night without getting paid… but life goes on,’ she said. ‘I can’t go to the authorities and file a complaint. What would I say? ‘I slept with this man and he refused to pay me my money’?’ said Nadine, refusing to say how much she usually charged customers.”
The following interviews were also conducted by IRIN. “Zeina, 21, said she was sold to a man for sex by her mother when she was just nine-years-old. She has since continued to sell herself. ‘People are very judgmental, but at that age, if your own parents don’t want you, how are you supposed to survive? Tell me if there is any other way,’ she said.” “One of the last things that Rima, a 31-year-old commercial sex worker, said to the staff at Beirut-based NGO Dar al- Amal was that she wanted to be buried with her mother. Three days later, a drug addict shot her six times in the shabby room in which she lived and worked in the Sabra refugee camp on the city’s outskirts, according to Dar al-Amal staff. The women she had been talking to identified her body and buried her the following evening. The murderer’s motive remains unknown.” “The man is like God - he can do anything, and beat a woman. It’s also society - girls have to do what their fathers or husbands say,’ said Jaqueline, 54, a former sex worker who regularly visits the centre for moral support. Jaqueline said she married at 18 to escape life with an aunt who wanted her to prostitute herself: ‘She said I must go out like her and sleep with Gulf and Saudi men for money,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to.’ Later, her husband turned violent, eventually throwing her out but keeping their five children: ‘I worked in a bar, selling myself,’ she said. ‘I had a boyfriend who took all the money I earned.’ One of her sons, she added, now follows his father’s example and beats his own wife.”
I managed to conduct the following interview with Hiba Abou Chacra- a social worker from Dar al-Amal. “Dar al Amal is an organization that [takes care of] with prostitutes. It has been operating since 1969-1970. It first started in downtown; however, it has moved due to its destruction during the civil war. Now the organization also helps prostitutes in prisons (Baabda, Tripoli, and Sin El Fil), especially those that are at risk of being abused. We also work with minors in the Nabaa camps that are at risk of being abused. Most of the women that come and seek help are Lebanese, Syrian, or Palestinian. Most have been abused at a young age, and are still being abused. It provides many different types of services to help better their quality of life: individual follow-up (life coaching), family follow-up (locating family and locating papers), education (providing for their children's education), legal services (providing assistance when needed), health services (try to refer to free or discounted health care), HIV/AIDS testing (new free service for everyone), psychological follow-up (to help them deal with abuse), atelier (work opportunity twice a week) (as shown in Appendix D). Unfortunately, there is no shelter, but we are trying to raise funds to build one. There are very few shelters in Lebanon, which place strict conditions. We get around 82 cases a year, 30 of which are new, most of which were abused as minors. The worst cases were 2 girls, aged 7-9, who were forced into labor and then were raped by their employers. They managed to run away, and had turned to their mothers for help. Their mothers protected them by pimping them. They spent years getting abused over and over again. The successful cases relate to traditional means. Such as getting married and raising a family. Many of the women still stay in contact. A couple of girls still come every day and help out. The least payment a girl would receive would probably be food and/or shelter. Women in 'super nightclubs' are paid around $75 to about $100 (around 112,500L.L to about 150,000L.L.): these figures were established in a study we conducted in 2007-2008. We are unsure of how much the escorts receive. And we are unsure of the rate women charge in 5 star hotels. There are many problems in Lebanon that fuel the issue. The legal system needs to be reformed, and the socio-economic system needs to also be reformed. The issue of poverty needs to be addressed by the government. The government can be very influential, and should be influential - which is one of many aspects that Lebanon lacks. Police corruption increases the risk of these women getting abused. Policies in Lebanon are not preventative and need to be improved. (Refer to Appendix A)
The following interviews were conducted with the assistance of Hiba Abou Chacra- for translational purposes, and to make the women feel more comfortable. Names have been changed to protect the victims. When I walked into Dar Al-Amal, a group of women were sitting in the common room. They were discussing the issue of incest. They were talking about a case that occurred not too long ago. A woman, living with her adopted family in Australia (not knowing she was adopted), fell in love with a man, who had similar features as she did. They decided to get married. They went through with the engagement, and spent around US$8,000 on the wedding. The bride invited a lady that would always come and visit her family in Australia. Throughout their engagement, the couple was never able to bring themselves to be physically close to each other. They brushed off the apprehension as a feeling of wanting to save them for marriage. At the wedding the bride bumped into the lady- who turned out to be the groom's mother. So the lady stopped the wedding. She revealed to the man and woman that they are actually siblings. The lady was the woman's biological mother. They went on to discuss that working as a sex worker, and having been victims of pregnancy out of wedlock, there is always a fear that the children they gave up for adoption would fall in love with the children that they were able to keep.
Amina is a 31 year old woman, who currently work as a house-keeper for Dar Al-Amal. She was raped at the age of 17. “So at the age of 17, I left home. I had no job prospects and was frustrated. Having given up my first child for adoption at the age of 18, I set out for a career as a sex worker. I knew a girl that was a sex worker and she showed me the way. The clients weren't that bad. They were good. The minimum I would receive as payment would be 20,000 L.L. (approximately US$13.30). When I would 'go out' with the customer, I would first not feel anything. I would feel empty. After I 'went out' with them, I would hate myself. Thank God I am out of it. And I never want to go back. The main reason that pushed me to change my career was meeting my husband, who is my sister's husband's friend. He was a taxi driver. He would take me around whenever I needed. We got to know each other and fell in love. We were married for about 13 years. We had a beautiful daughter, who is now 7years old. However, life is never easy. My husband died not long ago in a car accident. So now my life is devoted to my daughter. Thank God I have never been arrested. I knew some people that were arrested. They were beaten by the police many times. I'm not sure how long the sentence is, but I think it's about 6 months. This isn't the minimum sentence though.”
Jamila is now 42 years old. “I was married off between the ages of 13 and 14, I'm not sure. I was 16 and a half when I had my son. I am now a divorcee and a widower. I got divorced at the age of 17. My husband, who was an abusive man, had taken my child away from me when we got divorced; and then he died shortly after. I started 'going out' (working as a prostitute) at the age of 18. I chose this career so that I can gather enough money to bring my son back to me. I mostly worked in a 'super night club'; where half my earnings from the club would go to the madam. I was never pimped. I was able to choose my customers. The clients were like this and like that. The clients from the bar were too scared of me to rape me. But I was forced to do drugs and 'nasty' requests. If the clients didn't want to use a condom, then I didn't have a choice and I was forced to keep going. I have been 'gang banged' (group rape) by people outside the club. The madam of the club was a very good woman to me. She would always tell me that I didn't belong there. I still keep in contact with her. Whenever I need assistance, she is always there to help me out. Because some clients would never use condoms, I would always have infections and was forced to abort on many occasions, which the help of a 'midwife'- using unsanitary products. Due to such circumstances, I was exposed to other health issues. On a few accounts I would have to be hospitalized. What also added to my health issues were my uninformed hygiene practices. I would flush Betadine- an antiseptic- into my vaginal area. Then with a sponge on a stick, I would scrub my uterus. I now know that it is wrong. I would always have some much negative feelings- it's hard to explain. Thankfully I was never arrested. A lot of women get stopped and arrested by the police, who abuse them. On occasions, the police would force the woman to have sex with them before they take them to jail. I have stopped working as a sex work when I was about 25 years - about 17 years ago, around 1991. I now work as a house-keeper. I now have my son, who is now 25 years old. He now has a family of his own. He made me a grandmother. He now has a beautiful baby girl (Refer to Appendix C).
I managed to secure and conduct an interview with an “Impresario”. He first started out in this business three years ago as the floor manager of his father’s Super Night Club, or cabaret, and is currently 24 years old. An “Impresario” is the Lebanese version of a pimp. He is the person who “… has direct contact with agencies and agents in different countries. [He] travel[s] to different countries to find women…. [he] suppl[ies] women to different clubs.” However, bringing these women to work in Lebanon would mean that he “… must go through the local agencies for legal purposes.”
When working in such an industry, is “…not to have sex with your girls. It is the number one rule when working in this business. If you have sex with one of these women you automatically start losing money. First, the woman you have sex with will consider herself to be more important than the other women. She will start believing that she is the favorite and will start causing problems in the club. Second, the other women will become jealous of that woman, and they will start getting mad and frustrated. They will start believing that they are not as favored. And they too will start causing problems and it will become a big headache. So it is better for everyone involved not to have sex with these women.”
According to the “Impresario”, in the Super Night Club business there are different levels of positions. “There are club managers (or floor managers), Moudeer el Malha, Assistant Moudeer el Malha, as well as regular staff. Only Moudeer el Malha and Assistant Moudeer el Malha have the right to go to the Ministry of Interior to do the paper work to bring in girls. No one else is allowed.” He had worked his way up the ladder and is also employed in his father’s club as Moudeer el Malha. In this industry, there also exist different classes of clubs. “There are the high class clubs like Excalibur Super Night Club, and there are the rest of the clubs. In Lebanon, bars are illegal but they are still around. The high class clubs usually employ women that are in the model category. Their women are usually sexier and much more expensive. Having sex with these women would cost more than a US$500.” However, not all clubs can employ women from this category. “It is the ‘Impresario’s’ job to find women for these different clubs. Since the club owner doesn’t meet the women he employs before they arrive to the country, and the women sponsored by the ‘Impresario’, he is responsible for dealing with any problems that arise with the employment of these women. For example, if a club is having difficulty with one of the women. He calls the ‘Impresario’. If he is to deport her, he would be losing a lot of money. The club owner would also be losing a lot of money because he is short one girl and waiting for a new one to come from overseas would take too long. So the ‘Impresario’ would try and switch the difficult woman with another woman - whom they also sponsor - from another club.”
When he worked as a club manager, many problems would arise. These women have a tendency of “… forming groups - usually from the same nationalities - and they would try to take business away from the other [women from different nationality] groups. For example, a Moroccan woman has a very loyal customer who happened to bring his friend along with him to the club. [This] woman would recommend that the friend take one of the other Moroccan women, even though she is ugly, and will talk badly about the Tunisian women, [for example,] so as not to take business away from her [nationality] group. She will convince the man to pick the Moroccan woman. And sometimes these groups get into fights. They throw glasses and bottles at each other and get into fist fights. When such fights occur we try not to get the police involved. If they do get involved, [the women] could be deported and they could get black listed from the country, and you would lose money and have to pay for her ticket back. If a woman does get blacklisted, then she can’t come into Lebanon for 5 years if she is a westerner, 10 years if she is Tunisian, and 15 years if she is Moroccan. Moroccans are the ones that cause the most problems. They are a poor race and they are always looking for trouble. They are still in a very tribal mindset. The Tunisians are thieves. It is known about them. A lot of times customers would come to the club manager and complain that their phone was stolen, or their wallet was stolen or $200 was stolen from their wallet when they were with a Tunisian woman. There are also problems when a woman is out with a customer, and the woman doesn’t ask for the money before having sex. The customer can refuse to give the woman the money and there is nothing that can be done about it. A lot of problems can happen here. Only if the customer is a loyal customer should the woman be okay with asking for the money afterwards. There are also problems with women hitting customers and customers hitting women. These always happen. It’s normal. There are also drug problems but they don’t occur as often. The Moroccan, Tunisian, and Ukrainian women like drugs. The Russian and Romanian women not so much. It’s not always the case that the customer forces the drugs on the women. A lot of times the women go up to the customers and ask them for drugs and try to buy drugs from them. If the customer chooses to give the woman drugs, it is a matter between the two of them. We try and not get involved in this. A lot of times the problems are due to jealousy. Women are usually jealous from the woman that is most popular and they will start talking badly about her and will try to cause problems for her. Usually the woman that is most popular is more professional and she prefers not to get involved in these petty games. Not many of the women are professional, only about 40% of them are. The rest of the women try and get into this business to try and find someone to grab on to and marry. The professional women usually get into this business because they are in a certain situation and need to raise money. They work until they have enough money to go back home. Mostly the Moroccan and Tunisia women get into this business to find a husband. So these women that are here to find husbands tend to get very jealous if they see someone they want but another woman is standing in her way. There is a lot of negativity. There are also problems with if the customers call the women “Sharmouta” [(or Whore in English)]. Unfortunately, they are in this situation due to circumstances and they don’t accept anyone to call them “Sharmouta”. They will get into a fight [over this]. But in general if you can solve problems without getting the police involved it would be much better. But the police must always be notified if there are problems. They must be aware of all situations.
In this industry, the profits are great. “You can’t even imagine that amount of profit one can make from this business. For example, [he] know[s] a woman from 1 client in the span of 3 months made US$34,000 all alone. This woman is very strong and has a big reputation. This woman doesn’t go out with many clients, [but] [s]he has, for example, 10 very loyal selected clients. This woman is a high class escort.”
According to the Lebanese law, “women are not allowed to be outside the club, unless it is her day off. So if one of the girls needs a hospital, the police would also need to be notified.” In Lebanon, it is illegal for a migrant sex worker to be pregnant. “If a woman were to get pregnant, she will automatically get deported. When a woman first arrives, she gets tested for everything at Hotel Dieu, and every 3 months she must get tested for pregnancy and diseases. Each test costs around US$320. Every month, Moudeer el Malha must go to the General Security to renew the women’s papers (the women don’t need to go with him for this- only when they get tested). And every 3 months when the woman gets tested, she signs a new contract. Every month, it costs around US$200 for visa renewal for every woman employed. Even though there are a lot of profits to be made in this industry, but there are also a lot of expenses.”
Concerning the time duration of visas, “Moroccan and Tunisian women are allowed in the country for 2 years. Not like the western women that are only allowed in the country for 6 months. [However, if a] man chooses to marry one of these women, the woman would have to travel back to her home country and wait for the paper work to be done before she can come back here. Now it is preferable that the Lebanese men not marry these women, so the government makes it difficult for them by making the process difficult. But in the end anything is doable- a little [money] from here and a little [money] from there… and everything can be fixed. If it is discovered that after a couple of days of being in the country that the woman was originally pregnant, then that woman is automatically deported and the commission would have to be returned.”
In order to stay on top of the game in this industry, “an important thing that a [club] owner must do is continuously change the women that work at the clubs. If the women are there [for] too long, the women will start getting used to the customers and the customers will start losing interest. And this also helps minimize the number of inter-racial marriages. A lot of times, when a woman is about to get deported, the woman and club manager exchange numbers. This allows a direct contact, instead of having to go through an ‘Impresario’, and cheaper employment. These women would introduce their friends into the business[, b]ut this [leads to] smaller supplies. The strong clubs are always the ones that change their supplies continuously and keep it fresh.
When the visas expire, and it is time for these women to have to leave the country, they “… can choose to go to one of the neighboring countries; but after working in Lebanon, they prefer not to. The system that is in place in Lebanon is not like the other countries. In Lebanon, they generally have more freedom to move around. The women are free to go out from 1pm till 8pm. On her day off, the woman can choose to go with her friends, go enjoy her time on her own, or even go see a client. In the other countries, she can’t go out in the streets; if the officials catch her, she could get in trouble. She [is not permitted a certain] time to go out. It does occur more often that the women come from Syria, for example, to Lebanon.”
To open a Super Night club, a club owner would need to apply for a Cabaret Permit, which is done at the Ministry of Interior. “There needs to be a lot of start-up capital for a [club] to open. There needs to be around US$30,000 for capital. The owner of the [club] would have to do the papers personally. It doesn’t matter if the owner owns the actual land that the club is on, or like our club, the owner only owns the club and leases the land, for an owner to be allowed a permit. Once investments are secured, the [club] would have to be registered at the local municipality. The owner would need to apply for a liquor license, and this license needs to be renewed annually. Then the club owner would need to get a statement from the Ministry of Finance for insurance on the women. For every woman that is employed at the cabaret, there needs to be 1,000,000LL [(which is around US$667)] in the bank as insurance. If there was 30,000,000LL [(which is US$20,000)] in the bank, then the owner would be allowed to insure 25 women. For 15 women, it would cost 15,000,000LL [(which is US$10,000)]. Once the insurance money exceeds 70,000,000LL [(which is approximately US$46,667)], the club owner can bring as many women as he wanted. These clubs usually employ more than 100 women at once. But there are very few clubs like this. If any problem arises- for example a war or there is a problem with the woman- then the Ministry of Finance would withdraw the insurance money on the woman and deport the woman. During the 2006 war, all the clubs lost a lot of money from the insurance. But if no problem arises, the insurance money is returned to the owner once the visa is expired and the woman is deported. For the insurance, the proper paper work would also need to be filed at the Ministry of Interior. They need to know if there is enough capital available and the amount of women that are to be employed at the cabaret. This needs to be renewed annually. But there are other expenses that are incurred. These include the bribes that go here-and-there in order to get the paper work needed done as soon as possible. In order to figure out how many women are needed for the place, someone from the General Security would need to look over all relevant bank statements and the club would need to be a certain size. For example if the club fits 75 people seated, then the club owner is allowed to have 25 women working. The club owner would either need to own a hotel close by or would need to arrange with a residence close by, in order to house the women, and proof of housing would need to be submitted to the General Security. In order to get approval to open a Super Night Club and to get all the paper work and permits in order, it takes around 3 months. While permits are being issued, the owner of the club would have to appoint a Mouder El Malha. The General Security would need to approve the person appointed, so judicial reports would need to be handed in to them. It takes around a month to get approval for Mouder el Malha. For the first month, the club owner is obliged to go down to the General Security and get all the visas for the women. So once the Mouder is appointed and the paper work starts going through, then the club owner can apply to appoint an Assistant Mouder el Malha. The Mouder el Malha can only apply for a certain amount of visas per day. For example, if the Mouder wants to employ 15 women, he can only apply for 2 visas per day, and for 25 women it’s 3 visas per day.”
When it comes to the women’s day-off, the Moudeer el Malha is also responsible for them. “If the club employs 25 women, for example, then the Moudeer el Malha can apply for 3 women to have a day-off. No 2 women are allowed to have the same day-off. Each one on a separate day. For the clubs that employ 15 women, they have the right to apply for days-off for 2 women. For the clubs that employ more than 40 women, they have the right to apply for 4 days-off. In such a case, 2 women can have days-off on the same day. So, for example, 2 women have off on Monday, 2 women on Wednesday, and on Friday 2 women, and so on. What is meant by day-off is that the women have the right to leave the cabaret between 8:00 pm and 3:00 am, but maximum by 4:00 am. The women would need to be back before the cabaret closes. So what club owners and Moudeer el Malha like to do is try and employ over 40 women so that they can use the days-off to their advantage. So every week, a schedule is drawn up and days-off are assigned, with their names, nationalities, room numbers, phone numbers, and so on, and every Monday Moudeer el Malha would need to get approval from the Ministry of Interior on the schedule. So the Moudeer el Malha would try and apply for the maximum days-off, even if it’s not the women’s turns to take days-off. This way if a customer comes and asks for a woman to take with him outside the cabaret, the cabaret can supply them with someone. There would be a bigger profit if a woman sees a client outside the cabaret. The club would end up making on one woman between US$250 and US$500 or even US$600. If a client is getting a high class woman on her day-off, then the rate can reach up to US$1,500. If a Mouder el Malha mixes up any of the papers, then he can and will get fired. When it comes to paper work, there is intolerance for mistakes. There are some Mouder el Malha that follows all the policies and procedures. However, most have managed to catch the connection, and through bribes tend to work outside the policies and procedures.”
Even in Lebanon, with a well organized system, there exist deficiencies. “Unfortunately, in all of Lebanon, there is only one head office where papers get process. For example, in Jounieh alone, there are around 75 cabarets. All the Moudeer el Malhas from this area are forced to go to the General Security in Adlieh to do their paper work. So they have to come from the Northern Lebanon and Western Lebanon and all over to Adlieh just to do simple paper work. In my opinion, this is wrong. There are always huge crowds and it takes forever to get anything done, there are large amounts of money that they have to deal with, there is usually a lot of pressure on the people that work there, and it is very time consuming in a very time strained business. When every area has its own department, it can then become more organized, it becomes less stressful, and the business can then run more efficiently.”
There are controls and penalties imposed on Super Night Club to ‘ensure’ that people working in this industry don’t get carried away. “For example, if the owner of the club did something wrong, like hit one of the women, and it was reported, then a penalty can be exposed on him between 2 weeks and 3 months. What is meant by penalties is that they are stopped from employing anymore women from outside for that duration of time. The only options they have are to transfer women from one club to another or deport them. They can’t bring them in. If the club owner has westerners employed in the club and around 7 of them have visas that end in about a month, and had a 3 month penalty imposed on the club, then his club gets hit and it is forced to shut down. If the club loses women, it becomes a big problem. Sometimes, clubs get shut down by the authorities. This happens when a rival club is very well connected and very well protected and is trying to keep control over the major profits in certain areas. But this happens very rarely. Makhfar Hbeish is also involved in this industry. Whenever any paper needs to be filed at the General Security, it also gets processed at Makhfar Hbeish. When it comes to issues concerning drugs and any wrongdoing that occurs on the women’s days-off, it is the responsibility of Makhfar Hbeish to deal with them. Sometimes what happens is that the clubs that are protected by the General Security will try to impose penalties on clubs that are protected by Makhfar Hbeish and the other way around. But in the end the General Security pulls rank. In order to run a successful business, the club owner would need to be well connected on both ends. And in Lebanon, everyone takes bribes. The corruption runs deep in this industry, including the government departments involved.”
When it comes to deciding on what nationality of women a club owner can employ, then the sky is the limit. “A club owner can employ women from all over the world. They can even employ American women. Every country can and do supply women. Clubs are not allowed to employ women from Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi, Lebanese, or any other Arab nationality. Clubs will automatically be shut down if they do. It is against the law. But in Lebanon you still find a lot of women on the streets, in bars, in apartments which are all illegal. If they do get caught they will most definitely be sent to prison. I’m not really sure of what really goes on in this part of the industry and I prefer staying out of it.”
“A lot of times clubs are backed by silent partners. For example, there are 3 or 4 Ministers that act as silent partners in different clubs. But these clubs are more corrupt. They have a tendency of dealing with money laundering. They don’t really care if penalties get imposed on them, they are swimming in money.”
“This industry is pretty well controlled in Lebanon. There exist around 127 Super Night Clubs all over Lebanon. Only the extremely rare few are able to get away with a lot. So imagine with this many clubs how much money is being made, and this money is not taxed; it’s pure profits. The numbers are just unimaginable. I don’t even know all the numbers that go into it.” However, there is still room for improvements. “It would be better if, official were more neutral. For example, just because a club is weak, they shouldn’t impose crazy penalties on this struggling club and force it out of the market. They should be fairer. However, the system that is in place in Lebanon is one of the top systems in the world, and it really tries to protect these women against abuse. But they still need to improve their work ethics and be more honest in their work” (Refer to Appendix E).

5. Conclusion:

"Social tolerance for prostitution has varied widely; some cultures and times have accepted it as a natural part of life, regulating it to prevent the spread of disease or illness, and to prevent the abuse of women. Other cultures and times have turned a blind eye, criminalizing it but not enforcing the law. Still others, notably Victorian England and contemporary America, have actively worked to eliminate the practice altogether through raids, undercover police work, moral exhortation, and prosecution. While prostitution necessarily involves two people, elimination efforts have focused on the prostitutes themselves, and not their customers" (Veeder). According to Parent-Duchatelet, "[t]he Profession of prostitution is an evil of all times and all countries, and appears to be innate in the social structure of mankind. It will perhaps never be entirely eradicated; still all the more must we strive to limit its extent and its dangers. With prostitution itself, as with vice, crime and disease, the teacher of morals endeavors to prevent the vices, the lawgiver to prevent the crime and the physician to cure the disease. All alike know that they will never fully attain their goal; but they pursue their work none the less, in the conviction that he, who does only a little good, yet does a great service to the weak man" (CMAJ). The next step for Lebanon is to "… facilitate the implementation of anti-trafficking activities and monitor their implementation" (RoL). Lebanon needs to take on legislative reforms.
In 2004, the Ministry of Justice conducted a pilot study; they had distributed "a pocket-sized brochure in English and in Arabic… to inform incoming migrants that forced labour, sexual exploitation, and all forms of deprivation of liberty and violence are criminalized. It also provided telephone numbers of the police, the Red Cross and the Caritas Migrant Hotline. This initiative was not based on sustained procedures and resources" (RoL). However, locating this brochure proved to be extremely difficult. One of the main flaws of the judicial system, is that there is a lack of “…specialization among courts or prosecutors… with respect to handling trafficking… cases and there has been only one special training seminar taken by…" very few members (RoL). There is severe "…lack of manpower, expertise, funds, and equipment" (RoL). Trainings need to be given more often and better developed to suit the crime.
As the interviews showed, there needs to be more and better communication between the different, interlinking, branches in order to try and find a solution - whether to enforce strict legislations or to legalize it. Either way communication needs to be improved. There needs to be more awareness on this issue within the government and within civil society to eradicate the negative stigma attached to it, and there needs to be more control over corruption.

Works Cited

Answers.com. Prostitution. 2008. 12 Jan. 2009, http://www.answers.com/prostitution.
Head, Tom. Prostitution: An illustrated History and Timeline. 2007. 21 Dec. 2009, http://civilliberty.about.com/od/gend ... tory-of-Prostitution.htm.
IRIN. Lebanon: Lack of protection for women's rights fuels sex trade, say women's groups. 2008. 11 Jan. 2009, http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=26190
IRIN. Lebanon: Child prostitution still taboo, despite laws. 2008. 8 Jan. 2009, http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=26170.
Laite, Julia. Paying the price again: prostitution policy in historical perspective. Oct. 2006. 21 Dec. 2008, http://www.historyandpolicy.org/papers/policy-paper-46.html.
MNHS Library. History Topics: Prostitution. 2008. 21 Dec. 2008, http://www.mnhs.org/tips_topics/12prostitution.html.
The Protection Project. A human Rights Report on Trafficking of Persons, Especially Women and Children: Lebanon. March 2002. 21 Dec. 2008, http://www.childtrafficking.com/Docs/ ... _trafficking_lebanon.pdf.
Republic of Lebanon. Ministry of Justice. Trafficking in Lebanon. May 2008. 21 Dec. 2008, http://www.unodc.org/documents/human- ... banon-HTreport-Oct08.pdf.
U.S. Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Lebanon. 11 March 2008. 8 Jan. 2009, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100600.htm.
U.S. Department of State. Trafficking in Persons Report 2008: Lebanon. 4 June 2008. 8 Jan. 2009, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,USDOS,,LBN,4562d8cf2,484f9a251e,0.html.
Vedder, Julie. Prostitution. 21 Dec. 2008, http://www.answers.com/topic/prostitution.
Appendix A
Interview with Hiba Abou Chacra:
A Social Worker from Dar Al-Amal
January 16, 2009 at 3:00 pm
01/ 483-508

 Questions:
• What is it that you o exactly? What services do you provide?
• How often do you receive prostitution cases? What are their backgrounds? What is the worst case? What is a success case?
• What are some of the obstacles that you face here in Lebanon?
• In your opinion, what needs to be done in Lebanon in order to protect and provide for these women?
 Background Information:
• The foundation started in 1969-1970.
• It worked only with prostitutes.
• It was located in Down Town. But then the war came in 1975, and it moved all over. We're not sure when exactly it moved to Sin El Fil
• So the next step was to expand the mission.
o Helping mostly victims in Sin El.
o Helping victims in prisons:
 Baabda- which dealers with many prisons all o