Supreme Court ends sexual compensation for traffic victim

Awarded NIS 5.5 million in insurance compensation, including NIS 50,000 for weekly brothel calls.

By SIMON WILLIAMS
accident 298.88 (photo credit: Channel 2)
accident 298.88
(photo credit: Channel 2)
The Supreme Court on Monday cancelled an insurance payout providing a man with visits to prostitutes after a traffic accident left him disabled. A Tel Aviv District Court ruling two years ago awarded the injured man NIS 5.5 million in insurance compensation, including NIS 50,000 for weekly brothel calls following the debilitating accident. The latter was struck down by the court, though the rest of the payout stands. "Given Israeli law and Israeli reality, we should not recognize the use of the services of a prostitute as 'compensation' to the injured," Justice Eliezer Rivlin wrote in his opinion. "There is no place for the court to grant the payment of money, which is highly likely to reach the pockets of those that make their living off the profits of prostitution." Activists seeking to end the sex slave trade welcomed Monday's ruling. "This important decision states in clear terms that human beings are not commodities to be given as 'compensation,' even to someone severely injured," said Shevy Korzen, executive director of the Hotline for Migrant Workers. "The answer to one man's tragedy cannot be another woman's suffering." The hotline, along with the Hebrew University Legal Clinic Against Trafficking, supported the insurance company in its appeal of the Tel Aviv District Court ruling. "We took it to the higher court because it was so outrageous," said hotline spokesman Romm Lewkowicz.