The consumption of prostitution in Israel is on the decline, while the number of Israelis who perceive the profession in a negative light has increased, according to a new study published. The study, conducted by the Brookdale Institute for the Welfare and Interior ministries, found that about 84% of all Israelis consider prostitution a harmful and degrading social phenomenon that serves to damage the person’s honour, while 23% believe that “prostitution is a legitimate profession.” The study also found that 45% believe that women have every right to sell their body for sex and that those soliciting to prostitution come from all walks of life, ages, education levels and marital status i.e. both married and single. Overall, about 20% of all men who took part in the study admitted they had paid for sex at least once. Among men who paid for sex in the five years prior to the study, 68% testified that they had solicited to prostitution more than once. In addition, the study also found that the number of men who had said that they paid for sex dropped from 11% before the 2018 law, to 7% in 2019 and 5% in 2020, the year the law went into effect, while 18% said that they had stopped their solicitation altogether due to the law.
