The Sex Work Governance Odyssey: The Israeli Velvet Triangle and the Adoption of the End Demand Policy

The discourse on marginalized gendered identities within informal economies, particularly the sex industry, is predominantly Eurocentric, leaving regions such as the Middle East relatively unexplored in this context. This paper aims to address this lacuna by expanding the dialog on sex work in the Middle East and bridging it with the state of Israel, that has witnessed notable shifts in its approach to sex work in recent years in the form of adopting an end-demand policy. By delving into the socio-cultural and institutional context that shaped Israeli regulations, mainly through the initiatives of the “Subcommittee on the Fight against Women's Trafficking and Prostitution” (SFWTP), this study argues that the SFWTP has functioned as a local “velvet triangle.” The evolution of this local velvet triangle has significantly influenced rhetoric, discourse, and policy directions, aligning with global feminist rescue industry mechanisms that further stigmatize and marginalize sex workers. Moreover, the criminalization of clients in the sex industry in Israel inadvertently reinforced Global North ideologies while bolstering local conservative nationalist beliefs. This paper critically analyzes the impact of these shifts, shedding light on the complexities surrounding sex work, governance feminism, and the marginalization of sex workers in the Israeli context.