And since the topic of rape and abortion is up again, I’m going to post this:

Women raped by Sinai traffickers find help

he Sinai desert is a hub for people trafficking. Many of the refugees from sub-Saharan Africa who get smuggled through here get tortured and blackmailed in the process.

Bedouin gangs – instead of trafficking the refugees straight into Israel - often hold them captive, torture them and force relatives into paying ransoms for their release.

The ordeal is exceptionally bad for women. Many of them are raped by the traffickers and some become pregnant.

I met Tegisti Tekla from Eritrea in a shelter of the African Refugee Development Center in Tel Aviv. She eventually made it to Israel after a long and treacherous journey via Sudan and the Sinai.

SNIP

Tegisti says the first time she was raped the people traffickers selected her and another female refugee from a larger group and took them away saying they would have to make coffee for the smugglers. There would be several similar incidents during her treacherous trek across the Sinai.

When Tegisti finally made it to Israel she found out she was pregnant and decided to have an abortion.

“I would suffer all my life,” she said. “I would have a son or a daughter without a father. That’s why I decided not to have the baby.”

And in case anyone is planning to ask if I’d deny Tegisti an abortion, my answer is: No. In a case like hers, abortion should be a legal option.