MIRI 18 YEAR OLD PROSTITUTE HANGS OUT AT OLD BUS STATION IN TEL AVIV, 1998-10-29...

FOR RELEASE WITH BC-ISRAEL-PROSTITUTES - Miri, an 18-year-old prostitute from the former Soviet Union, smokes a cigarette outside the blinking lights of a brothel near Tel Aviv's old central bus station. Miri, like thousands of other women from the former Soviet Union, are lured to this country with a plane ticket, a visa, and the hopes of a job abroad. However, upon arrival they are sold into prostitution - part of an international crime phenomenon which women's groups call a modern slave trave. The importation of women is big industry in Israel - women are recruited from the former Soviet Union and distributed to brothels throughout the country. Amir, a Tel Aviv pimp said a woman could cost up to $20,000, depending on her looks. "It's like a car. It depends how valuable she is," he said. Picture taken 26AUG98. EH/GB