Oliver Weiken / EPA

Models wear price tags as they sit behind the window of a 'WomenToGo' concept store in a shopping mall in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 19. The display is part of a protest initiative against illegal prostitution and human trafficking in the country.

A different kind of living model

At first glance this seemed like something you might see in any mall. According to Israeli newspaper site Haaretz.com, the installation has a very specific political aim:

The stated purpose of the installation is to solicit a large amount of signatures to submit to the Minister of Justice, in order to put forth a private member's bill by Kadima MK Orit Zuaretz to criminalize johns who solicit sexual services. Members of the Working Group believe that a law like this could eradicate the phenomenon of trafficking in women.

Read more of the article, including interviews with organizers, here. For more background on the problem of sex trafficking in Israel, a 2007 story on BBC.com has a lot of context on the scope of the problem at that time and the horrific abuses some women endure at the hands of sex traffickers. The 2010 U.S. State Department "Trafficking in Persons" report updates some of the information in that BBC article.

Do you think this protest effectively brings up the subjects of human trafficking and objectifying women?

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