On the black market, they’re the third most profitable commodity, after illegal weapons and drugs—the only difference being that these goods are human, though to their handlers they are wholly expendable. They are women and girls, some as young as twelve, from all over the Eastern bloc, where sinister networks of organized crime have become entrenched in the aftermath of the collapse of Communist regimes.

In Israel, they’re called Natashas, whether they’re actually from Russia, Bosnia, the Czech Republic, or Ukraine, and whatever their real names may be. They’re lured into vans and onto airplanes with promises of jobs as waitresses, models, nannies, dishwashers, maids, and dancers. But when they arrive at their destinations, they are stripped of their identification, and their nightmare begins. They are sold into prostitution and kept enslaved; those who resist are beaten, raped, and sometimes killed as examples. They often have nowhere to turn; in many cases, the men who should be rescuing them—from immigration officials to police officers and international peacekeepers—are among their aggressors. The worldwide traffic in human beings is already a crisis of epic proportions, and it continues to grow. The Natashas is an indispensible and startling call to action.