Protesters call for closure of nightclub where intoxicated woman filmed engaging in sex acts on bar

In the clips the woman can be seen with her clothes off engaging in sex acts with a series of men while a number of people in the crowd cheer her and the men on.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: OCTOBER 7, 2015 03:47
Sexual harassment victim [Illustrative] (photo credit: INIMAGE)
Sexual harassment victim [Illustrative]
(photo credit: INIMAGE)
Protesters on Tuesday called for shutting down a Tel Aviv nightclub where patrons filmed a woman engaging in sex acts on top of the bar last week, in what many Israelis are saying constituted rape.
The sex acts – which were carried out with a series of men – were filmed by patrons and quickly went viral on WhatsApp, reaching countless Israelis. In the clips the woman can be seen with her clothes off engaging in sex acts with a series of men, while a number of people in the crowd cheer them on.
Though she is not lying down or unconscious, the woman has admitted to being intoxicated at the time and protesters believe she was in no condition to consent to the sex acts and the club and patrons should have intervened.
On Tuesday, protesters gathered outside of Allenby 40, for years a well-known nightclub in the city and the inspiration for an Israeli TV series Allenby Street, which was partially filmed inside the club. Protesters on Tuesday called for police to close the club indefinitely, to send a message that such incidents won’t be tolerated.
Sivan Bar-Adon said the protest had two specific goals: “to close the club – which is responsible for creating the atmosphere that allowed this to happen – and the other is to connect this to a wider array of violence against women in society and to say that we aren’t willing to accept this as part of our culture.”
Bar-Adon, a 31-year-old social worker from Tel Aviv, said that the woman in the video was in no condition to give consent to the sex acts or to be filmed.
Also Tuesday, the management of Allenby 40 broke its silence on the incident, saying that they were closing the club temporarily so that they could examine what happened and “study and learn from the incident with our staff.”
They added that Allenby 40 “is part of the fabric of the community and the public area of this city” and that there was a “gap between what constitutes a violation of the law and what is unacceptable behavior” which left their staff without the ability to deal with the incident in real time.
Members of the club’s staff and management have already been questioned in recent days by police, and the case is still being examined by Tel Aviv district prosecutors. No one has been charged with any crime in connection to the incident.