Rape survivors reveal sex crimes by owners of Tel Aviv BDSM club

Two and a half years ago, Michal (a pseudonym) arrived for the first time at the Taboo Club, a BDSM club located in south Tel Aviv. In the club, Michal met Nisan Gavni, a well-known figure in Tel Aviv nightlife and one of the club's owners.

After Nisan approached her, he kissed her hand, and she felt like she had entered a scene from a movie. However, that night was just the beginning, as Michal and other women would later find themselves in a place called "The College."

This past weekend, it was reported for the first time on Walla! that in recent months, following numerous complaints filed with the police, a criminal investigation is being conducted by the crime-fighting unit of the Ayalon region on suspicion of serious sexual offenses, including rape, within the framework of the case.

In recent months, Walla! interviewed women (all names in the article are pseudonyms) who recounted what happened in "The College."

"The College" is a nickname for an apartment in Tel Aviv where a group of men, led by Nisan Gavni, reside, along with many young women who rotate from time to time.

According to the numerous testimonies, the group members used the Taboo Club to lure many young women to come to "The College," where they supposedly led a community life of free and healthy sexuality branching off of the BDSM scene.

However, according to police suspicion, as well as numerous testimonies, it was a trap to perpetrate and normalize severe sexual abuses, manipulative exploitation, and cruel rape. The police are investigating the involvement of at least ten suspects, including Gavni, Shalom Boharon, and Guy Shmuel.

Back to Michal

The party Michal attended ended in the early hours of the night. Nisan invited her to his apartment. When they arrived, Michal was surprised to find a large basement apartment with men and women walking around naked.

Everything was fine until, at a certain point when there were sexual relations, Michal noticed a stranger entering the room. It was Guy Shmuel.

"I was surprised that Nisan showed interest in me," Michal recalled in an interview with Walla! "I was very insecure about my appearance at that time. When Guy entered the room, I signaled to Nisan and told him that I was not comfortable. Nisan told him to leave and close the door, but then he came in a second time. I told him again, but Guy stayed and did not leave despite my resistance."

The incidents inside the apartment and within the club were exposed to the public for the first time on Channel 12’s Uvda show (an Israeli investigative journalism show similar to CBS’s 60 Minutes) over a year ago.

Despite the difficult testimonies that shook participants of the BDSM scene in Israel, the Taboo Club continued to operate for about six more months until Israel Police decided to issue a closure order on the club. 

One of the arguments for the order stated that "there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the business owners are using the business to commit criminal offenses, including multiple sex crimes."

What the participants of abuse at "The College" could not have known is that police investigators opened a secret investigation into their activities at the location. During the investigation, the names of over ten suspects of sexual offenses came up.

A double-digit number of complainants arrived at the police station, where each one detailed at length the severe sexual abuses they allegedly suffered, both at "The College" and in the club.

Meet Naama

Naama came to Taboo because she was always curious about free sexuality and wanted to explore the world of BDSM. When she arrived at the club, she felt it was a safe place, especially after seeing many security guards at the entrance and how they explained the rules thoroughly and took all phones from the attendees.

She later testified to the police that she only now understands that it was all just a show and how after she met Nisan, he grabbed her and brought her to the stage in the club's hall, despite her expressing unwillingness.

"In a matter of seconds, I was already on stage, and people started to gather around," she recalled. Many victims described the same situation, in which they were brought onto the stage against their will to “perform” without first checking their hard limits and briefing them on what they would endure.

Once she was onstage, Naama said that Nisan whipped her while another perpetrator involved in the affair held her so that she could not resist. They both whipped Naama, poured hot wax on her, and even electrocuted her with a car battery, all while they were, according to her, sexually assaulting her in front of an audience.

“It left me scarred and marked for a long time,” she told the police.

One evening, three months later, Naama was sick and felt unwell and, therefore, rested on a bed in one of the rooms in the club. Two men subsequently sat beside her to have sex with her.

“I told him that I was sick and that I didn’t want sex right now,” she said. “And then he just stripped me down. I tried to fight him, but one of them held my hands.”

She testified that she was violently raped while they laughed as she tried to fight them.

“They just finished and left the room,” she continued. “I was left there, and I don’t remember if, at that same moment, I already understood that it was rape. I remember a different moment when I was sitting in my living room and crying about the severe pain in my ribs.”

Meet Dana

Dana also described how she used to come to “The College” for an extended period until one evening, while she was having sex with Nisan in the apartment, additional suspects in the case, Shalom Boharon and Guy Shmuel, emerged from the side completely naked.

She told Walla! she had said in a very clear and sharp way that she was not interested in sleeping with them, but according to her, this did not stop them from brutally gang-raping her.

Black bracelets

Many testimonies obtained by Walla! revealed details about what appears to be a complex mechanism of exploitation and harm of many women in “The College.” Among other things, some of the girls made claims about the "Black Bracelets" group.

They said that a large group of men walked around the club with black bracelets on their wrists, marking themselves members of “The College's” inner circle.

According to the evidence, in addition to the fact that the "black bracelets" received free entry and drinks at the Taboo Club, claims were made that various service providers were also allowed to hang around “The College” and the club and enjoy what “The College” has to offer – namely, the young women.

"He doesn't promise people anything; [the service providers] weren't specifically told 'come and sleep with her,'" explained one of the women at “The College.” “But you simply understand that from their behavior and how men did what they wanted with the girls.”

Scroll through and pick a girl

The descriptions of what is happening in “The College” to many women seem to have a systematic pattern.

The story always began with the men luring a girl to the apartment and making sure to shower her with affection from all sides, which made the girl feel that she wants to be part of the experience and this unique group that presents itself as the face of the BDSM community in Israel.

Many women described needing a familial structure, affection, or love, which they felt “The College” could provide.

They also told how some girls were desperate for an actual roof over their heads and were afraid of finding themselves on the street. It is important to note that almost all victims who spoke with Walla! testified that they experienced severe sexual abuse in the past before arriving at that same apartment.

The next step, according to the testimonies, was when the guys would try to push the line using several acts without explicit consent. In many versions, one of the men joined during sex despite the girl's resistance. In some of them, this included the use of various pain and control measures such as strangulation, electric shock, or touching in intimate places without consent.

If the girl refused and stopped them, they made sure to punish her and make her feel guilty. For example, they may ignore her, mock her, or actually scold her.

"He suddenly acted like I was a complete stranger," shared one of the victims. "It was the silent treatment."

When a girl participated in one act or another, from that moment on, she was marked as one who would always desire it again and again. Many girls recalled, for example, how Guy Shmuel would join sex despite opposition from the women, precisely like Michal said.

"He would walk through the house and just grab a girl," another girl in “The College” said. “He would see someone lying on the sofa and suddenly come out of nowhere and push his fingers into her."

The victims shared how Nisan and the other members of “The College” made sure to echo a compassionate story about Guy in which he is described as a poor guy, with the aim of making the girls forgive his brutal actions. The explanation given to them was that he is a person who suffers from mental health issues and thus is allowed to do all kinds of things that other people cannot do.

"They said that Guy is a boy with a heart of gold that the world simply doesn't understand. They constantly made sure to say how they adopted Guy, nurtured him, and took care of him," one victim said.

From the many conversations, it seems that “The College” is full of characteristics that create a complex situation in which the women apparently consent and contain all their sexual vulnerabilities. An example of such a characteristic is that in “The College,” they use the word “rape” interchangeably with sex or sexual relations.

“They always say, ‘When do I rape you?’ and ‘He’s just going to rape someone.’ They send GIFs on WhatsApp saying, ‘I’m going to rape you,’” one of the victims said.

Another characteristic that came up was that in “The College,” an older girl is always present. According to some complainants, that girl has a vital role in that mechanism; she is expected to take care of the girls while they break down emotionally, conveying a sense of security and legitimacy as part of the culture of “The College.”

Legal Responses

Lawyers Galia Shmilovitz and Oshra Kirma, who represent some of the complainants in the case, said, “We hope that the Israel Police and the Attorney General's Office will do their job and bring to justice all those involved in the sexual exploitation mechanism in ‘The College’ case, which made it possible to commit serious sexual offenses against our clients.

“The exploitation mechanism created by those involved around their status and power in the BDSM community and around the Taboo Club was based on the exploitation of young women for years, while those involved blurred and erased the fixed rules of conduct that constitute a red line in the world of BDSM, to commit the most serious sexual offenses in the law book on those women.

“Now that the gag order on the case investigation has been lifted, it is not out of the realm of possibility that more victims will gather the courage to file complaints with the police.”

Nisan Gavni, Shalom Boharon, and Guy Shmuel have not responded to Walla!’s request for comment at this time.