Crisis prompts prostitution explosion<\/p>\n
Suffering from the closure of many factories and businesses,
\nindications have shown the entrance of numerous newcomers into
\nthe sex industry. But competition is tight. Jumping on the reform
\nbandwagon, more public pressure is being aimed at cleansing the
\ncountry of prostitution -- while men are buying sex at lower
\nrates. The Jakarta Post reporters Imanuddin, Ivy Susanti, K.
\nBasrie, Riyadi, Yogita Tahil Ramani, photographer Bayu Ismoyo and
\ncorrespondents in Medan, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Surabaya and
\nUjungpandang took to the streets concerning the issue.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): \"Sshh, my real name is not Tati. I'm here
\nbecause the garment home industry in Kemanggisan (West Jakarta)
\nwent bankrupt three months ago.\"<\/p>\n
\"Why am I here? It's simple. I need money for my 7-year-old
\nson and my parents,\" 32-year-old Larasati, also not her real
\nname, whispered to The Jakarta Post at her new workplace: a
\nmassage parlor not far from the garment factory.<\/p>\n
Like many masseuses, Larasati offers \"extra services\" to
\nclients at the negotiable price of Rp 50,000 (US$3.60).<\/p>\n
Without the sex service, \"I would only earn half of the Rp
\n10,000 hourly massage fee, while it's really exhausting,\" she
\nconfided.<\/p>\n
Working from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Larasati earns at least Rp
\n200,000 per week, equal to a month's salary at her previous job.<\/p>\n
\"But I still worry that my relatives or friends might find me
\nhere,\" Larasati admitted.<\/p>\n
Uncertainties over the country's security and future, which
\nhas brought the rupiah to its knees and made businesspeople flee
\nthe country, has also badly affected the sex business.<\/p>\n
The May riots made things worse. A number of brothels and red-
\nlight districts were looted and set on fire by mobs, who named
\nthemselves reformists or moralists.<\/p>\n
A renovated hotel in Tangerang was no longer allowed to
\noperate, after its management had spent a lot of money to rebuild
\nit. The hotel had been badly burned in the May riots' mayhem.<\/p>\n
Some panderers in Java and Sumatra have closed their
\nbusinesses and let their women leave to find their own way.<\/p>\n
Newcomers to the business, including those from villages, have
\njoined their sisters on the streets, in brothels, hotels, discos,
\nkaraoke halls, malls, railway tracks and even cemeteries.<\/p>\n
The Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Free Children Society says
\nIndonesia is now home to at least 650,000 prostitutes, including
\n150,000 registered sex workers.<\/p>\n
\"About 30 percent of this are children,\" foundation director
\nMohammad Farid said Wednesday during a discussion in Surakarta.<\/p>\n
By comparison, there were 72,000 registered prostitutes in
\n1995.<\/p>\n
But many doubt these figures, estimating that the number has
\nskyrocketed this year.<\/p>\n
Firman Lubis, chairman of Kusuma Buana, a foundation focusing
\non health, said: \"I reckon up to 10 women come from the villages
\neach day. I guess there are more than a 100 newcomers a month.\"<\/p>\n
Bulungan<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, streetwalkers have been seen in areas which have
\nnot been known as red-light districts.<\/p>\n
Waiting behind or near dimly lit trees, bus stops, newspaper
\nstands or small sidewalk shops, the prostitutes -- from teenagers
\nto those in their 30s -- are noticeable in their attractive
\noutfits and roaming eyes.<\/p>\n
In the Bulungan area, close to the popular Blok M shopping
\ncenter, a group of teenage-looking girls can be found gathered
\naround cigarette kiosks.<\/p>\n
Hendra, owner of one of the kiosks, said the girls at his
\nkiosk \"could be taken out\", but \"you need a little bit of spirit
\nto deal with them because some of the girls here are quite
\nchoosy.\"<\/p>\n
He said most Bulungan girls were easy-going, \"especially
\nduring this crisis, when orders are decreasing\".<\/p>\n
Prices vary. A Bulungan prostitute, for instance, would agree
\nto a price of Rp 100,000 or Rp 200,000 for a \"short time\".<\/p>\n
\"Ade\", 21, who frequents a famous discotheque in Tanah Abang,
\nCentral Jakarta, charges US$100 for a short time (no less than
\none hour). \"Otherwise, the bule (foreigners) would find
\nIndonesian girls as cheap as peanuts,\" said slim-built Ade.<\/p>\n
Prostitutes at hotels, and parlors fronting as karaoke bars
\nand night clubs, have also hiked their prices in a bid to compete
\nwith the rising rate of the greenback against the rupiah.<\/p>\n
A hotel in the Blok M area, South Jakarta, for instance, has
\ndoubled is rent to Rp 225,000 for short time.<\/p>\n
Ade claims she could still get at least four clients, mostly
\nforeigners, per week.<\/p>\n
Lower-class street prostitutes have to compete harder. Having
\nto face the cold midnight wind and the police, they said they
\nonly earned between Rp 5,000 and Rp 50,000 per night, at most.<\/p>\n
Experts, including sociologists, fear a rise in sexually
\ntransmitted diseases, such as HIV, syphilis and gonorrhea, with
\nthe expected increase of prostitutes. They said the prostitutes
\nwould not likely insist on the use of condoms during such a
\ncompetitive time.<\/p>\n
Public health expert Soebowo, from Diponegoro University,
\nSemarang, said more and more young people would suffer from
\nsexually transmitted diseases, especially with the increase of
\nprostitutes.<\/p>\n
Streetwalking is prohibited under numerous city bylaws but
\nthere is no law in Indonesia that prohibits the sale of sexual
\nservices.<\/p>\n
The criminal law only prosecutes those who facilitate illegal
\nactivities as defined in the Criminal Code. Article 296 states
\nthat those whose actions or attitudes intentionally lead to or
\nfacilitate illegal sexual activities with other people will be
\njailed for one year and four months or fined Rp 15,000.<\/p>\n
Article 297 states that trade in women or in minors will incur
\na maximum penalty of six years imprisonment, whereas article 506
\nstates that a panderer, deriving profit from the prostitution of
\nwomen, will be jailed for three months.<\/p>\n
Sociologists have urged the government many times to control
\nthe spread of prostitution as soon as possible, before conditions
\nbecome worse.<\/p>\n
Firman Lubis said: \"We are dealing with a very basic problem,
\nthe economy. Most of us reject prostitution. But to close down
\nbrothels would not wipe out the business.\"<\/p>\n
The situation has already become a dilemma for both the public
\nand the sex workers.<\/p>\n
A classic song by veteran composer\/singer Titiek Puspa may
\nexpress the most fitting description of prostitutes, who locals
\nalso call kupu-kupu malam (night butterflies).<\/p>\n
Part of the song Kupu-Kupu Malam goes: \"There are those who
\nhate her, there are those who need her, there are also those who
\nkneel begging her, and those who cruelly torment her.<\/p>\n
\"Let things happen, what she knows is that God loves His
\nfollowers, what she knows is that she keeps her soul alive.\"
\n(team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/crisis-prompts-prostitution-explosion-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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