Hookers, johns aware but not afraid of AIDS<\/p>\n
By Haryoso<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): "Hi... come and have fun with me,"
\nstreetwalker Sulastri called to a man approaching her on a
\nmotorbike on Jl. Pemuda. "Come on, we can do it without a condom
\nif you like."<\/p>\n
The way the 17-year-old prostitute from Grobogan, Central
\nJava, tried to attract her potential customer is typical among
\nstreetwalkers in the city: Going all the way without the safety
\nlatex.<\/p>\n
The prostitutes, especially lower class ones, are well aware
\nthey are highly at risk from venereal diseases such as AIDS,
\nsyphilis and gonorrhea but very often they have no other choice
\nbut to submit to their customer's will.<\/p>\n
They say very few customers will use condoms on the grounds
\nthat putting on the contraceptive kills their sexual appetite.<\/p>\n
"I sleep with four men a day. I will offer them a condom but
\nalmost all of them refuse it saying that they don't feel good
\nwith it," says Sulastri. "I have to follow what they want because
\nI need money."<\/p>\n
The spread of venereal diseases has been greatly exacerbated
\nby the worsening economic situation that has been throwing
\nmillions of families across the country into the jaws of poverty.<\/p>\n
Sumarni, 20, and a mother of one, for example, has taken to
\nthe streets of Semarang to survive.<\/p>\n
"I know what AIDS is but I think death and life are in the
\nhands of God. What I do is making money and I don't care if my
\ncustomer wears a condom or not," said the woman from Jepara,
\nCentral Java, who usually walks the downtown Simpang Lima
\nstreets.<\/p>\n
Relating how difficult it is to make her customers use
\ncondoms, she said some men would threaten to pay her half the
\nstandard fare if they were forced to use the rubber.<\/p>\n
"So it would be better to go ahead without a condom," she
\ngrinned.<\/p>\n
Men who frequent brothels in the city are equally fatalistic
\nabout possible infection with AIDS and other venereal diseases.<\/p>\n
"AIDS? No problem... As long as I am healthy and have enough
\nintake of protein and other nutrients, my body will be able to
\nrepulse AIDS," said Suherman, 28, from Semarang, who claimed to
\ngo to bed with prostitutes three times a week.<\/p>\n
"But if I do catch AIDS and have to die, I will accept it," he
\nsaid, adding that he would carefully select the prostitutes he
\nsleeps with.<\/p>\n
The same argument came from Parjito, a 28-year-old civil
\nservant who concedes to regularly having sex with prostitutes and
\neasy-going housewives.<\/p>\n
"I am aware of the AIDS danger but I don't care. Many women I
\ndate like doing it without condoms," he said.<\/p>\n
Such people's attitudes have particularly worried health
\nauthorities in Semarang and Central Java.<\/p>\n
According to the Central Java provincial health office chief
\nSoejono, the number of people in Semarang known to have full-
\nblown AIDS has reached six. Province-wide, the official figure is
\n25.<\/p>\n
Three of the 25 people have died. They were two prostitutes
\nand a man believed to have contracted the HIV from streetwalkers,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Soejono said that most of the people with HIV\/AIDS are female
\nsex workers.<\/p>\n
"We have to admit that it is only the tip of an iceberg and
\nthe actual figure could be a lot higher than those already
\ndetected," he said.<\/p>\n
Farid Husni, chairman of the Central Java chapter of the
\nFamily Planning Association, also aired the same fear. He said
\nfew people, notably among sexually active age groups, had sound
\nknowledge of AIDS.<\/p>\n
"Even people who know about the menace do not care about
\nprotecting themselves from AIDS," he said.<\/p>\n
He suggested that the local AIDS Commission gets aggressive in
\nwaging campaigns on AIDS prevention.<\/p>\n
In a recent move taken in response to public demand, the
\nSemarang mayoralty government closed down two major official
\nbrothels which housed thousands of women.<\/p>\n
The move has sparked fear of spreading venereal diseases
\nbecause the government did not provide substitute employment and
\nwomen had to roam the streets without the medical care they used
\nto receive when they were in the brothels.<\/p>\n
At the national level, the central government began efforts to
\ncombat HIV\/AIDS in 1964 under the coordination of the
\nCoordinating Minister for People's welfare.<\/p>\n
The first case was reported on the tourist island of Bali in
\n1987. Six years later, 137 HIV and 188 AIDS cases were reported
\nin various provinces.<\/p>\n
Since then, the figures have risen at a dramatic rate. In
\n1995, the government reported 277 HIV and 87 AIDS cases, in 1996
\n382 HIV and 119 AIDS cases, in 1997 466 HIV and 153 AIDS and as
\nof October 1998 HIV 555 and AIDS 521.<\/p>\n
Humaini AS, an AIDS campaigner in Semarang, says that the
\nactual number of people walking around with HIV could be 100
\ntimes as many as the official statistics claim.<\/p>\n
He estimates that the actual number of HIV\/AIDS cases in
\nIndonesia could be as high as 200,000 with many showing signs of
\ninfection in five to 10 years to come.<\/p>\n
Taufik Adisusilo, a sexologist at Diponegoro University,
\nproposed that sex education be introduced at school to provide
\nstudents with knowledge about sexuality.<\/p>\n
"Youngsters should be the main target of AIDS information
\ncampaigns," he said.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that morality alone would not curb the spread
\nof HIV.<\/p>\n
He also suggested that tests for HIV be conducted on a larger
\nscale to obtain a more objective picture of the extent of the
\nproblem and proper measures to take in dealing with it.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hookers-johns-aware-but-not-afraid-of-aids-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}