Prostitutes want trade union<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is upset about the planned
\nestablishment of a trade union for some 200 prostitutes in the
\nSilir red-light district in Surakarta, Central Java.<\/p>\n
\"The plan is irritating,\" said Director General of Tourism
\nAndi Mappi Sammeng on Monday. He pointed out that prostitution
\nhas never been part of the country's tourist industry as some
\npeople have claimed.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is developing its tourist industry from its natural
\nattractiveness and its cultures, not prostitution,\" he told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
The press recently reported a plan to establish a local unit
\nof the All-Indonesian Workers Union Federation by the prostitutes
\nworking in the Silir district.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the union's Central Java chapter Tambah Sudjio had
\nsupported the plan, saying that prostitution is part of the
\ncountry's tourist industry and that, just like workers in other
\nsectors, the prostitutes deserve union protection.<\/p>\n
Sudjio has said the Silir red-light district was \"established\"
\nin 1961 by the provincial administration as a way to confine
\nprostitution within a limited area, and is currently overseen by
\nthe local office of the Ministry of Social Services.<\/p>\n
\"The place is legal, which is all the more reason for the
\nestablishment of a union,\" Sudjio was quoted by Kompas as saying.<\/p>\n
\"With the union, the rights of the workers will be respected,\"
\nhe said. \"The union will arm these tourism workers against abuse
\nby their employers, and will improve their welfare and sense of
\nsecurity.\"<\/p>\n
Andi strongly opposed the call, especially if the unit is to
\nbe established in the name of tourism. \"Give me any verification
\nfor the claims that the government develops tourism by promoting
\nprostitution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
It is public knowledge, however, that many tourist resorts and
\nfacilities such as hotels, karaoke lounges, discotheques, bars
\nand massage parlors in many cities in Indonesia offer sex-related
\nentertainment to domestic and foreign visitors. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prostitutes-want-trade-union-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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