RI not immune to child prostitution<\/p>\n
The World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
\nChildren wound up in Stockholm yesterday. The gathering, the
\nfirst of its kind on the subject, adopted a declaration and an
\nagenda setting out the problems, challenges and measures that
\nshould be taken by states all over the world to curb the problem.
\nTo mark the event The Jakarta Post looks at the escalating
\nproblem of sexual exploitation of children in Indonesia. The
\nfollowing report, and two related articles on Page 7, were
\nprepared by Arief Suhardiman, I. Christianto, Dwi Atmanta,
\nJohannes Simbolon, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Stevie Emilia and
\nYoko N. Sari. There are also related stories on Page 2 and 9.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Just because child prostitution is rarely
\ndiscussed openly it does not mean that it does not exist in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
It does, perhaps not on the same scale as in the Philippines
\nor Thailand, but it is a problem that should not be dismissed
\nlightly.<\/p>\n
Child prostitution may not yet have evolved into a detectable
\nindustry in Indonesia, but bustling Jakarta is already sated with
\nborderline cases, creating a fertile ground for future growth.<\/p>\n
The few cases of child prostitution that have come to light in
\nthe past few months should ring alarm bells.<\/p>\n
Last month, a 45-year-old man was sentenced to 12 years in
\nprison for raping his two daughters and then selling one of them
\nto a pimp for Rp 40,000 (US$17). One of the daughters, who is 16,
\nhas since been rescued by police from working at the Rawa Malang
\nprostitution complex in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Then there is the grizzly story of the recently arrested
\npedophile who admitted to killing 10 of his victims.<\/p>\n
Apart from taking in to account those already working as
\nprostitutes, the large number of street children and growing
\nincidence of sexual abuse occurring within families, are
\nindications of increasing commercial sexual exploitation of
\nchildren, experts believe.<\/p>\n
Researchers who have conducted studies on the subject say the
\nproblem cannot be neglected.<\/p>\n
\"When we did a research in Medan some years ago, we found 12
\nprostitutes aged below 14 without difficulty,\" said Irwanto,
\ndirector of the research center at Atmajaya University in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist at the University of
\nIndonesia, said child prostitution has reached an alarming level.<\/p>\n
\"One independent survey found that between 40 and 50 percent
\nof street-children in Jakarta have been sodomized,\" said Meliala.<\/p>\n
Both researchers said the government must act to contain the
\nproblem, lest Indonesia receives spill-overs from its neighbors.<\/p>\n
Meliala warned that international pedophile syndicates may
\nalready be preying on Indonesian children. \"The danger is by no
\nmeans fictitious. Cases of abduction and smuggling of children
\nand women laborers from Indonesia have occurred. The smuggling of
\nchildren for prostitution is also not impossible,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Geographical proximity looks to be a strong factor in pushing
\nIndonesia along a similar route as its Southeast Asian neighbors,
\nwhere the escalation of child prostitution has been closely
\nlinked to flourishing tourism industries.<\/p>\n
Unicef, the United Nations children's charity, estimated that
\nthere were one million child prostitutes in Asia in 1994, with
\nThailand accounting for 300,000, the Philippines more than
\n100,000 and Vietnam 40,000.<\/p>\n
There is no official data on the number of child prostitutes
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Although Indonesia is not reputed to be a popular destination
\nfor sex tourists, the region's general reputation and prospects
\nfor \"something new\" besides regular sun-bathing and sightseeing
\ncontinue to lure tourists to the region.<\/p>\n
The law of supply and demand may very well prove the final
\ncatalyst for the growth of a bonafide child sex industry here.<\/p>\n
Fear of AIDS also explains the sudden burst in child
\nprostitution. Many people turn from adult to child prostitutes
\nbecause they believe that sex with a child poses less risk of
\ninfection, Irwanto said.<\/p>\n
Meliala says there are two kinds of child prostitute in
\nIndonesia -- quasi and real ones.<\/p>\n
The first category includes young girls, usually junior high
\nschool students, who roam shopping malls looking for partners.
\n\"Their primary goal is fun, rather than money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
There are also boys in this category. They usually gather at
\nLapangan Banteng square in Jakarta and in many places in Bali.<\/p>\n
Real prostitutes tend to come from poorer families. They are
\noften trapped in an oppressive structure, from which they can
\nrarely escape.<\/p>\n
\"Some of them are sent to pimps by their parents because of
\npoverty. And that is often after their parents have already raped
\nthem,\" said Meliala.<\/p>\n
\"Many street-children, who fall prey to pedophiles, can also
\nbe categorized as real prostitutes although they don't make a
\nliving by it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another factor contributing to the growth of the sexual
\nexploitation of children in Indonesia is society's acceptance of
\nmarriage between people who are barely adults.<\/p>\n
A government survey in 1994 found that 29 percent of marriages
\nin Indonesia involved women below the age of 16. In some regions
\nin West Java, the rate is 40 percent of marriages.<\/p>\n
Many of these marriages end in divorce.<\/p>\n
While child prostitutes are not as visible as older ones who
\nwalk the streets at night in many Jakarta suburbs, a number of
\nplaces are already becoming notorious for young call girls and
\nboys.<\/p>\n
Thirteen-year old Edo, who had lived on the streets of Jakarta
\nfor two-years, cited the Kota train station, the bus terminal in
\nBlok M, and Lapangan Banteng as \"pick up\" places.<\/p>\n
Edo is now under the care of the Graha Asih foundation, a
\nsocial institution for street children in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Places like the authorized Kramat Tunggak red light district
\nare also said to offer child prostitutes.<\/p>\n
M. Sihombing of the City Social Services Agency, however,
\ninsisted that the administration maintains strict requirements
\nfor prostitutes in Kramat Tunggak. They, for example, have to be
\nover 16 years old, and have been married.<\/p>\n
In addition, they have to show their marriage or divorce
\npapers before being permitted to work in the area. There's no way
\nthat children can work as prostitutes here, he said.<\/p>\n
Sihombing says the number of child prostitutes in Jakarta is
\nrelatively small. For example, of 50 prostitutes who were nabbed
\nwalking the streets in a recent operation, only two were under 15
\nyears of age.<\/p>\n
He said his agency has no control over covert brothels
\noperating as massage parlors and discotheques, because their
\noperation permits are issued by the City Public Order Office, the
\ncity tourism agency and the city health agency.<\/p>\n
Wulandari, of the Ananda Dian Nusantara Foundation, which
\nhelps streets kids, said her organization already considers child
\nprostitution a major problem in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
She said that of 60 children currently under the care of one
\nof the foundation's homes in Kramat Jati, there are 20 girls
\nunder 15 who have made money as prostitutes.<\/p>\n
\"They were enticed by money or the offer of a new dress, which
\nis something they've never had before,\" she said. (team)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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