34 'hookers' arrested in public order raid

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After suspending street operations for about two months due to the recent floods, the City Public Order Office showed its force by arresting 34 alleged female street prostitutes early Saturday morning.

Helped by the police and military, the officers arrested the alleged sex workers on Jl. Gunung Sahari, in Kemayoran and Senen in Central Jakarta; on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, West Jakarta; on Jl. Kramat Tunggak, in the Tanjung Priok harbor area; Plumpang in North Jakarta and on Jl. Matraman, East Jakarta.

They were arrested for violating the City Bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order.

Many of the women claimed they were simply hanging around after working while some of them stated that they were helping friends in the food stalls.

"Is it forbidden to hang around after working?" one of the women shouted while trying to contact her relatives through her cellular phone.

Most of the women could not show their identification cards or give details of their jobs.

Head of the City Public Order and Social Protection Agency operation, Toha Reno, promised to free the women if they were picked up by their parents or relatives, on the condition that they had never been arrested before.

"We once wrongly arrested a woman, but her parent forgave us. But most of our officers could make the distinction if a woman is a prostitute or not," Toha said.

Some years ago, East Jakarta public order officers wrongly arrested a woman they thought was a prostitute in an operation in Jatinegara.

The women, a maid, was reportedly raped by one of the officers. The case was settled out of court as the officer promised to marry the maid in her hometown in West Java.

The incident sparked public criticism of the operations which were then postponed for sometime.

The city administration allocated Rp 65 billion (US$6.5 million) in the 2002 City Budget for public order operations against street vendors, singers, prostitutes and the homeless.

Toha said the women arrested in Saturday's operation would be sent to the city's rehabilitation center in Kedoya, West Jakarta.

"They would be at the center for between three days and six months. Women who had been netted in earlier raids, would stay longer," he said.

He said the prostitutes who would stay longer in the center, would be trained on subjects such as sewing and hair dressing.