34 'hookers' arrested in public order raid
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.