A quick look at Yogyakarta's sex business

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Susi is an unlicensed tourist guide who has been operating in the Sosrowijayan area here for more than a year. Unlike most guides, she's prepared for sexual engagement with her guests.

Susi's clients are Westerners she finds in local bars and entertainment centers in the city. A divorcee with a seven-year- old boy, Susi says that she has no plan for the future, stating that she ended up living her current life to make ends meet.

"Deep in my heart I don't know why I am doing this," she confessed.

Mia is another case. Curiosity drove her to have a sexual encounter with a visiting Westerner. This curiosity continued and led her into relations with others and was the main reason she decided to become a guide.

"All my parents know about me is that I have a job," she said, adding that her older sister is also in the profession.

Mia, the youngest child in her family, said that she could earn some Rp 50,000 (US$23.25) a day, excluding income from the escort service which could last for months.

The woman said that she is engaged to a Dutch man, who used to be her client, and is waiting until she is ready for marriage.

"Ten of my friends have got married and left for their husbands' countries," she added.

Mia said she wanted to forget the past and start a new life, but admitted that she was still doubtful whether the future would be better.

"I don't know why I am still confused and feel insecure," she said.

Susi and Mia are among hundreds of young women in Yogyakarta involved in the sex business and catering to the needs of tourists, local men and university students.

Economic hardship is cited as the major reason why these women fall into prostitution.

According to the latest data issued by the Yogyakarta office of the Ministry of Social Services, there are a total of 156 prostitutes and 26 pimps localized in the Sanggrahan red-light district.

Hermani Sukarsono, spokesman for the Yogyakarta administration, told The Jakarta Post that in addition to Sanggrahan, there are other areas in the city where covert prostitution occurs, which also involves transvestites.

"It's difficult to record their numbers," he said, adding that many of the prostitutes come from areas outside of Yogyakarta.

Sex transactions in the city take place in well-known areas such as Babarsari, where boarding houses stand in rows, Pasar Kembang and Alun-Alun, or the town square, and Sosrowijayan, the place for brothels.

Flower Market

In Pasar Kembang, literally translated as Flower Market, located just across from Yogyakarta's railway station, young women in flashy dresses and bold make-up line up when night starts to fall.

For Rp 10,000, ($4.65) one can employ their services with an extra charge of Rp 2,500 ($1.16) to rent a room in the alleys of Sosrowijayan. Men stand in front of the alleys, offering passersby rooms or women each night.

Customers include university students who may come by on their motorbikes.

In Jlagran, a little further from the area, prostitutes offer their services to customers like becak drivers, bus conductors or construction workers, for Rp 3,000 ($1.39).

A number of hotels in the busy Malioboro are also known to be places where high-class prostitutes charge customers some Rp 150,000 ($69.76) for a short session.

Elly (not her real name) the daughter of the owner of a brothel near Malioboro, said that the prostitutes operating there could be booked for between Rp 100,000 ($46.51) for a short session and Rp 300,000 ($139.53) for a long session.

"A short session lasts for three hours while the long one will be for 12 hours with the customers allowed to take the prostitutes out," she said.

Several boarding houses scattered around Yogyakarta are also known for their sex business.

Ali, a tourist guide, said it took a little while to get the girls living in the boarding houses to make dates.

"Once we know each other well, we don't have to give them money," he said.

A woman who runs a boarding house near the Gembira Loka Zoo told the Post that prostitutes used to be the occupants of her rooms.

"They are all gone though. They made a mess here and were difficult to handle, so I kicked them out," she said while puffing on a cigarette.

Ali said he used to receive cash from bringing the girls living in the woman's boarding house to the customers. He used to live in the same boarding house with his girlfriend.

Sex transactions also take place in discotheques. At a discotheque in Malioboro, teenaged girls hang around looking for men who need company while at another discotheque not far from the area, gay prostitutes melt with the gay men who frequent the entertainment center.

"My parents know that I am gay," said Budi (not his real name). "My mother cried when I told her so."

AIDS

Budi idolizes men who are in their 30s and says that he interacts with them for "fun." He discloses that many of his customers are Westerners and says that he is ready to take part in any kind of homosexual sex styles they want.

He said that he is not afraid of the risk of getting the AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). "I use protection."

Desti Murdjiana, a project coordinator and counselor on AIDS for the Lentera organization, said that the sex business in Yogyakarta does not seem to be declining despite the fear of AIDS.

A number of prostitutes in Sanggrahan have said that they believe they will not get infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes AIDS as long as they did not accept Westerners as clients.

Lentera is the Yogyakarta-based organization dealing with the prevention of the spread of AIDS. The organization's activities include promoting safer sex to prostitutes, gay men, transvestites, university students and housewives.

Desti says that Lentera plans to go into Sanggrahan and several massage parlors, where sexual activities often take place, to distribute correct information about HIV and AIDS.

It is not unusual for the massage parlor employees to arouse their customers' sexual desire in order to gain extra income. The notices put by the managements which prohibits them from "seducing" customers does not seem to stop the sexual activity.

Desti said that the program is aimed at helping the sex workers in protecting themselves from getting infected with HIV from their customers.

Rebeka Harsono, secretary-general of the Forum Perempuan Cut Nyak Dien, a non-governmental support organization for women, believes that it is high time the government intensified its efforts to campaign against AIDS among the sex workers, especially those whose customers are from the low-income brackets.

She said that men should also be included as targets of the campaign. This means that in the end sex workers would also have the "bargaining power", enabling them to ask their customers to use condoms in order to avoid being infected with the virus, she added.

Rebeka explains that the prostitutes operating in Jlagran, for instance, are in need of correct information about sexually- transmitted diseases, including AIDS, to protect themselves. She said that the women who are under the control of gangsters lurking in the area are frequently brought by those men to the doctor for an injection.

"The women don't even know what kind of injection is given to them," she said. "They call it `health injection'" she added.

Lewa Pardomuan and D. Iswandono