AIDS and its impact on Jakarta's expat communities

AIDS and its impact on Jakarta's expat communities

By Maria Louise Tickle

JAKARTA (JP): Nice girls don't go to Jalan Jaksa, I am told. Foreigners do. By the busload. What better place to get an idea of the sex practices of foreigners in Jakarta than the Jaksa International, a bar which my friend has dubbed "the ashtray".

On Jaksa you see it every night. Indonesian girls in see- through tops who look like nine o'clock is past their bedtime, attached to open-faced foreign guys in back-to-front baseball caps who still look like they can't believe their luck. Jaksa is heaven for the hormonally-driven.

On Jaksa you hear it, every night. The tales of Australian men who call in sick to their language school employers only for it to be later revealed they spent the day in bed with three local girls. Stories abound of local girls who were virgins before they hooked up with a foreigner and who think the relationship will end in marriage, only to be bitterly disappointed. Then there are those men who think their woman of the night wants them for their good looks and charm, only to be faced with a request to cover a very expensive taxi ride the morning after.

Foreign men are sought after by many local girls in Jakarta. Everyone knows that. There is no AIDS in Indonesia. Wrong. Many of these men function with their hormones in overdrive and brains in neutral, resulting in unsafe sex practices.

According to Project Concern International's senior technical advisor, Tim Mackay, foreigners in Indonesia are in for a "rude awakening" if they believe they can practice unsafe sex without risk of contracting the HIV.

"HIV is greatly underestimated here," he said.

"The basic thing is, people must assume that if they are having sex outside their regular partner who has tested negative, they must consider themselves at risk of the HIV."

He disagreed with the use of the term high-risk groups.

"Anyone who is practicing unsafe sex is at risk."

The people most at risk are the clients of sex workers, he said, for such people greatly outnumber sex workers and also have sex with non-sex workers, such as their wives and girlfriends.

In Indonesia, the incidence of HIV is greatest among heterosexuals, with 196 of the 355 reported cases, followed by 81 homosexuals diagnosed positive with the virus and the rest were hemophiliacs, drug users and blood transfusions.

Around nine new cases of HIV are reported in Indonesia each month, he said.

Mackay warned that because of the rudimentary system of collection, official statistics "grossly underestimate" the incidence of HIV in Indonesia.

Part of the problem is the lack of a surveillance program for the collection of information on sexually-transmitted diseases, he said.

Unofficial estimates of HIV in Indonesia, he said, were more in the vicinity of 20,000-100,000 cases.

Mackay said AIDS in the expatriate community here was "invisible" since most foreigners use private medical facilities or get diagnosed outside Indonesia.

In the sex industry, safe-sex practices "vary incredibly", he said, depending on access to condoms and information about the HIV.

When it comes down to it, the message for foreigners dabbling in the joys of the night in Jakarta is quite simple.

"You're crazy if you have unprotected sex," Mackay said.

In a bar on a side-street off Jalan Jaksa a 29-year-old English teacher agreed, but said many foreigners were flying close to the sun when it comes to safe sex. Having lived in a brothel/hostel for six months, he would know.

"A lot of them are not having safe sex. From what I hear from the girls, if the client wants to use a condom they will but if he doesn't, they don't care," he said.

"You'd think foreign guys would know better but many guys here are not worried, AIDS is not a big consideration. They think `It won't happen to me.'"

He said although many local girls did not believe in pre- marital sex and highly prized their virginity, many were sexually active.

Foreign men are afforded almost movie-star status in Jakarta, he said. "One Saturday afternoon I had four girls ring and ask me out," he said, more incredulous than boasting.

"Indonesian girls are very forward, he said. "When you're a bule (foreigner) you get a lot of attention from girls and it's very flattering. A lot of the interest is financial but some of them find Westerners physically attractive and others like the idea of a Western boyfriend."

The attraction cuts both ways, he said.

"When I was first here, I'd fall in love everyday ... the color of their skin is so different, so exotic."

The definition of a prostitute is not clear in Jakarta, he said. "Some of the girls are just looking for a guy but if the situation arose, they may try to get money out of it. It's an economic thing."

"Most of the prostitutes are up-front, but not the same way they are at home. `Up-front' as they put their hands on you and tell you they love you. They get you to go with them and afterwards tell you that you owe them money -- that happens quite a lot."

Having been lavished with attention for so long would it be hard for a foreigner once they're back home and suddenly "average"?

He laughed, leaning back in his chair: "I've thought about that. I guess I won't know until I get there!"