Bogor streetwalker wants fair treatment

BOGOR, West Java (JP): The Bogor administration apparently plays favorites. It arrests streetwalkers but has not touched prostitutes working out of nightspots.

The accusation was made by a streetwalker being tried in court for disrupting public order.

"The administration should have been just. Why does it always hunt for streetwalkers like me, while it has never raided cafes or the like to net other working girls?" Yanti told reporters during a break in the trial at Bogor District Court.

"The women hanging out in cafes just wait for men to book them," she said. "I swear I'm telling the truth. I've been with them many times so I know exactly what they do in the cafes. Some of them are schoolgirls."

Yanti also operated out of nightspots on Jl. Suryakencana and Jl. Otista in Bogor. "It was a bad day for me last Friday when I went out and sought customers on the street."

Yanti was the most talkative and aggressive of eight prostitutes having their day in court.

Yanti said she and three other women were netted by the authorities on Jl. Suryakencana, close to the Bogor market, late on Friday.

The 25-year-old woman, who was divorced six months ago, defended her decision to sell her body.

"I had to become a streetwalker for financial reasons," she said. This is a common statement made by prostitutes in most interviews.

"I found it difficult to get a job to make ends meet. I have a child who needs milk," she said.

Yanti said she once worked in a nightspot but "I was fired for a reason I never learned".

Being a streetwalker, she said she could earn between Rp 100,000 and Rp 150,000 a night. "Frankly speaking, I serve only one customer a night."

Another prostitute, Dina (not her real name), said she had to become a prostitute after she was "sold" by her jobless husband.

The 19-year-old housewife said she started in the profession after her husband handed her over to a friend for Rp 300,000. She did not say when it was.

"It was very hard in the beginning, but later I become an addict," the junior high school graduate recalled.

The mother of one said she earned at least Rp 100,000 for each trick. "I usually operate at Merdeka Mall. Everybody there knows me very well," she said.

Dina, whose hair was styled like local pop singer Yuni Shara's, said her husband always escorted her when she was soliciting customers.

A member of the Bogor law and order team said that Dina's husband witnessed her arrest and accompanied her when she was questioned by the authorities.

Yanti and Dina said they were taken to Bogor City Hall soon after they, along with other streetwalkers, were apprehended at midnight on Friday.

Minutes after talking with reporters, the women returned to the courtroom where the judge handed down the verdict. They all pleaded guilty and were fined Rp 15,000 each for the offense and a Rp 500 administration fee.

They all paid the fine in cash and left the courthouse. Whether they will give up the profession or return to a life of vice was not discussed.(24/sur)