Brothel complex closure may see rampant spread of STDs
Brothel complex closure may see rampant spread of STDs
By Stevie Emilia
JAKARTA (JP): In the morning, the country's oldest red-light
district of Kramat Tunggak looks just like any other Jakarta
residential area. But at night, it comes alive, revealing its
true face.
Every night, Kramat Tunggak's parking lot is packed. Loud
music and the roar of laughter can be heard coming from each
brothel, where women in thick makeup wait for pleasure-seeking
guests.
Fenny, a native of Indramayu in West Java, was widowed just
five months after her marriage at the age of 14. She was 17 when
she first arrived in Kramat Tunggak.
The elementary school graduate was first lured to the city
after seeing her friends bring home to the village lots of money
from Jakarta.
"Working here is easy, I can help my siblings. I don't want to
work as a servant. Well... working here is fun enough," said
Fenny, who serves at least one client per day.
She earns Rp 40,000 for short-time service, excluding a Rp
5,000 commission for her pimp. Every month she can spare
approximately Rp 300,000 for her family. "I'll stop once I meet
my mate," Fenny said.
But her plan might fizzle at the end of the year when the city
administration closes down the 11.5-hectare complex, which
officially became a red-light district in 1970 with 300
prostitutes and 79 pimps.
Located near Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta, it was
intended as a rehabilitation center for prostitutes, offering
them vocational courses and mental and social guidance.
But local residents have long protested its existence. Under
the new plan, Kramat Tunggak will be turned into a residential
and business area. A new center on a 2.5-hectare plot of land in
Sarang Bango village in Marunda, North Jakarta, will be set up
for the sex workers.
However, Kramat Tunggak's sex workers are not happy with the
plan and have threatened to work on the streets if the complex
shuts its doors.
The response from health workers and experts to the plan has
also been negative. They believe this will only spark even more
illegal prostitution and make it harder for them to monitor the
health conditions of sex workers, who are prone to sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs).
A health researcher at the Ministry of Health's Contagious
Diseases Research Center, Endang R. Sedyaningsih M., has objected
to the closure plan. She says it will not stop the prostitutes
from returning to their old jobs once the area is shut down.
"It's true that some of the prostitutes will go back to their
hometowns... But in today's difficult economic situation, many
of them will get desperate and end up working on the streets,"
she told The Jakarta Post.
She warned that once the prostitutes began working on the
streets, it would be difficult to approach them. "They might not
welcome us (health workers) like they usually do at the
complex... They might think we will raid them instead," Endang
said.
She points out that the concept of eliminating prostitution is
a difficult one, saying "if the authorities are serious, they
have to do it wisely. The most important thing to do is to be
able to monitor the sex workers' health condition continually."
Endang conducted research of the area in 1995 to gain her PhD
at Harvard University, America, later publishing the research
findings in a book titled Perempuan-Perempuan Kramat Tunggak (The
Kramat Tunggak Women) earlier this month. The book is part of a
health series on reproduction, culture and community published by
Pustaka Sinar Harapan and the Ford Foundation.
In her research, Endang found that some prostitutes simply
took antibiotics every day to prevent disease, including STDs.
"By taking antibiotics every day, it's feared that they will
eventually become immune to the drug," said Endang.
Endang's research found that 459 of Kramat Tunggak's 1,977
prostitutes did not have adequate knowledge to protect themselves
against STDs.
Some of the prostitutes, she said, wash their vaginas with
antiseptic before and after having sex with their clients, while
others use soap and even toothpaste.
"The use of toothpaste is a favorite, I don't know who started
it, but they like how it feels, as it is warm, fresh and cool,"
Endang said.
From a medical point of view, these methods are totally
inadequate, and can in fact do more harm than good.
"What they do might clean their vaginas from bacteria. But a
vital organ needs certain bacteria, and certain amounts, to help
it naturally resist disease. Common people don't realize this. If
the vital organ is too clean, it is easier to contract sexually
transmitted diseases," Endang said.
Similarly, the prostitutes do not have adequate knowledge to
identify whether they have contracted a disease or not and are
reluctant to go to the hospital or a community health center due
to the lack of privacy in these public facilities, she added.
The use of condoms is not their favorite option either.
Dariah, a Kramat Tunggak prostitute, said she does not ask her
clients to use a condom.
"Only once in a while, when the client asks for it... but
anyway, I've protected myself...," she said referring to her
habit of taking antibiotics and washing herself and her client
before and after sex.
Umiyati, another prostitute, claimed she always requested her
guests to use condoms.
"But if it's late at night and I still haven't served a
client, and then one shows up and does not want to use a condom,
what can I say? It's better than nothing. My target is to get at
least Rp 10,000 a day," she said.
Endang cannot understand why there are no rules obligating the
prostitutes or the clients to use condoms.
Her research reveals that about 2,000 men visit the area every
night, which excludes those who simply go there to drink or dance
in the brothels.
With the current lack of knowledge on STD prevention and the
low awareness of the need to use condoms, it would not be wise to
let the prostitutes work on the streets, she said.
Common people, she said, know that STDs, such as syphilis, are
mostly contracted by those who have sex with prostitutes.
"But what most people do not realize is that the prostitutes
contract these diseases from men, their customers, before
transmitting them to other men seeking their services. They are
only victims".