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".