Child prostitution on the rise in RI: NGO

Child prostitution on the rise in RI: NGO

By Nita Nursepti

JAKARTA (Antara): Trading in female children continues under the pretext of reducing unemployment or helping parents earn a living. Many of these children have been forced into prostitution.

In its latest edition, Buletin Suara APIK states that child prostitution in Indonesia has reached alarming levels.

Led by well-known activist Nursyahbani Katjasungkana LBH-APIK, which puts out the bulletin, is a Jakarta-based non-governmental organization which advocates for women's rights.

The bulletin said stopping the trade in underaged girls was "very difficult" because the lucrative business involved well- organized syndicates which had the power to silence their victims.

The situation is worsened by slack law enforcement and the fact that people in general turn a blind eye to this social ill. Most people blame the trade in underaged girls on the girls' own conduct, and therefore reason that the victims do not deserve sympathy.

Many schools have reportedly expelled students believed to have been involved in prostitution.

LBH-APIK acknowledges it is difficult to fight the trade in underaged girls, who often appear as if they are simply working to help lighten their parents' financial burdens.

The organization has identified a number of factors which hamper the fight against child prostitution: Unresponsive law enforcers who do not follow up reports on child prostitution on the grounds that there is no "hard evidence"; a lack of professionalism among security authorities; victims who do not have the courage to tell anybody about their plight; and law enforcers who side with the perpetrators.

Indonesia does have Law No. 7/1998 on the books, which is a ratification of the UN Convention on Women aimed at eradicating the trade in humans and prostitution. The goal of ending the trade in humans and prostitution has been adopted by the National Commission on Human Rights as part of its 1998 to 2003 action program.

The convention on women allows signatories to punish anyone who buys, lures or encourages others into prostitution, even if those entering prostitution do so willingly. It also authorizes legal action against anyone who runs, funds or takes part in the management of a brothel. This also applies to any parties who rent their property for the purpose of prostitution.

Prostitution is also dealt with in Article 296 of the Indonesian Criminal Code, which bans prostitution, and Article 297, which provides for the punishment of people who benefit from prostitution and bans the trade in underaged children.

The Criminal Code clearly protects girls against sexual exploitation. Unfortunately, the laws are not properly implemented by law enforcers and people often blame prostitutes' themselves for becoming involved in the trade.

For example, in North Jakarta a number of boarding houses are made available to young women who work nights at various night clubs. The landlords know the profession of their tenants, but they do not take any action. Their sole concern is that their rooms are fully occupied. Neither do people in the neighborhood do anything, although they know the women are sex workers.

It is widely believed public inaction against the trade in underaged women is due to the fact that Jakartans are becoming selfish -- people are only concerned with their own business.

There are persistent reports about parents selling their daughters into the sex trade.

The administration in Jakarta, under increasing pressure to eradicate prostitution, has introduced a "clean and orderly culture" campaign aimed at improving awareness about the need for clean and safe neighborhoods. Security and order officers have raided prostitution dens and burned down makeshift brothels. However, the world's oldest profession continues to be practiced in the city.

This demonstrates that the eradication of prostitution requires more concerted efforts.

One step which needs to be taken is to empower women to escape prostitution. Women need improved education to allow them to find decent employment.

These efforts must involve intensive information campaigns to get the message across that the eradication of child prostitution requires the involvement of parents, the public and law enforcers.

What form should this involvement take? In the face of an increasingly "free" society, parents should exercise better control of their children. And people should not only express concern, but also take concrete measures to stop child prostitution.