Condoms: Not just in brothels

Christopher Purdy, Jakarta

At night, the Klakahrejo brothel in Surabaya is alive with music, lights and the sound of men parking their motorcycles. Not long ago, I walked down the narrow alley that leads to the twenty or so houses which make up the Klakahrejo complex. As usual, there were a few stares, then giggles, followed by invitations. However, I was there with the brothel boss-man, who led me past the luring calls, beyond the small shops selling antibiotics, birth-control pills and condoms, and into one of the larger houses.

Sitting on the long sofa were some fifteen young ladies, looking mostly bored. The sight of me raised no apparent excitement -- even when one attractive woman was asked to join me in one of the many bedrooms in the back. The bedroom was similar to the hundreds of such rooms I have seen -- small with a single bed with pink sheets and pillows pushed against the wall, a dresser filled with clothes and magazines, and a few small posters of movie stars on the walls.

We made small talk for a while. Then I asked her my most important question: "Do you have a condom?"

Unlike most women her age, she didn't hesitate, blush, or laugh. She reached down to her dresser drawer and pulled out a box of 12 condoms. These condoms, she indicated, were made available to each and every client. Still, not all her clients agreed to use a condom, forcing her to choose between unsafe sex and no work. However, having condoms in the room made the possibility of condom use that much more likely.

Selling condoms may seem a tricky business. Mention condoms in Indonesia and you can be certain to elicit laughter or a frown, or both. However, there are only a few people who question condom effectiveness and few concerns that the average Indonesia can't access or afford condoms. It is also remarkably easy to market, advertise and otherwise talk about condoms in Indonesia.

Indonesia, it seems, with all it traditional culture and conservative elements, has been able to absorb and accept condoms as part of the family planning and public health reality.

Much remains to be done, however, to increase condom use. In a recent survey among youth in four Indonesian cities, only 33 percent reported using condoms the first time they had sex. At massage parlors and other "hotspots" around the country, police use the presence of condoms as the proof of illegal activities. And, despite high levels of awareness and understanding about HIV/AIDS, the vast majority of Indonesians do not harbor a sense of personal risk that they could be infected -- even among those who continue to engage in high-risk behaviors.

Indonesia is facing a growing number of HIV infections and high rates of unwanted pregnancies -- especially among young people. To overcome these problems, condom availability and education are needed. But we should not be misled into thinking that only brothels like Klakahrejo require such interventions; prevention begins with each of us. Everyone should play a role.

Talk with your children. Talk with your neighbors. Make sure employees know about HIV/AIDS and have access to condoms. Only through a concerted and combined effort can Indonesia hope to solve these broad and looming problems.

The writer is the Country Director for DKT Indonesia, a social marketing enterprise focused on HIV prevention and family planning. He can be reached at cpurdy@rad.net.id.