I was tricked into working as a sex worker, girl says
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta
The hopes of Tas (not her real name) of getting a decent job were shattered after she ended up in a karaoke bar on Batam island. The 14-year old girl, who had just finished elementary school in Pagedongan, Banjarnegara, Central Java, was lured to Batam by her own neighbor, Parwati, 25.
She was enticed by an offer to work as a tea delivery girl at a cafe in Batam with a monthly salary of Rp 5 million. But the moment she arrived in Batam, Parwati sold her to the MK karaoke bar in Kampung Pelita for Rp 1.5 million and she was forced to become a sex worker.
"My ordeal began when a friend Eka Cipta Novendi, 22, introduced me to Parwati who promised me a job. As I was unemployed and wished to earn my own money, I just believed her then," said Tas.
"I left for Batam on June 7 with another girl, with the initials BD, 25, without saying goodbye to my family and with only the clothes I was wearing at the time," she said hesitantly, holding back tears.
Since she did not bid farewell to her family, her relatives thought she had gone missing.
Her identity was falsified prior to her departure. Her name was stated as Fatmawati on the plane ticket and she used the alias Indah Fitriani Dewi at the karaoke bar. Her age was also stated as 19.
Upon arriving in Batam, Tas was taken to the karaoke parlor by Parwati and was greeted warmly by its manager she identified only as Agung.
Through an employee, Wiwi, she was told that she had been sold by Parwati for only Rp 1.5 million to work for five months. She was charged Rp 1.5 million for her meals for five months, which was considered a debt.
During her stay on the industrial island, Tas had once tried to escape but was detected. She was eventually forced to become a sex worker for six weeks and had been booked by guests of the bar on at least 13 occasions.
A guest pays Rp 280,000 for a single booking -- Rp 80,000 of which would go for the taxi fare, Rp 100,000 for her pimp and Rp 100,000 for herself (in the form of a voucher that could only be cashed upon completion of her contract).
On July 31, 2004, a social worker with an non-governmental organization managed to sneak her out of the parlor by booking her and then took her to Barelang Police Station.
Tas later flew to Yogyakarta on Aug. 12. From there, she returned home to Banjarnegara, accompanied by activists of the Anak Merdeka Indonesia Foundation (SAMIN).
The foundation later reported Tas' case to Banjarnegara Police on Aug. 20. Three other NGOs -- the Setara Semarang Foundation, the Yogyakarta Women's Joint Secretariat and Yogyakarta's Indonesian Women's Coalition helped in the case.
"Eka was immediately arrested by the Banjarnegara Police that night on charges of child trafficking. However according to the police, Parwati has fled to Malaysia," said Buyung Ridwan Tanjung, a lawyer representing Tas.
The plight of Tas highlights similar cases of child trafficking, which is widespread across Indonesia rated the world's third worst country in its commitment against women and child trafficking.
An estimated population of 230,000 women and child sex workers were trafficked throughout the country. Data from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) shows there were some 70,000 children were involved in the commercial sex industry, some 30 percent of them below 18 years of age.