'Local tastes' driving influx of foreign hookers

'Local tastes' driving influx of foreign hookers

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesians' appetite for adventure with foreign
prostitutes and the perception that people here are getting
richer is supporting the business of providing foreign women for
sexual services, a criminologist has said.

Academic Adrianus Meliala, together with a police source, said
over the weekend that the business was becoming increasingly
organized.

Responding to the recent arrests of foreign women here,
Adrianus said not all of the women were what they seemed.

Sometimes Indonesian customers were cheated by providers who
preyed on the men's wish to enjoy foreign women, by offering fake
foreigners.

Chinese women from Singkawang, West Kalimantan, he said were
introduced to customers as singers from Taiwan, who could be
'booked.'

"They are taught Mandarin and act like women from China or
Taiwan ... That way they fetch a higher price," Adrianus said.

Adrianus said the demand for foreign women was matched by a
perception of foreigners in the business that Indonesians are
becoming richer.

"Foreigners look at Indonesia as a fast-growing and rich
developing country, as a golden business opportunity, including
for the prostitution business," he said,

Undercover officers found a foreign karaoke bar worker was
paid at least Rp 2.5 million (US$1,020) a month while locals were
paid less. The guides could also be booked for an average of Rp
35,000 per hour for at least three to five hours.

If an Indonesian woman worked as a prostitute in Malaysia, she
would also be paid higher than locals, Adrianus said.

Police and immigration officers arrested three women from the
Republic of China and eastern Europe working as karaoke bar
workers and call girls at an entertainment center in Surabaya,
East Java, last month.

Three other women with passports from the Republic of China
were arrested for allegedly working as prostitutes at the Sydney
2000 entertainment center on Jl. Mangga Besar, West Jakarta. They
had business visas from the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok,
Thailand.

They also had licenses from the Ministry of Manpower to work
as singers in major cities, including Palembang, Medan and
Surabaya.

Last week, 11 women from Taiwan were also arrested at the Raja
Mas entertainment center in West Jakarta.

All charges in the arrests were immigration violations,
specifically the abuse of tourist visas to earn money by working
as karaoke bar workers, or call girls.

However no prostitution charges were laid.

A source at the City Police's Foreigner Supervision unit said
that prostitution would be difficult to prove. "Because the
evidence is very hard to get. For example, no customers want to
give evidence against a prostitute," he said.

The criminal code does not include prohibition against people
working as prostitutes, it only bans people from working as
pimps.

The police officer also said that the prostitution business,
particularly involving foreign women, had become very well
organized.

"There are different people to arrange different aspects of
this illegal business, including the finance, travel, security,
accommodation, jobs, and booking orders," he said.

A man identified as Asanuddin, who was arrested with the 11
Taiwanese, confessed he had cooperated with the owner of the Raja
Mas entertainment center, another man who arranged the
transportation and security of the women, and the one who
recruited them.

Asanuddin organized a dormitory on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta Raya
Block 46/5B, West Jakarta, specially set up to accommodate the
foreign women during their stay here.

Adrianus added it was not easy to eliminate the business
because many officials were paid off.

He said an officer in charge of a police precinct in West
Jakarta, the site of many entertainment centers, would be
automatically expected by his superiors and local city
authorities to deliver money to them regularly.

"Only an officer, who has never been involved with the people
would be able to seriously fight those in the business," he said.

The extent of the prostitution business here was highlighted
in a report launched Friday by the International Labor
Organization and the Ministry of Manpower. It revealed the
business in the capital was worth at least Rp 7.2 trillion a year
as long ago as 1993.

It did not give any more recent figures. (cst)