Plan for prostitute relocation criticized
Plan for prostitute relocation criticized
JAKARTA (JP): Plans to move the city-sanctioned red-light
district in North Jakarta to the Seribu Islands might lead to a
new cycle of arrests for prostitutes, say sources close to the
issue.
One way out of the hopeless cycle, said an official on
Saturday, would be to let them organize: "They could regulate
themselves to make health monitoring easier and help them keep
track of their members."
The official, who requested anonymity, said he was responding
to inquiries on the municipality's possible move to shift the
Kramat Tunggak prostitution complex to the Seribu Islands, which
lie north of Jakarta.
Without other acceptable means, the official said: "We will
have to step up raids because the women will surely resist the
move, or will escape back to the mainland."
If the move goes ahead, the future income of the 1,800 women
in the complex is in doubt because customers would have to take
expensive boat trips to the islands.
Plans to move the complex, officially a rehabilitation center,
are being driven by the protests of local residents. Kramat
Tunggak is no longer isolated like it was in the 1970s when it
was considered an ideal place to centralize prostitution and
rehabilitate prostitutes.
The deputy governor in charge of public welfare, R.S. Museno,
said yesterday that action against prostitutes would never be
effective as long as men could not control their urges.
"But I haven't looked into the idea of self-regulation. What
would be the good of it? I think the social agency is already
doing increasing HIV-awareness and trying to make them leave the
business," Museno said, referring to Koran reading and sewing
classes which are provided by a social agency in Kramat Tunggak.
The prostitutes may not have had time to discuss the planned
move. But they say they do not believe it.
"It's an old story, we've heard it since the 1980s," scoffed
one woman.
Kramat Tunggak, with 250 'guesthouses', is home to thousands
of women, at least during their productive years.
Scores of vendors live near the area. A public bus driver said
Saturday that local drivers would lose a large part of their
income if the complex was moved.
One vendor said Saturday that every time news broke on a
potential move, the guesthouse's owners renovated their
buildings.
"It would cost a lot of money to tear down the buildings," the
vendor said. The two-story buildings contain bars, dance floors
and up to 20 rooms, which are securely enclosed in floor-to-
ceiling iron bars.
The land at the 11.5 hectare complex is valued at Rp 300,000
per square meter.
A social worker involved in promoting HIV/AIDS awareness,
Teguh Budiono, said the women would resist the move or run away.
Teguh questioned the possibility of the council's proposal
that pimps not be allowed to operate at the proposed island
brothels.
"The whole complex is a big business from the beer and room
rents alone. Besides, the women have to settle debts of hundreds
of thousands of rupiah to the parties who let them work there."
Given the likelihood that the women would scatter if the
complex was moved, Teguh said that it would be much harder to
monitor the women to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.
He said that volunteers from non-governmental organizations
had helped recruit "peer educators" to spread safe sex awareness
among the women. (anr)