Prostitutes face harder life in Batam

Prostitutes face harder life in Batam

Fadli
The Jakarta Post/Batam

"Santi", 23, a sex worker in Batam, complained that fewer clients
had visited her over the past few months.

"Malaysian and Singaporean tourists aren't turning up any more
and spending money at my place," said Santi, a masseur cum sex
worker hailing from West Java. Santi works as a masseur in a
massage parlor in the Nagoya Business Center.

"The situation is very different compared to four years ago.
Then, I provided services for at least two clients a day, but now
it is now very difficult to get two customers even in a week,"
said Santi.

Santi is among 50 sex workers working in the massage parlor.
Aged between 18 and 30 years, they are displayed in a 5x6 meter
glass room for viewing by customers.

The prostitutes come from various regions in Java and Sumatra,
and some are of Chinese descent.

Santi said that each client who booked her had to pay Rp
250,000 (US$28) to the massage parlor for an overnight "long"
service, and Rp 150,000 for a "short" service.

Of this, she received Rp 100,000 for the long service, and Rp
50,000 for the short service.

"I rely more on the customer's tip. They usually give us big
tips, especially clients from Malaysia and Singapore," said
Santi.

But, the good old days may have passed. The number of clients
visiting massage parlors in Batam had started declining some
months ago, which has affected incomes for both the prostitutes
and the owners of the premises.

At least three massage parlors in the business center had
closed down over the past few months.

Santi recalled that when she first came to Batam four years
ago she could make Rp 1 million a week, but now she was only
earning Rp 200,000 a week.

The slowdown in business was also affecting "Lastri", another
prostitute at a different massage parlor in the business center.

Lastri said that she used to earn at least Rp 100,000 a day,
but recently she could only earn half that amount.

There is no clear reason for the decline in Batam's
prostitution business, however, a government official on the
island said that a high-profile campaign on HIV/AIDS could be a
factor.

In a separate development, the head of Social Office at the
Batam administration, Rayanis Aminah, said that the local
government had imposed strict new measures recently to prevent
more prostitutes from coming to the city.

Under a mayoral decree issued recently, newcomers to Batam had
to register with the Batam mayoralty administration and are only
allowed to stay and work on the island after they have convinced
government officials that they had a "clear purpose" in being
there, said Rayanis.