Rawa Malang, new brothel complex in North Jakarta
Rawa Malang, new brothel complex in North Jakarta
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Prostitution has always been a problem in big cities,
including Jakarta. Numerous measures taken by the city to curb
the activity have done little to comprehensively resolve the
prostitution issue and the problems that often accompany it. A
new prostitution center crops up as soon as an old one is closed
down.
For example, after the Kramat Tunggak brothel complex in Tugu
Utara subdistrict, North Jakarta, was closed down in December
1999, many prostitutes simply moved to different areas of the
city.
One such area is the new brothel complex in Rawa Malang in
Cilincing subdistrict, North Jakarta.
About 300 prostitutes moved to Rawa Malang following the
closure of Kramat Tunggak, and that number has increased since
the Jakarta administration began demolishing the Kalijodo
brothel complex in Pejagalan subdistrict, North Jakarta, earlier
this week.
Mami Iyang, a madam who has been operating in the area for
eight years, said the Kalijodo exodus could reach hundreds of
prostitutes.
"The arrival of new prostitutes has increased the competition
among them and us, the madams. Since 1999, many madams from
Kramat Tunggak have started businesses here," she said, adding
that on average she earned Rp 2.5 million (US$245) per night.
Despite the increase in the number of prostitutes, Rawa Malang
is profitable for the sex workers.
"Here I only have to pay my madam Rp 35,000 per customer and
my fee is Rp 100,000 for a short time. It's very cheap compared
to when I worked as a stripper," one of the prostitutes, Susan,
told The Jakarta Post on Thursday night.
Susan claimed she had worked for four months at a discotheque
on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Central Jakarta, which provides illicit strip
shows.
"(As a stripper) I only received Rp 50,000 of my Rp 235,000
service fee per customer," said the 22-year-old, who has been
working as a prostitute for eight years.
Susan began working in Rawa Malang three months ago.
"A friend brought me here. She sold me to Mami Iyang for Rp 2
million," said Susan.
The 18-year-old red-light complex is home to 120 brothels and
around 1,200 sex workers. It is located in the middle of
"nowhere", with the nearest residential area one kilometer away.
The complex is surrounded by swamps and a public cemetery.
A four-meter-wide bridge is the only way into and out of the
complex. Two-story brothels line the narrow alleys of the
complex.
Rawa Malang has not experience the kind of violence that
regularly occurred in Kalijodo.
"Here, community unit 9 chief M. Muin organizes the security
system. All the madams must pay a Rp 25,000 security fee per week
to the civilian guards and the police," Iyang said.
The brothels are only allowed to open from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.,
and these hours are strictly enforced. They are also obliged to
ban music on Thursday nights when Muslims commonly gather to
recite the Koran.
The brothels are not allowed to sell alcohol, and selling
drugs is also frowned upon in the area.
The presence of the complex, which has been relatively free of
trouble, apparently also helps many in the area earn money.
Rokhim, an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver at the complex, said
there were no gangsters operating in the complex.
"It is a safe place to earn a living. No hoodlums, mostly just
locals, have ever extorted money from us," said Rokhim, who can
earn about Rp 50,000 a night.
With the administration intent on cleaning out Kalijodo, it is
likely that more prostitutes will arrive in Rawa Malang.
However if no comprehensive response is found to deal with the
question of prostitution, the violence that has beset places like
Kalijodo will also eventually find its way to Rawa Malang or any
other venue where the world's "oldest profession" is found.