Sex workers face lack of free condoms in Batam
Sex workers face lack of free condoms in Batam
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau
Wanda Yolanda gambles with her life every time she decides not to
spend Rp 15,000 (US$1.60) on a package of condoms for her line of
work.
Wanda, 19, is a prostitute on the industrial estate island of
Batam, where AIDS is feared to be spreading fast.
The World Bank and USAID have given away over $100,000 in free
condoms and funding to help fight the spread of AIDS on the
island.
But for many prostitutes, the free condoms are hard to come
by.
"I buy a package of three condoms from a street vendor for Rp
15,000. Sometimes I don't have the money, so I can't buy them,"
said Wanda, who works for the Rio Rita Pub and Karaoke.
A quick check at 36 karaoke bars and massage parlors on the
island found this similarity: Prostitutes need to supply the
condoms as clients rarely bring them.
Meanwhile, HIV poses a growing threat to the residents of
Batam. In 2002, the local administration reported that 112 people
were living with HIV/AIDS. Twenty people have died since then.
Although no comparative statistics are available, health care
officials said the actual figure could be much higher as many
cases had not been accounted for.
Just a stone's throw away from Singapore and Malaysia, Batam
lures neighboring investors with various tax incentives to make
the island their manufacturing base.
Thousands of jobseekers have flocked to the island from all
over Indonesia. But as Batam's economy flourishes, so does the
sex trade. Official data shows that there are about 7,000 sex
workers on the island, but that number could be as high as
20,000.
Tourists from Singapore and Malaysia as well as the thousands
of male migrants who left their wives behind make up their
clientele.
HIV is spread mainly by sex workers, said Evianora Azwar of
the Family Health Partner Foundation (YMKK).
She said if the virus continued to spread at its current rate,
Batam could turn into a source of HIV for most of western
Indonesia.
To combat its spread, USAID donated $75,000 this year and from
1997 to 2000, while the World Bank has given 18,000 packages of
condoms, each containing 144.
Two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have distributed
39,000 condoms, worth Rp 50.7 million.
Evianora said free condoms should be directly handed out to
sex workers, otherwise they might skip using them.
"In Batam, they (the aid workers) should have paid attention
to places where the sex trade is active, like hotels and karaoke
bars, and provide sex workers with free condoms if necessary,"
she said.
But the program manager of Family Health International (FHI),
Chandra, argued that women were often too weak in pushing men to
wear condoms.
The two NGOs in charge of distributing condoms in Batam were
told to hand them out at the island's ports or at clinics.
"Everywhere there are condom users, but not to the sex
workers," he said.
Condoms are widely available at drug stores and clinics, which
sell them for Rp 1,300 a piece, while hotels charge Rp 25,000 for
a package of three.
"Clients are reluctant to buy condoms because they are either
expensive or just bothersome. But if they want us to buy the
condoms, it depends on our finances," said Wanda.