Sex workers get training

SURABAYA: During the fasting month of Ramadhan, some 200 commercial sex workers in Surabaya are learning new skills that would enable them to enter other professions.

The training, held at the Islamic Center Surabaya and jointly organized by the Surabaya city administration and Surabaya Community Communication Forum (Forkemas), involves sex workers from the city's six red-light districts: Dolly, Jarak, Dupak, Bangunsari, Tambak Sari and Moroseneng.

The sex workers are trained in makeup artistry, cooking and the concoction of herbal remedies. But they also undertake spiritual studies.

"This kind of training is offered every Ramadhan. Usually, about 10 sex workers quit from their profession after undergoing the training," said Forkeman chairman Achmad Sunarto.

He said the ex-sex workers would start up other businesses, such as selling homemade crackers or running a beauty salon. -- JP