Sex workers get training

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