S'poreans rebuked for teen sex in RI

S'poreans rebuked for teen sex in RI

Associated Press, Singapore

A United Nation (UN) women's rights group is trying to stop Singapore men from seeking sex with underage prostitutes on Indonesia's nearby resort island of Batam, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Straits Times said Singapore's chapter of UNIFEM, the UN fund for women, will put up posters next month at ferry terminals serving the island, bearing messages such as: "How would you feel if someone did this to your daughter?"

It said the group will also distribute condoms - which will come with messages like: "Have you asked how old she is?"

Batam is only a 40-minute ferry ride from Singapore, but it's much poorer. It has a thriving, unregulated sex industry.

About 600 Singapore men go there every weekend for sex, the paper said.

Almost 40 percent of Batam's estimated 19,000 sex workers are under 18 - and some are as young as 12 - the report quoted UNIFEM-Singapore's campaign manager Saleemah Ismail as saying.

"Some men think they are doing a good deed by paying for sex in Batam," the report quoted Ismail as saying. "Others think younger girls are cleaner and thus they will be safer from AIDS if they have sex with them."

Ismail wasn't immediately available for comment.