Streets now home for C. Java hookers
By Haryoso
SEMARANG (JP): The reform movement which has swept the country not only knocked the country's president from his perch of 32 years, it sparked a moral movement which is increasingly affecting the prostitution industry here.
Since the reform movement hit the country earlier this year, the city has seen the closure of its two largest prostitution complexes: Sunan Kuning and Gambilangu.
"We were compelled to close these two dens of prostitution by public pressure. And it has been good for all of us," Semarang mayor Soetrisno told The Jakarta Post.
The mayor said he hoped the women from Sunan Kuning and Gambilangu would return home and change profession after the complexes were closed down.
But Soetrisno's hopes have not been realized because hundreds of women who used to work in the complexes have now set up shop on the city's roads, squares and hostels.
"After our brothels were sealed off we started to look for customers on the street. We usually agree a rate then go to a nearby hostel. Even if a customer wants to take me to an empty building I do not refuse," 27-year-old Rani said on Jl. Pemuda. She used to live and work in Sunan Kuning.
The mother of a 7-year-old son normally charges her customers Rp 100,000 (US$7) for a whole night or Rp 50,000 for two hours.
She said that working at a legal prostitution complex like Sunan Kuning was better than working on the streets because there she could earn more and got regular free medical treatment.
"At Sunan Kuning I could earn at least Rp 250,000 a week, but here it's so hard," she said.
Marni, 26, also said her income had dropped from Rp 300,000 per week to Rp 200,000 per week since she was forced to move out of Sunan Kuning.
Dar, a 40-year-old man who regular takes advantage of the services on offer, confirmed that the closure of the brothel complexes had not affected him. Women, he said, were still available on almost every corner in the city.
"It's better now. I can get better bargains. I can find beautiful girls and get a 30 percent discount," he said.
A 37-year-old street hawker boasted that he could get a beautiful girl for two hours for only Rp 50,000.
But he said he had to be careful when picking girls up on the street because of the risk of contracting dangerous diseases like syphilis, gonorrhea and AIDS.
"I always use a condom and I pay frequent visits to my doctor," the vendor said.
He voiced rare support for the controversial idea that the local administration should provide a legal site for prostitution to control the spread of sexually transmitted disease.
Diponegoro University public health expert Soebowo agreed with the vendor, saying that the spread of prostitution on the streets of Semarang could lead to the spread of disease, especially among the younger generation.
"I dare say that more young people in Semarang will contract sexually transmitted diseases," he said.
He estimated there was a 10 percent chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease through having sex with a prostitute.
He argued the only way to eradicate prostitution in Semarang was to provide all the women with suitable alternative jobs which paid well enough to allow them to make ends meet -- impossible while the crisis persists.
"It is understandable that they have started to operate on the streets after their complexes were closed down."
Therefore providing them with shelter would a better alternative to letting them operate on the streets, he said.
Cultural observer Darmanto Jatman said that prostitution would never disappear in Semarang or anywhere else. People can only try to minimize their operation, he said.