Surabaya prostitutes put on theater in act of empowerment
Surabaya prostitutes put on theater in act of empowerment
By Peter Kerr
JAKARTA (JP): In a backstreet of the biggest brothel area in
Surabaya, a dozen women sit around on the floor of a small
building that serves as a health clinic, a drop-in center and, at
this moment, a rehearsal venue.
Each woman has in front of her a bamboo cylinder, which she
beats in time to the rhythm of the words that flow around the
circle.
The happy faces, the interplay of expressions and the strong,
clear voices make it obvious this is something they really enjoy.
For these sex workers, some as young as 19, some older than
50, theater has become a powerful tool to explore issues that are
otherwise taboo, or too painful or embarrassing.
In the process they gain a sense of self in a world where they
are commodities, and build confidence and self-esteem. Since 1994
these performances have been part of annual sex worker
conferences held in Surabaya, where more than 20,000 women work
in five large brothel areas, including the most notorious, Dolly.
Now their theater is being brought to Jakarta for performances
on Friday and Saturday nights at Teater Utan kayu, and on Sunday
afternoon at Luwes IKJ Theater.
Violence and harassment is a core theme.
"It is about their daily lives. It is an empowerment program
for them but also an advocacy program so people get to know (the
commercial sex industry) is like that," said Julius Siyaranamual,
who drafted the first script for Matahari dan Matahari (Sun and
Sun). From there, the sex workers make their own stories.
Julius is program director of Yayasan Hotline Surabaya, which
runs an outreach service and counseling and training for
Surabaya's sex workers, and promotes awareness of HIV/AIDS and
other sexually transmitted diseases.
Most of the women follow a well-worn path to the Surabaya sex
industry, according to the Hotline's executive director, Esthi
Susanti Hudiono.
Girls, some as young as 12 and 13, come from villages around
Indonesia, but mostly from Central and East Java. They usually
have trouble at home with boyfriends or husbands who mistreat
them, and parents who are unsympathetic or who the girls believe
don't understand them.
They run to the cities, where unscrupulous men working in bus
stations and other travel hubs channel them into sex work.
Once there, the money is usually much more than they could
earn anywhere else.
Julius says the women talk during their performances "about
the people who always exploit them, like their boyfriends". He
and Esthi believe passionately in the right of sex workers to be
treated equally in society rather than be ignored or shunned.
Hotline plans a permanent theater group that can perform more
regularly, and in other brothels all over Indonesia.
Matahari dan Matahari shows at Teater Utan Kayu, Jl. Utan Kayu
68H on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and at Luwes IKJ
Theater, Jl. Cikini Raya 73, on Sunday at 3 p.m.