Teen sex workers flock to Karimun

Teen sex workers flock to Karimun

BATAM, Riau: Hundreds of teenage sex workers from Java and
Sumatra flock to Karimun island in Riau province on weekends as
the tourist industry on the island is booming.

Antara reported on Saturday that there were many teenage girls
offering their services for between Rp 150,000 and Rp 250,000 an
hour in the island's numerous cheap and mid-range hotels on
weekends.

The news agency said the girls were lured by the fast
developing tourist industry on the island, which is popular
destination for tourist from neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

Many of the girls, the news agency said, claimed to be working
as masseuses at the massage parlors on the island, which is some
75 kilometers to the west of the island of Batam.

Local authorities have recently blamed prostitution on the
Riau islands for the increasing number of HIV positive people in
the area. (byg)