Teenagers teach themselves as sex education still taboo

By Yogita Tahil Ramani and Yudha Kartohadiprodjo

JAKARTA (JP): The oldest profession in the world has accumulated hundreds of justifications for its existence over time, the most prevalent ones usually touching on unemployment and poverty.

One class of prostitutes, coming mostly from upper- and middle-income families, practice the trade for a reason that would surprise many: they do it for "fun".

The Bulungan area close to the popular Blok M shopping center in South Jakarta is a hangout for scores of teenagers who have entered the profession for reasons that have very little to do with a need for money. Nanda, an 18-year-old high-school dropout, has counted herself among them for the last six months.

She said that she enjoyed jumping into off-and-on sex because it relieved her boredom.

"My mother's busy taking care of my six-year-old sister and dad comes home really late from the office. I'm always alone and mom tells me to go to sleep by 7:30 p.m.," Nanda said.

"I can't live like that. It's so lonely at night... I know all my friends are here. I prefer to be here."

Despite being there almost every other night, she said she was considered a junior by unspoken standards set by the senior perek, or "prostitutes-by-choice".

"I still can't get a customer every day of the week and I can only charge as high as Rp 200,000 per person. This is the minimum rate for seniors," she said.

She added that it was unheard of for seniors there to charge less than Rp 200,000.

"We have to keep up the name of the Blok M girls," Nanda said.

Taking anything less than Rp 200,000, she explained, had nothing to do with surviving the economic crisis.

For her and the other prostitutes in the area, it has become a "branded-goods crisis" instead.

"I'm crazy about brand-name handbags," she said.

The attractive teenager, wearing high heels, worn-out jeans, black top and a denim jacket, said she hid her money with a trusted satay street vendor.

Nanda is waiting for the day when she will be considered a senior prostitute by her friends. "I'm improving, you know. No matter how much I used to don myself up, I only got one (customer) a week before," she said, referring to six months ago.

"Now, I can get as many as three a week."

Her customers, she proudly said, ranged from bule (foreigners) to Indonesian executives who drove BMWs, Mercedes or other luxury cars.

"They bring me to nearby hotels which cost more than Rp 250,000 a night... My fee is separate, of course."

Most of the girls, she said, ended up in the trade by initially hanging out with other high-school dropouts around cigarette kiosks and street vendors.

Many graduate to using drugs, from putauw (low-grade heroin) to cimeng (marijuana) once in a while, but that did nothing to earn a place in the Blok M crowd.

The only way to gain status in the group, according to Nanda, was to do the "cool" thing: become a topnotch prostitute with a selective class of clients who paid between Rp 300,000 and Rp 400,000 a night.

Soliciting in the area is not without its risks. Pimps, many of whom are Ambonese, maintain a stake in the area's business activities.

"If we don't pay any one of them who approaches us 20 percent to 25 percent of our earnings, we're goners," she said.

Such "protectors" sometimes called girls to a nearby, quiet corner to slap and beat them into obedience. Sometimes they would shave girls' heads, she said.

Another Blok M girl, Ngenges, had her own story.

Totally devoid of make-up, the innocent-looking girl shared some of her rough experiences during her months at Blok M.

At one point, she said she was caught by military personnel who later transferred her to a women's rehabilitation center in Tangerang, West Java.

"It was scary. I met older and professional prostitutes who showed me how to perform sexually with the use of 'helping' devices," said Ngenges, who said she was 17 but did not look a day over 14.

She bribed a guard there in order to call her father, who later got her released.

She said her father asked her why she spent time at Blok M. She answered that she had never had much to do at home, anyway.

Claiming to be a virgin, she said that she would never go beyond talk and a "peck on the cheek".

Ngenges said that she was still in school but loved hanging out with her friends in the area.