The trouble with prostitution

The trouble with prostitution

After all the clamor of the past four months, the nine-month
prison term handed down on Wednesday to Hartono Setyawan, the
supposedly "untouchable" owner of a high-class brothel in South
Jakarta, seems almost anti-climactic. The panel of judges at the
South Jakarta District Court ruled that Hartono was proven guilty
of collecting profit from prostitution, a crime punishable under
Article 506 on pandering of the Criminal Code.

If nothing else, his blatant and inhumane exploitation of
women should have brought him more than a brief encounter with
imprisonment.

At least, Hartono's arrest on July 27 led off a systematic
campaign against Jakarta's rising vice and crime rates. In the
weeks and months that followed his arrest, reports of police
raids on dens of iniquity regularly filled the pages of the
city's newspapers.

In October, Jakarta's police chief, Maj. Gen. Mochammad
Hindarto, told reporters the Jakarta police were determined to
crush the growing number of gangsters and racketeers "whose
methods of operation are similar to those used by foreign
organized crime syndicates".

All this naturally added some drama to the raids. But as far
as Hartono was concerned, such sinister links were never proven
in court.

It is said, however, that the 42-year-old man, who was
variously referred to in the newspaper reports as "the country's
biggest pimp for over two decades" or "the most notorious pimp of
high-class call girls", has survived for 20 years in this
questionable business on the strength of his powerful "backing".
Supposedly he had convenient links with powerful, well-placed
people.

As the evidence supplied in court seemed to show, Hartono is
essentially an independent entrepreneur, who made it to the top
of his trade on the strength of his own shrewd, albeit
unprincipled, business acumen. Formerly a penniless omprengan
(night minibus driver), he entered the lucrative sex business in
the early 1970s and prospered.

By the time he was arrested, he was the operator of a string
of posh brothels in several big cities, such as Jakarta,
Surabaya, Bandung, Denpasar and Semarang. His clientele is said
to have consisted mostly of middle and upper-class Indonesians,
including some high-ranking civil servants.

What Hartono's case appears to have taught us is that in his
business, as in any other field of commerce, the general market
forces of supply and demand are at work as well. What this
implies is that, whether or not we approve of it, prostitution,
a marketable vice, will persist as long as there are patrons.

Obviously, prostitution cannot be tolerated. Not only is it
degrading and exploitive, it can also seriously endanger the
health and wellbeing of countless members of society.

We believe it is an illusion to think that we can stamp out
prostitution by such simple measures as arresting a few of the
most blatant operators. Such measures, while proper, are
insufficient. More persistent and comprehensive measures should
be taken, including perhaps the old-fashioned method of
widespread education about the dangers of unrestrained sexual
behavior.

We believe there is a great deal more room for action, not
only by the authorities, but by every member of society. And it
seems reasonable, as well, that this action should be taken, not
only against the prostitutes and their pimps, but against anyone
supporting the exploitive practice, including clients.