Tracing the world's oldest profession

Tracing the world's oldest profession

Pelacuran di Indonesia, Sejarah dan Perkembangannya
(Prostitution in Indonesia, its History and Development);
By Terence H. Hull et al.;
Pustaka Sinar Harapan in cooperation with Ford Foundation,
Jakarta, 1997;
157 pp + ix;
Rp 15,000

JAKARTA (JP): Everybody knows the sex industry is as old as
the history of humankind, but nobody seems to be able to pinpoint
when exactly its commercialization started.

In Indonesia, prostitution was definitely recorded during the
time of the Mataram kingdom in 1755. The trade in women was a
complementary part of the feudal government system.

The king was often viewed as a noble powerholder; thus he was
not only the owner of material wealth, but also the lives of his
underlings, including the women who were his concubines.

These were usually beautiful women from particular regions.
They were sold, or presented, by their families to the king.

According to research by Koentjoro published in 1989, there
were 11 regencies in Java known as suppliers of women who,
knowingly or not, become prostitutes: Indramayu, Karawang and
Kuningan in West Java; Pati, Jepara, Grobogan and Wonogiri in
Central Java; and Blitar, Malang and Banyuwangi in East Java.

The above introduces the reader to an in-depth study of the
sex industry by noted demographers Gavin Jones and Terence Hull,
and labor analyst Endang Sulistyaningsih. The demographers, both
of whom have held positions at Canberra's Australian National
University, have worked here since the early 1970s, assisting
government institutions and teaching at state universities.

This work, based on an earlier monograph, traces early
policies attempting to regulate the sex industry, which persisted
despite government efforts to check their growth and the spread
of sexually transmitted diseases.

Authors quote a study published in Dutch in 1901, in which the
writer, in a book related to public health, recommends that each
woman involved in the sex business be obliged to carry brochures
with information on syphilis.

Close to the end of the century, we can still see the
government trying to come to terms with the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and its confusion over how to handle
prostitution, a very lucrative business as the book and any study
on the subject show.

It also describes how the industry began in different areas.
In Surabaya, for instance, prostitutes in the 19th century were
allowed to board ships arriving in the new port city.

The authors quote a study on prostitution in the colonial era
by historian John Ingleson. He wrote that the policy of
overseeing a crew's private activity on board was considered
better than having them roaming around for women.

This work, the third in a series on reproductive health,
culture and society, is not the first to analyze prostitution. A
well-known book on Dolly, the red-light area of Surabaya, was
published in 1979 by Yuyu A.N. Krisna, a woman who went
undercover to conduct her research.

But the fascinating business of sex for pay, in all its
permutations, is revealed in the new book, covering both the
unorganized sex business and those controlled by pimps.

In Jakarta's downtown area of Mangga Besar alone, the authors
estimated a minimum turnover of Rp 1 billion a night from the sex
business.

In Surabaya, transactions in the sex business are estimated at
Rp 380 million daily. Estimates put the value of the sex industry
in Indonesia at from 0.8 percent to 2.4 percent of the total GDP.

Officially registered prostitutes in the country numbered
47,454 in 1992/93, 65,059 in 1993/94 and 71,281 in 1994/95.

According to a report Rehabilitation of Prostitutes published
by the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1994, East Java province was
the biggest supplier of prostitutes: 12,426 in 1993/94 and 14,190
in 1994/95.

Have we learned anything from a history of commercial sex
regulation? Can an improved economy, which was the case for most
of this decade before the crisis struck, check its growth?

In the concluding chapter, the authors speculate that while
demographic figures show women aged 15 to 24, the main source of
prostitutes, are not increasing significantly in their ranks, an
improved economy means the greater ability of men to buy sexual
services.

The conclusion also points out inconsistent policies -- the
calls for morality, the rejection of the Ministry of Manpower to
recognize prostitution as a job, and the taxing of the industry
by regional administrations. Meanwhile, "the absence of public
debates", partly because of the taboo nature of the subject, "are
justified in the name of stability", they write.

"But this stability has been paid by the exploitation of women
by their bosses," they add. They also raise the issue that the
pimps, backers of the industry and married men who are patrons
have received little attention from the public

Of course, the recent monetary turmoil has done much to
undermine their contention on the greater "purchasing" power of
patrons, although it follows that prostitution may well increase
in line with people's desperation.

Books like this are worthy in that they force us to look at
embarrassing truths, which promise to remain given our muddled
views on the dilemma of prostitution.

-- R. Masri Sareb Putra

The reviewer is an editor with a publishing house in Jakarta.