Women trafficking rampant, law enforcement weak

Women trafficking rampant, law enforcement weak

JAKARTA (JP): Trafficking in women is rampant here due to
inadequate legal instruments and weak law enforcement, a
researcher said on Thursday.

Johnna Debora Imelda, a University of Indonesia scholar who
has carried out research related to this issue, said that many
criminals involved in the offense were untouched by the law,
despite what they had done.

"Instead, the police usually charged the victims with engaging
in prostitution," Johanna, who is a lecturer at the School of
Social and Political Sciences, told The Jakarta Post over the
telephone.

Johanna pointed to a number of raids by the police related to
trafficking in women, but the masterminds were never sent to
court.

The latest case occurred here on Tuesday night, when the
police arrested three suspects for allegedly trafficking in
women.

A total of 17 victims had been deployed as prostitutes in
Cempaka Bar, which belonged to one of the suspects.

The police found out about the case after one of the victims
escaped from the bar and filed a report on Sunday.

Johanna said that her research on human trafficking in
Jakarta, Medan, Batam, and Bali last year showed that most
victims had been sold as prostitutes and domestic workers, while
the rest had been used to distribute drugs. Most of the victims
were women under 18 years old.

"The practice of trafficking in women has continued as it is
highly profitable. The organizers do not have to provide any
capital but they reap large profits," she remarked.

There is no precise data on when it started. However, human
trafficking has been going on for years, according to Johanna.

Poverty, low levels of education and early marriage were
identified as some of the major factors behind trafficking in
women. Most victims usually came from poor villages around the
country, particularly in Java, and migrated to large urban areas
like Jakarta in search of a better life.

According to Johanna, most victims were ensnared by criminals
who offered them jobs as laborers. However, there was also the
possibility that their parents, driven by poverty, might have
sold them to the culprits.

Marriage

She also suspected that in some cases, the criminals tricked
young women from remote villages into marriage in order to sell
them subsequently.

Most of their buyers were pimps who needed sex workers for
their brothels. Once the victims had entered the brothels, it
would have been difficult for them to run away, as the pimps
guarded them closely, she said.

Johanna also said that in several cases, the buyers were
pedophiles, as has occurred in many examples in Bali.

Many of the victims often continued to work as sex workers,
even if they had been released by their pimps, as they felt that
they did not deserve a better job.

Ironically, people here do not consider trafficking in women
to be a big problem.

"People are not responsive to the problem," Johanna said.

Only a few non-governmental organizations are concerned with
the issue, she said, adding that they have called upon the
government to provide legal protection for the victims by
proposing legislation on the matter.(04)