Yogyakarta's sex workers start tightening their belt
Yogyakarta's sex workers start tightening their belt
By Gin Kurniawan
YOGYAKARTA (JP): In their golden era, that sparkled until the
middle of last year, sex workers in this city and its environs
could regularly buy new clothes, cosmetics and related
accessories.
The most successful ones could even treat friends at discos,
pubs or cafes on weekends.
But the country's serious economic and political problems have
tarnished all their fun.
"It's good enough for us if we can mail money to our children
in the kampong," said 25-year-old Santi (not her real name), who
offers her services at a brothel in Sosrowijayan.
The reform movement, as many people put it, has not only led
to the number of prostitutes mushrooming in the past few months
in this area.
The public's desire for reform, which was buried for 32 years
under Soeharto's regime, has resulted in many sex workers being
forced to leave their usual locations as mobs no longer tolerate
their existence.
In Klaten regency, 30 kilometers from here, a localized
brothel complex was closed recently by the local authorities
under the pressure of local residents.
A similar complex called Sanggrahan in Yogyakarta, managed by
the authorities, was sealed last December.
Last month, angry mobs set ablaze an "official" prostitution
complex in Purworejo regency, 60 kilometers from here.
The news might delight those who claim to be moralists
campaigning that the absence of such complexes would prevent
people committing sins.
But it seems they have forgotten that the locked red-light
districts were home to hundreds of sex workers, pimps and brothel
owners.
The complexes' closure leaves the authorities with another
complicated dilemma.
Streets and hotels have now become popular sites for the newly
peripatetic hookers.
It is believed that legions of prostitutes are now prowling
Yogyakarta's streets and hotels, ranging from motels to five-star
hotels, a stone's throw from the respected Sultan's home.
AIDS campaigners and local officers are worried that the
streetwalkers' presence could spark an HIV explosion.
"Yogyakarta has recently become a popular destination for sex
workers whose complexes have been cleared away," Walujo, the head
of the rehabilitation service of the Yogyakarta Social Affairs
Agency, said.
For instance, Sosrowijayan, widely known as an illegal red-
light district, has recently witnessed a significant increase in
the number of prostitutes.
According to Titin Rejeki, a volunteer for Griya Lentera, a
non-governmental organization campaigning to stop AIDS and HIV,
the number of sex workers at Sosrowijayan has doubled from the
300 women listed before the crisis.
"The number," she said, "excludes those who are under the
control of pimps and those on the streets."
Three years ago, the local branch office of the Indonesian
Association for Family Planners revealed that Yogyakarta was home
to some 1,000 sex workers.
Many strongly believe the figure is now three times higher
than the 1995 data.
As a result, Titin said, their number is not in line with the
market demands.
"Previously, a prostitute could lure an average of three
clients per night but now they are lucky to get a single man.
"Some cannot even get a single client in three days," Titin
added.
Besides the drastic decline in clients, hookers in the
Sosrowijayan red-light district also worry about their future as
the area has recently been invaded at least three times by mobs
who want the area to be cleansed of prostitution.
Some of the sex workers have even secured their valuables,
such as jewelry and TV sets.
"We have to save our jewelry by sending it to our hometowns,"
said Ani from Sidoardjo, East Java.
An increasing number, unable to face the pressures, have
decided to go back to their hometowns or return to their previous
professions, such as factory workers, said Titin.
But, are there still factories that need workers during this
time of hardship?