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?