In this photograph taken on May 3, 2014, Indonesian sex workers cover their faces as military police accompanied by journalists conduct patrols to prevent soldiers and police from patronizing Surabaya city’s red light district, which had been largely been left alone by authorities for decades. (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)
Authorities in Bogor, West Java, said they will launch street patrols and raids in the district over the next few weeks to prevent an influx of commercial sex workers from Southeast Asia’s biggest red-light districts, Dolly and Jarak in Surabaya, East Java, which were closed down on Wednesday night.
Luthfi Syam, head of the Public Order Agency (Satpol) in Bogor, said patrols and raids will be conducted in the area regularly.
“We will carry out raids and patrols in areas such as Parung, Limusnunggal and Cisarua-Puncak to prevent an influx of sex workers leaving the Dolly red light district in Surabaya after its closure,” he said.
Luthfi said monitoring will take place twice a week and that he will deploy around 60 Satpol officers to check residents and carry out medical tests.
“We will check citizen’s identity cards to detect newcomers who rented rooms and also carry out medical examinations in those areas,” he said.
The Bogor administration dismantled dozens of permanent and semi-permanent buildings home to hundreds of sex workers in Limusnunggal last February.
Even though Limusnunggal, Parung and Cisarua-Puncak have been cleared of prostitution, Luthfi acknowledged that several sex workers were still operating in the area discreetly.
Batam
Riki Syolihin, chairman of Commission IV of the Batam Regional Council in the Riau Islands province, also warned the city administration to anticipate an influx of sex workers and pimps from Surabaya to Batam.
“Based on information the Surabaya Social Agency received from pimps, Batam will be the next destination for former Dolly sex workers. Aside from Batam, Jakarta and Bali will be targeted,” Riki was quoted as saying by Antara News on Wednesday.
“The Batam city administration has to take preventative measures similar to what Bali has done. Bali has carried out raids to stop former Dolly residents from entering the province,” he said.
Batam also has several red light districts, with brothels operating openly in some, while others operate under cover of being legitimate businesses.
Riki said the increasing number of sex workers in the area is not just a moral issue but that it would also increase the risk of communicable diseases and the dreaded virus that causes HIV/AIDS.
Last year, the Batam AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) recorded 54 AIDS deaths on the island. The total number of people who suffered from HIV/AIDS increased to 198 last year, comprising 106 females and 92 males.
The number of new HIV carriers in Batam reach 577 people, consisting of 287 females and 290 males.
The Surabaya city administration officially closed the Dolly and Jarak red-light districts on Wednesday night in a ceremony attended by Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri, East Java Governor Soekarwo, Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, members of the Surabaya Legislative Council, the East Java Police chief, sex workers, pimps, and Dolly residents.
“We only have to maintain something positive, if it’s not positive, then there’s no need to keep it,” the social affairs minister said.
Salim expressed his appreciation to officials who made the closure of Dolly and Jarak possible and said the ministry will work with the city administration to overcome the problem.
Governor Soekarwo said people have to look for decent jobs to make a living.
“This is a humanity program, that’s why we approved the mayor’s request to [close down] Dolly. The government will not ignore its people. It’s true that their income used to be bigger and it’s lesser now because of the closure,” he said.
Sex workers will be returned to their respective hometowns and the East Java administration has coordinated with the district heads and mayors in the province.
The provincial government has also allocated a regional budget to help the sex workers get a new job or to start up a small business.
The Ministry of Social Affairs offered social aid of Rp 7 billion ($580,000) and the East Java governor offered Rp 1.5 billion to be distributed to the sex workers and local residents affected by the closure of the red-light districts.
The city reportedly provided 650 sex workers with training in cooking, hairdressing and other skills between 2010 and 2013. Some even received capital of Rp 3 million to start small business.
By Vento Saudale on 12:55 pm Jun 21, 2014
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