Asia Times: Jakarta's brothel closedown sends industry underground



	December 24, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Jakarta's brothel closedown sends industry underground
By Kafil Yamin

JAKARTA - It had been teeming with people for the past 30 years, but these days the brothel compound of Kramattunggak in Jakarta is empty.

Earlier this month, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, under heavy pressure from conservative Muslim groups, ordered the compound closed. The groups are demanding all nightspots in Jakarta shut down, as well as other ''entertainment'' establishments all over the country.

Kramattunggak is the biggest sex trade spot that they have succeeded in closing so far. But while Muslim groups and some local residents are cheering, some worried observers say that the move was ill-advised.

Says Dr Endang Sedyaningsih, a medical expert at the University of Indonesia: ''Prostitution cannot be totally eliminated. With the closure of legal prostitution compounds like Kramattunggak, health officials will have difficulties in monitoring sex-related diseases or taking blood samples for HIV/AIDS.''

Kramattunggak in fact was a rehabilitation center for sex workers and had been run by the Social Department and the City Administration. Streetwalkers nabbed by the authorities were brought to the compound, where they were taught several vocational skills such as cooking, dressmaking and hairdressing.

But since they had to earn a living in the meantime, the women were allowed to ply their trade for a certain period while still inside the compound. The maximum time they were allowed to stay at Kramattunggak, which had about 1,600 women when Sutiyoso issued his order, was five years.

Karnadi, a former official of the Social Department, which was recently dissolved by the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid, says the rehabilitation program had run well. ''The closure has disrupted the program,'' he says, ''and the process of rehabilitation of sex workers [has been brought] to a halt.''

Even Women's Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansah, who is considered a devout Muslim, has expressed surprise over the shutting down of Kramattunggak. She is afraid the displaced Kramattunggak women will again become streetwalkers. The closure will only mean that the government will have a harder time ''controlling them'', she says: ''We cannot prescribe black-and-white judgement in this matter.''

Observers say the growing protests against entertainment venues can be traced largely to concerns over the rise in drug abuse. Because nightspots and other similar establishments are known as the venues of choice for drug dealers, they have become targets of public ire.

Just a week after Kramattunggak's December 8 closure, 4,000 activists from a group called the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) were apparently still not satisfied with what the Jakarta government had done and decided to act on their own to ''clean up'' society. They broke into City Hall and occupied it for the rest of the day, paralyzing the city administration's activities.

Other protesters have been more destructive. In Tangerang, some 30km west of Jakarta, 17 brothels were set on fire the day Kramattunggak shut down. Earlier, in Bekasi, east of the capital, two prostitution compounds were also burned down while angry mobs destroyed hotels, restaurants and dimly-lit cafes that were known as sex spots.

Thousands of students from pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) have also launched their own ''anti-evil'' campaign in Tasikmalaya and Ciamis, two small owns in the eastern part of West Java, where they have seized alcoholic beverages from shops and attacked entertainment establishments.

In most of these instances, the police have done nothing. According to some observers, this may be because the authorities do not want to be seen defending indecent or ''sinful'' operations. Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said during his announcement of Kramattunggak's closure: ''Make this closure a signal from God. We are reminded that this is wrong and we should go back to the right path.''

But there are those who are unsure that the right steps are being taken regarding the sex trade. Says psychiatrist Kartono Muhamad: ''If the government is concerned with the escalation of free sex among youths, the closure (of Kramattunggak) will give a boost to it because sex workers will [continue their trade] illegally on the streets.'' What the government has done, he says, is merely ''marginalize'' and ''displace'' the sex workers.

Women's rights activist Nursyahbani Katjasungkana says sex workers will now have a much harder time on the streets and elsewhere. ''They become highly vulnerable to violence,'' she says, noting as well that there is really ''no law protecting them''.

As it is, there is little awaiting the sex workers in their home towns, where local governments are also under pressure from the public against prostitution. In Indramayu, one of the largest ''suppliers'' of sex workers, local police chief Lieut Col Bambang Wasgito has made it clear that returning sex workers cannot ply their trade in his territory. ''It is their right to return home, but we will act harshly against those who practice their old jobs here,'' he says.

Such words make Yanti, a sex worker from Kramattunggak, pause while loading two cars with all her belongings. Yanti has rented the cars for her trip back to Indramayu, some 35km away. She asks, ''If I get a hard time in my home town, tell me, where am I supposed to go?''

As for Asih, another sex worker displaced by Kramattunggak's closure, going home has not even crossed her mind. Says the 26-year-old: ''What do you think I can do in my village? I have a son, younger sisters and brothers as well as parents whom I have to feed. In my village, I have nothing.'' She is determined to stay in Jakarta. ''I will try to find another job,'' Asih says. ''But for now, the most possible job is sex.''

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.