The first money is small and goes directly to the new recruit to buy clothes, make-up and a trip to the "magic man", or dukun. The rest of the model is unchanged: girls are still pressed to take loans, which are then used as a tool by the pimps and madams, who are all called Mami, to keep them loyal. Middlemen still play a role behind the scenes, but if the first suggestion of a career in prostitution is made to a new girl by her friend, the real traffickers can plausibly deny their involvement. But the industry adapted, and these days many young Indramayu girls are recruited by their friends, says Sukim, a former pimp who now works at Yayasan Kusuma Bongas, a non-government organisation devoted to fighting the recruitment of sex workers.
In 2007, Indonesia banned the traffic in girls under 18. Though this course of action is so common that there is very little stigma, officially it's frowned upon. "But the most important thing is that she did it for the family."įor perhaps 30 years Indramayu has been exporting its daughters, from the age of 15 or 16 up, to brothels across Indonesia. "She chose the job it was her own choice," he says as Nur'Asiah looks on impassively. Her grandfather, Dasmin, a beneficiary of the house renovation, is comfortable with what has happened. Indramayu has become the region that sells its daughters.
They know that, if it becomes necessary in the future, she'll be able to support her whole family. Not every girl here becomes a sex worker, but again and again in these villages we hear the same story: when an Indramayu family has a baby girl, they celebrate. "They are like a cash cow, but they need to work hard," Son says.Ī disproportionate number of Indonesia's prostitutes come from this one small cluster of villages in West Java. The parents would get a loan and their daughter would pay it back with her labour, usually over 2 to 3 years. Son would then tell the parents if their desires were realistic: "A pimp can see if the girl is pretty enough, how many guests she will get per night. "If a family wanted to sell their girl, they'd usually come to me and say, 'Can you help my daughter? Can you take her?' 'Okay, what do you want?' I'd say. "Cash cows": Nur'Asiah, a sex worker in her room in Indramayu, West Java.
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