Deputy governor unwavering on plan to legalize prostitution

Friday, November 23, 2007

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Bali Deputy Governor Alit Kesuma Kelakan has said he will push ahead
with plans to recognize and provide support to prostitutes in an attempt
to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS on the island, despite objections from
Governor Dewa Made Beratha.

Kelakan's plan involves declaring known prostitution zones safe from
persecution in order to encourage the women to access health services.
"Approved or not, I will go ahead with the program," Kelakan said.
Kelakan, who is chairman of the Bali chapter of the National AIDS
Commission (KPAD Bali), said he believed such policy a would enable
health-related agencies to better identify and reach HIV/AIDS high-risk
groups to curb the spread of the virus through sexual contact.

KPAD Bali data show that more than half of the island's HIV/AIDS
patients were infected with the virus through sexual contact.
According to the Kerti Praja Foundation, an organization working on
HIV/AIDS prevention in the island, Bali has around 8,800 sex workers
with a customer base of around 85,000.

Research by the foundation in 2006 also found that 14 percent of sex
workers in Bali are infected with the virus.

In a plenary meeting with the Bali Regional Legislative Council earlier
this month, Beratha firmly rejected Kelakan's proposal. He said that the
policy of acknowledging and accepting the prostitution areas would
suggest that the practice of prostitution has been legalized.
He said this was clearly in opposition to Bali's religious teachings,
customs and culture.

The Indonesian Criminal Code states that prostitution is illegal.
However, commercial sex workers are common in tourist areas of Bali such
as Sanur and Kuta.

Kelakan has said that law enforcement has been ineffective in stopping
the practice, which stems from more complex issues of poverty, poor
education and unemployment.

He policy suggestion has also met with resistance from legislators and
the Indonesian Hindu Council. The Council of Customary Villages
initially objected to the plan but later accepted it.

Kelakan said that KPAD Bali will carry out strict supervision programs
at known prostitution areas in a number of regencies, including the
regular monitoring of sex workers' health.

"KPAD and other non-governmental organizations have already carried out
campaign programs for sex workers, so without the government
implementing the program in its budget, KPAD's and the NGOs' programs
would still go on. However, it would only be partial (in its coverage
and impact). It would not be a systemized program and would certainly
not be a sustainable one. What we need is a sustainable program
supported by the government," he said.

Kelakan said that positive developments had been seen in Badung regency,
where the government and local council there were deliberating a bill on
HIV/AIDS prevention that would make it mandatory for owners of
entertainment places to educate their employees on HIV/AIDS and to
routinely check their employees' health status in relation to sexually
transmitted disease.

KPAD has estimated that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS on the
island exceed 4,000 as of August this year.

Head of Kerti Praja Nyoman Wirawan gave the "very conservative"
estimation that 840 men in Bali will contract the virus this year
through sexual contact with HIV-positive sex workers, with the
assumption that there are only 3,000 sex workers in Bali, with one
customer per day, working 250 days per year.

The estimate doesn't account for other potential infected people, such
as the sexual partners of customers and the babies of pregnant
HIV-positive- mothers.

"Imagine Bali in 10 to 20 years. If we don't do anything there will be a
lost generation of Balinese due to HIV/AIDS. The government is nothing
but a hypocrite if it does not try to do anything about this," he said.