REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government has set a target to close down the remaining 43 prostitution centers, Social Affairs Minister Idrus Marham stated here on Thursday. Marham said the effort was done to free Indonesia from red light districts by next year
"There are still 43 prostitution centers left, and we will tackle them together," he noted, after opening a national coordination meeting on prostitution and closure of prostitution centers.
He added that there have so far been a total of 168 prostitution centers, employing around 40 thousand sex workers, in 24 provinces and 76 districts/cities. He noted that a target has been set for the closure of the rest 43 by 2019.
He remarked that his office would provide Rp25 thousand per day for 90 days for each of the sex workers to live, following the closure of their workplace.
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They will also be given Rp3 million to start a business, he added.
The former sex workers will also be given vocational training to prepare for their future livelihood, the minister revealed, while referring to what has been done in Dolly, a former red light district in Surabaya, East Java, which has now been changed into creative houses to assure the owners' livelihood.
"They (former sex workers) have returned to their home villages, after they were given capital to start a business and were assured of their honor, health, and future. The most important thing is rebuilding their respect as human beings. Prostitution is slavery and part of human trafficking," Marham explained.
He said he would also propose extending the livelihood aid from 90 days to six months.
The Director of Social Rehabilitation of Social-ills and Human Trafficking Victims, Sonny W Manalu, revealed that it was possible to increase the aid based on certain mechanisms.
"Certainly, we will not give it altogether, but we may give it in stages; for example, once in three months upon evaluation," he elaborated.
Manalu added that the remaining 43 red light districts are in 25 districts and 14 provinces.
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