Amir Tejo – Surabaya is famous, or infamous, for having the largest prostitution complex in Southeast Asia, a distinction the local government would rather not have.
In fact, officials have tried just about everything to reduce the number of sex workers strutting around the city. They have arrested prostitutes for solicitation, sent them back to their hometowns and provided them with job skills so they could earn a living without having to sell their bodies.
But all of these efforts have failed to curb the problem. So now the local administration is turning to the power of prayer, providing sex workers with spiritual guidance in the hope that they will see the error of their ways.
Some 3,400 sex workers, pimps and members of the general public on Tuesday gathered for a mass prayer at Surya Park. The event was organized by the city's Social Affairs Agency, with the aim of curbing prostitution. Sex workers from six red-light districts arrived in buses provided by the local administration. And while they would normally wear revealing outfits, on Tuesday the sex workers, many of them middle-aged, were modestly dressed.
The event, titled "The Beauty of Penance: Counseling and Prayers with the Ladies of Hope," featured well-known Islamic preacher Zainuddin MZ and dangdut star Rhoma Irama.
The sex workers seemed enthusiastic about the event, particularly the prospect of seeing Rhoma Irama perform. "Not only can I get a spiritual reward, but I get to see Bang Haji [as Rhoma Irama is known]," said one sex worker.
The Surabaya administration claims it is having some success in reducing the number of sex workers in the city.
Eko Hariyanto, chief of the Surabaya Social Affairs Agency, said there were 7,000 sex workers in the city in 2003, compared to just under 3,500 today. Eko said this was possibly the result of "routine shakedowns," or raids, and the enforcement of existing regulations.
These include the shutting down of nightspots before the fasting month of Ramadan and after the Idul Fitri celebrations, followed by warnings that new sex workers entering the city's red-light districts would be sent back to their hometowns.
But the decline in the number of sex workers in the city's red-light districts raises the question of whether more prostitutes are working outside the districts.
"This is a danger that could go undetected by the local administration," said Bagong Suyanto, a social scientist at Airlangga University in Surabaya.
Bagong also said it was difficult for sex workers to leave that life because their pimps often threatened or blackmailed them. In the meantime, local officials will continue their efforts to clean up Surabaya's reputation.