Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Female sex workers are often blamed for the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but in reality many of them become champions of safe sex by encouraging patrons to use condoms, sometimes at the risk of physical abuse.
Erry (not her real name), a female sex worker at a nightspot in Tamansari, West Jakarta, said she asked all her clients to use condoms. The establishment she works in also features several stickers in each room promoting condom use.
However, she added, not all patrons agreed to the request, some even got violent. "Sometimes they are in a rush, and other times they say they are clean so they don't need to use a condom. Then I say that they may be clean, but I am not, and I can infect you," the 24-year-old said.
If the client still refused to use a condom, Erry said, she would leave the room. However, sometimes the clients hit the girls.
Erry's colleague "Tari" was beaten by a client for asking him to use a condom. "In the end I complied so he would stop beating me," the 18- year-old said.
Nafsiah Mboi, the secretary-general of the National Commission on HIV/AIDS Prevention said condom usage among high-risk groups in Indonesia remained low because men were reluctant to use them.
To achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, 65 percent of high-risk people in Indonesia should use condoms, the commission said. Recent statistics showed that condom usage in Indonesia only reached 30 percent of high-risk people.
"There are several regional administrations that issued a bylaw requiring sex workers to promote condoms to their clients. But the law enforcement is weak. It is the same case across most of Asia, except in Japan," she said.
The commission said male clients who refused to use condoms posed a danger to their spouses. Estimates of the spread of HIV/AIDS from 2000 to 2025 show that male clients and their spouses were the two groups experiencing the fastest growth rate of HIV/AIDS because husbands and wives rarely use condoms during intercourse.
To increase the use of condoms, the commission has been conducting HIV/AIDS campaign programs in key communities. The programs includes distributing condoms, stickers and leaflets on the importance of condom use. Ajianto Dwi Nugroho, the commission's media specialist, said the commission worked with high-risk groups to get their feedback.
"We asked the sex workers if they could understand the leaflets, if we needed to change the typeface or colors. We also designed the leaflet to be foldable so clients could carry it in their pocket to read later," he said.
Jhon Everson, the manager of a nightspot, said he welcomed the campaign as he understood the severity of the HIV/AIDS situation in Indonesia. He said he learned about HIV/AIDS in 2004 when an NGO came to the area and disseminated information on the disease.
Jhon said his company provided condoms for the sex workers. "We also work with an NGO to give the girls regular health checks. If one of our girls falls ill, we give her a few days off and she seeks medical help," he said.
Jhon also agreed to leave leaflets in the hands of his workers, who will distribute the leaflets each client. The leaflet contains 12 facts, debunking myths surrounding condom use, including fears that using condoms reduces virility and that condoms have pores, and are thus not reliable protection.
He admitted that the campaign had not spread to all high-risk groups because nightspots were profit-oriented, and any activity that could reduce income would be avoided. "Also, most businessmen are afraid of being found out or being caught in police raids. Of around 100 entertainment spots here, only 50 will run the HIV/AIDS campaign," Jhon said.
In 2004, the commission said there were 2,682 HIV/AIDS cases. As of June 2010, there were 68,927 HIV-positive people and 21,770 others had contracted AIDS. As the number of cases continues to rise, the number of women getting infected is also increasing.
The Health Ministry said that as of December 2009, 3,525 women had HIV/AIDS, among them 1,970 housewives and 604 female sex workers. In 1989, only 2.5 percent of people with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia were women, a figure that had shot up to 25.5 percent by 2009.