Jakarta – Hundreds of sex workers at Gang Dolly protested on Wednesday the Surabaya administration's plan to close the city's red light district after dusk.
Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini has set the time for the closure for at 8 p.m. Sex workers and some locals blocked the road entryway to Gang Dolly, which caused heavy traffic. The protesters shouted and thumped kitchen utensils to music.
"Sex workers cannot be defeated, the people cannot be defeated. We reject the Dolly shutdown. It is our work field," said Lita, a sex worker, as quoted by newsportal Kompas.com.
The protesters included pimps and workers joined the rally in black attire, a symbol to the somber mood of the impending closure.
Gang Dolly is Southeast Asia's largest red light district, which has been operating openly for decades. Rismaharini had strongly voiced her plan to shutter the area, which has almost 1,500 sex workers and 300 pimps. The city, in addition to providing financial assistance, has also prepared for the workers to be in other forms of employment.
Surabaya spokesman M. Fikser was quoted as saying by Detik.com that the city administration will provide compensation of Rp 5.05 million ($429) to each woman displaced from work because of the shutdown. That includes Rp 3 million as capital to open a business, Rp 1.8 million for three-month stipends and Rp 250,000 for transportation fees for them to return to their hometowns.
The pimps will also get Rp 5 million each, to be allocated by the East Java provincial administration. The Ministry of Social Affairs has set aside a budget of Rp 8 billion for the sex workers.
Additionally, the Surabaya administration has allocated Rp 16 billion to buy the guesthouses in the area and transform them into public facilities centers.
Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al-jufri will attend the declaration of the shutdown on Wednesday night at Surabaya Islamic Center, where he will distribute funds symbolically.