Dolly, Surabaya
Aug 25th, 2006, in News, by PatungThe denizens of “Dolly”, the red light district in Surabaya, East Java, are spreading the safe sex message.
Dolly was apparently named after the first, Dutch, brothel madam in the area, in colonial times. Its fame, or notoriety, has spread far and wide with Dolly sometimes being the first thing non-locals think of when they hear the name of Surabaya mentioned.
There are estimated to be about 1600 prostitutes (pekerja seks komersial (PSK)) living and working in the legal red light district of Dolly, in rather close proximity to ordinary residential neighbourhoods, with their mosques, houses, kindergartens, etc. Of these 1600 women and girls it is reported mediaindo that about 70 took part in a “jalan sehat”, or mini walkathon, on August 20th, to mark the 61st anniversary of Indonesian independence on August 17th. One of the aims of the walk, apart from paying respects to the national day, was to raise awareness of the issue of safe sex and condom usage.
The walk, beginning, perhaps rather oddly, from outside the Islamic Centre building on Jalan Dukuh Kupang Timur, wound its way through the district and into the aforesaid regular neighbourhoods, or kampungs. After the walk finished the girls offered condom packets to passers-by, packets which evidently did not actually contain the product itself, but instead a ticket for a lucky draw in which various prizes such as mobile phones and rice cookers were given away.
The “Kampanye Wajib Kondom”, or Use a Condom Campaign, began on 11th of June 2006, said a local government official.
It’s based on regional law number 5 of 2005 dealing with combating AIDS, especially in the Dolly and Jarak red light districts, which have 1600 prostitutes and which have experienced an increase in the incidence of AIDS.
(Itu didasari Perda 5 Tahun 2005 di Jatim untuk mencegah HIV/AIDS, apalagi di lokalisasi Dolly dan Jarak yang berpenghuni 1.600 PSK itu mengalami peningkatan kasus HIV/AIDS.)
About 8% of working girls in Dolly are believed to be infected with HIV this year, up from 3.2% in 2002.
One prostitute in Dolly, a girl hailing from Pandaan in East Java, said that she and all her friends supported the condom usage campaign because they were afraid of getting the dreaded disease. The problem, she said, was that many brothel patrons were loathe to use “protection”. She only “served” them and hence could not press the issue.
Article in India News of April 28th, 2007 says the working girls of Dolly have nothing much to do due to the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster causing a slow-down in business to the area. Eva Sasmito, 26, a prostitute in Dolly for almost two years says:
It has been unbelievably quiet for us these past months after the mud disaster hit. I used to get up to eight clients a night, but now even one per night is considered good, maybe a maximum three.
The mudflow has forced the main toll road between Sidoarjo and Surabaya to close many times as earth dams protecting the freeway have burst. When the toll road is open there are huge traffic jams, and as a result, sex tourists cannot get to Dolly.
In the lower-class area of Jarak, a part of Dolly where older prostitutes work, the hard times are even worse. During good times, they compete with younger girls, but after the mud disaster, there are virtually no customers for them now. indiaenews
40 Comments on “Dolly, Surabaya”
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Aprianti says:
Interesting info there, Fabian.
I am with you in term of health protection for the ‘working girls’. But the difference between prostitution and other businesses if govt want to treat them the same in term of legalization and taxes is that unlike in other jobs, most of the working girls in prostitution are not being there deliberately. Here they are the victims of poverty and failing society. Some of them are still underage and can’t make a decision for their own life, some were even sent by their parents to that place (how a parent can do this is beyond me).
Legalizing prostitution psychologically gives the brothel owners more rooms in expanding their business and more poor girls will be exploited.
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fabian says:
Well…underage prostitution, I think is against the law in every country…
Human trafficking should be punished as a crime
But, lets image a “normal” poor ,or even middle class working woman, like superarket cashiere, waitress, or factory worker..maybe she decides that in whoring she can earn 5 times more than in a normal job….and without studying…
Here, in Uruguay, and even in Argentina, a whore working in a bordello or massage parlor, if she is regularly good looking, can earn in one day the weekly salary of a supermarket cashier…Even considering that about 50 % of what the customer pays go to the massage parlor…
And becaue is an activity recognised by the state, they cant be extorted,nor can corrupt policemen ask for bribes
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“Well…underage prostitution, I think is against the law in every country…
Human trafficking should be punished as a crime”
That’s the point. Only when the law about underage prostitution and human trafficking (and the law to support alleviating poverty to start with) is truly upheld then people can start to think about legalizing prostitution. But not in Indonesia yet.
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jonsy says:
Get girlfriends instead you ugly old f*ckin c*ntrags
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bill l says:
tell me a name of a gal and i will meet her and then give my opinion and do they like older mature guys
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They like the picture of the couple of old mature guys on the the 100,000Rp note. Just tell her they are good mates of yours :-).
And see jonsy for the real classy ones apparently.
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Tom says:
Hey guys,
Have a question?
Is there a nice hotel close to Dolly’s? Not to expensive…
Thanx -
tally says:
hi i”m coming to surabaya next month , can u pl”s tell where I go and where to party and also where to find good beautfull girl”s I mad my booking in plaza hotel , i mean where to go from morning to evining .thank”s fouks
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Yatzi_Boring says:
A sad – sad place… This is where Jimmi Hendrix came up with the song “Dolly Dagger” because it was so dogy….even back then when he visited.
Comment on “Dolly, Surabaya”.
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Aprianti, in some countries it work..
They are being conned by pimps and corrupt police because it is not yet a recognized activity.
If it were a recognized activit, like any other job, maybe the owner of the brothel would charge a 30 % of each girl earnings,maybe 50 %, and from that percentage the security personnel or bouncers of the brothel should be paid, and also cleaning persons, laundry for sheets and condoms.
With the money that the girl keeps ,it must be written in a notebook, and if in one month she earns more than the tax salary base, she must pay taxes.
It doesnt only happens to whores, but also to private guards and waiters and cooks of catering services and temporal secretarys, the employee doesnt keep all his n earning, but the company keeps a percentage..
Pimping can be against the law
At least thats the system in Uruguay, where I live
I am a private guard, and I am paid about one third of what the company charges the customers….it happpens even in multinationals companys like Prosegur, ISS, Wackenhut G4S Falck…