A

ctivist Ciptasari Purbawanti has the scene below in her mind.

A regular sex customer visits a red-light district. All of a sudden, the pimps who run the area block his way, saying, "You can come in only if you use this," and dangle condoms from their sledgehammer fists.

Ciptasari says her institution, Family Health International (FHI), has long tried to make condom use mandatory in sex transactions.

"We've been successful in conducting such programs in three places in other provinces, but not in Jakarta," says Ciptasari, the FHI Indonesia behavioral-change intervention unit head.

She adds condom use in red-light districts is urgently needed to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

A 2007 survey on female sex workers by the National AIDS Commission confirms her concerns.

The survey divides sex workers into two categories: direct sex workers (women working in red-light districts or on the streets) and indirect sex workers (women working in karaoke bars and massage parlors).

The survey found 10.8 percent of Jakarta's direct sex workers had HIV/AIDS, while 60 percent had some other STIs.

Among indirect sex workers, the HIV/AIDS prevalence was 5.7 percent, and 39 percent for other STIs.

Ciptasari said the high rate of STIs was due to the sex workers' lack of knowledge about the issue.

The survey found 53 percent of direct and 49 percent of indirect sex workers in Jakarta did not know that condoms could help prevent HIV/AIDS transmission.

"If you dig deeper, you find their lack of knowledge and vulnerability to STIs are due to their weak position," Ciptasari says.

"Sex workers have the lowest status in their workplaces, and most stakeholders don't think about how to protect them from STIs.

"In many cases, sex workers who do know about HIV/AIDS ask their clients to use condoms, but the clients refuse," she goes on.

"Without the support of their pimps, the workers mostly just comply with the customers' demands *to not use a condom*."

The 2007 survey also backs her claims, reporting that only 2 percent of direct and 34 percent of indirect sex workers were able to persuade their clients to use condoms.

Only 33 percent of direct and 23 percent of indirect sex workers got monthly heath checks.

FHI says society pays a high price for not protecting sex workers: with an estimated 39,000 sex workers in the city in 2006, direct sex workers served six to 13 clients a week and indirect ones served three to nine.

"Raising sex workers' awareness is important, but encouraging other people involved in sex transactions is even more important," Ciptasari says.

"Clients will use condoms if all stakeholders make condom use a prerequisite for a sex transaction.

"The NGOs funded by FHI always try to explain the importance of condom use to all stakeholders, especially to the pimps who control the places," she adds.

Putri Mandiri Foundation chairwoman Ayu says stakeholders in red-light districts have begun to realize that preventing STIs through condom use is good for their business.

"They know that sex customers are unlikely to go to a place where they've caught an STI," she point out.

Ayu, who worked in a red-light district in North Jakarta since 1997, says her organization has succeeded in making condom use in the area mandatory.

"Sex workers here can reject customers who refuse to wear a condom," she says, adding there are more than 1,000 sex workers in the area.

"Sixty percent are permanent sex workers, and my organization has been able to encourage them to use condoms," Ayu says.

"In my area, the madams instruct their workers to get checked for STIs. The pimps care, but they don't mind if their workers get the checkups.

"But the other 40 percent are freelance sex workers," she goes on.

"They're young, usually between 18 and 19. They often move away, and Putri Mandiri hasn't been able to locate all of them. I've only been able to meet and educate some of them."

Ciptasari agrees it is harder to reach the mobile sex workers. She adds the tendency for local administrations to close down red-light districts has only added to the number of mobile sex workers.