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Batam Police go to war against online prostitution
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In high demand -- Police officers display several pieces of evidence they obtained in a raid against online prostitution networks in Jakarta recently. (Tempo/-)
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recent operation by the Batam, Rempang and Galang (Barelang) Police have highlighted the extent of an issue afflicting those areas, namely online prostitution.
The Barelang Police arrested 10 women allegedly involved in online prostitution activity, which offered commercial sex services via the Internet. The police also named three people suspects in the case.
The Barelang Police’s head of crime and investigations unit, Comr. Memo Ardian said the online prostitution was discovered following their investigation into the growing problem of sex services offered on the internet, one of which was on the Cewek Panggilan Batam (Batam Call Girls) site. A number of suggestive pictures of women, which contained pornographic elements, were displayed on the site.
“The police’s information and technology team then tracked down the whereabouts of the site and it was found that it operated in Batam,” said Memo. The police carried out the arrests on April 25, he added.
Memo said the 10 young women arrested were commercial sex workers operating online while the three other people named suspects allegedly played roles as cashier, procuress and broker in the business.
“We will investigate consumers of their sex services. We have got phone numbers from their books,” said Memo.
The police chief further revealed the online prostitution operators received orders from their customers, who were mostly Singaporean and Malaysian residents and other visitors, by phone. Most of the customers knew what services were offered on the site, he said.
It was further revealed that after reaching an agreement with the procuress on the type of prostitute they wanted and their prices, the customers would arrange a meeting venue to which the prostitutes would be brought.
The online prostitutes were offered at various prices, starting from Rp 500,000 (US$37.89) for short time and Rp 1.5 million for a whole-day booking.
“Most of their customers are residents of our neighboring countries and other outsiders. We are still investigating the case,” said Memo.
He said the suspects would be charged with violating the Criminal Code on prostitution and Law No.11/2008 on electronic information and transactions (ITE).
An NGO activist concerned with women and children’s protection, Retno Permatasari, welcomed the police’s actions against online prostitution in Batam.
“We hope the measures can be taken against not only one site but also against all online prostitution businesses currently operating. We’ve seen it [online prostitution] take place in more than one place,” said Retno.
She said the majority of customers using the online prostitution services were men from Singapore and Malaysia, who spent their weekend in Batam.
“The commercial sexual workers are organized by prostitution groups but some of them offer themselves individually via social media,” said Retno. (ebf)
