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abriella, 19, a shop attendant at Kalibata City apartment complex in South Jakarta, is used to the sight of young women her age wandering around the buildings.

They are usually not alone, often seen cuddling or holding hands with older men.

“This is very common, seriously,” she told The Jakarta Post. Throughout her workday, she sits and stares outside, guessing who among those passing by are one of “the girls”. Gabriella knows the girls’ schedule. They usually do not come out until after sunset, waiting around food stalls, in the little gardens located near a square in the middle of the apartment towers.

“But lately they mostly come out after midnight,” she said.

Though the sight of them makes her uneasy, she has grown used to seeing them.

Kalibata City is notorious for prostitution involving young women.

The Jakarta Police conducted on Wednesday a raid on the 18-tower apartment complex. In 17 apartments in five towers, police arrested 32 suspected prostitutes, six of whom were aged below 18 years old. They are suspected of booking clients through chat applications such as BeeTalk, WeChat and WhatsApp.

It is the fifth case in the past few months. In some of the cases, the girls offered their services
independently.

In March, a woman identified only as NYM, 32, was arrested for allegedly working as a prostitute and pornographic content provider.

Ai Maryati Solihah, a commissioner at the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) overseeing the trafficking and exploitation division, has urged the authorities to put an end to the rampant prostitution.

Following a meeting with the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry and residents of the apartment complex, who were also concerned about the situation, she said a plan to step up preventive measures had emerged.

The institutions plan to establish a joint community watch to identify suspicious people involved in alleged prostitution and to build a women and children’s protection center, where police and psychologists would be on standby to provide services to residents.

“Especially underage sex workers. They will receive counseling from psychologists,”she said.

A representative from the Kalibata City residents association, Wenwen, said residents supported the KPAI’s plan.

“If this [prostitution] continues, it will be uncomfortable for us to live here,” Wenwen said.

“We have families and there are a lot little children here.”

Separately, Kalibata City general manager Ishak Lopung said the apartment complex’s management would resort to firing “the property agent that offered daily rentals to irresponsible parties”.

He added that management would also conduct a raid to check the data of those who resided in each apartment. “If [the alleged prostitution] is proven, they will be cast out,” he said. (stu)