Surprisingly, sexual services are not advertised through specific adult sites. Prostitutes, pimps and mafias use mainstream websites and apps like Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, BeeTalk, Instagram, Badoo or Tinder. If you are using any of these, you have probably noticed that there are more and more profiles of prostitutes, to the point that it can ruin the experience for "normal" users.
This is the case on WeChat. They have an interesting feature called "Look Around" that can be used to meet people near you. In Indonesia, it has been completely hijacked by organized online prostitution. As soon as you turn it on, you'll receive chat requests from various "spas" and "massage girls" offering to visit you in your room 24/7. You can barely see normal people anymore.
On the dating app Badoo, it has become very difficult to meet girls who are not looking for money, directly or indirectly. They rarely mention openly that they are prostitutes but they will often say in their profiles things like: "Butuh uang (need money)", "Tidak suka cowok pelit (I don't like stingy guy), "I like shopping", etc.
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| Typical "soft" prostitution profile on Badoo ("I like generous guys who can make me happy") |
Some are more straight-forward and will write: "Open for BO (Booking Out) to your hotel for LT /ST (Long Time/Short Time).
In this case, it is likely that the person behind the profile is a pimp and not the actual girl. It's only after you agree to a transaction and pay a down payment (DP) that he will contact the girl, pick her up, and bring her to your place. In some cases, the girls have a hotel room or an apartment where they can meet customers. Kalibata City is famous for having many apartments used entirely for online prostitution.
On Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, prostitutes can easily be found using some specific hashtags such as #bokingcewek, #wanitabayaran, #cewekbispak and many more. Those looking for girls in a specific location will add a city name, for instance: #bispaksurabaya (bispak means "bisa pakai" = "can be used"). For any of these keywords, hundreds of girls profiles will show up.
They manage their fan pages in a professional way, teasing their fans with pictures and exclusive videos, posting screenshots of clients bank transfers, giving information about their whereabout and their availability.
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| A girl post the proof of bank transfer from a client and informs she has 2 slots available |
Some will also do packages and promotions, just like any real, well-organized massage parlour, spa or bordello. On Twitter, Riri Manja 28 does a phone sex promotion for April for instance:
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| Phone sex promotion from a girl on twitter |
Prostitutes and their pimps rely also on Whatsapp, Line and BlackBerry Messenger to communicate with clients and set up meeting locations and time.
Recently, some bigger groups have emerged, managing several girls at once. For instance, the Silvi Group that operates on instagram has a network of girls in Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Palembang. Go Crot operates on twitter, managing dozens of girls in Surabaya.
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| Advertising for Silvi Group on Instagram |
The Police has made very few arrests so far. It is probably impossible for them to stop this trend as both the demand and offer for prostitution is so high in Indonesia.
Considering this though, I wonder if it is a smart move for the Government to go ahead with its plan to close down all red-light districts by 2019. We see that the sex trade will just move from the streets to the virtual world.
Are the girls safer online? Wouldn't it better, as Ahok suggested, to legalize prostitution and to organize it in dedicated spaces? This could make the job easier for the Government and NGOs to protect sex workers from abuse/violence and to give them counseling and regular medical check-ups.
Considering this though, I wonder if it is a smart move for the Government to go ahead with its plan to close down all red-light districts by 2019. We see that the sex trade will just move from the streets to the virtual world.
Are the girls safer online? Wouldn't it better, as Ahok suggested, to legalize prostitution and to organize it in dedicated spaces? This could make the job easier for the Government and NGOs to protect sex workers from abuse/violence and to give them counseling and regular medical check-ups.