Chapter 3 - Policy Examination of the Socio-economic Root Causes of Sex Work

Summary

ABSTRACT

This chapter emphasizes the discussion of the socio-economic construction of prostitution. I rationalize how the encounter of poverty, a lack of informal and formal social control, a lack of positive socialization, peer influence, the existence of cultural deviance and an insufficiency of education opportunities all render disadvantaged Indonesian women and children exposed to a disproportionately high risk of engagement in commercial sex. I, upon unveiling how commercial sex activities are socio-economically constructed and identifying existing relevant socio-economic policy gaps, suggest how disadvantaged populations at higher risks of engaging in commercial sex can be empowered in order to gain a fairer share of opportunities to follow the conventional, legal and morally acceptable route to enter the labour market.

INTRODUCTION

This chapter highlights seven major socio-economic root causes of commercial sex engagement. These are poverty, informal social control, formal social control, a lack of positive socialization, peer influence, cultural deviance and a shortage of education opportunities. The chapter follows by assessing policy development and suggesting policy recommendations that are conducive to mitigating, attenuating and even eradicating these socio-economic root causes of, underage or not, sex work. Understanding the socio-economic root causes of sex work in Indonesian contexts serves as the foundation of the development of Chapter 5, where I will visit Indonesia's anti-extramarital sex law and argue how such criminalization is associated with the country's tolerance of and response to prostitution.

POVERTY

Like other developing Southeast Asian countries, poverty, in both urban and rural forms, has been known as a pressing societal issue that disproportionately affects the vulnerability of people with socio-economic disadvantages in Indonesia (Riswanda, Mills, and Nantes 2017). In this section, I explain how poverty results in the proliferation of prostitution and sex trafficking in Indonesia.

In Indonesia, especially in urban slums and remote, impoverished and rural communities, residents have been subject to significant impacts of poverty (Minnery et al. 2013). Here these residents living in poverty usually face a shortage of basic necessities, including education, food and shelter (Dhanani and Islam 2002; Jones 2017). Their encounters with socioeconomic disadvantages make them very vulnerable to being exploited by, for example, sex traffickers, as briefly discussed in the preceding chapters.