Original Sin: Should Women Always Take The Blame?

 http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/25/your-letters-should-women-always-take-blame.html

Jakarta rocks to celebrity sex scandal. An illegal prostitution that was selling sex with celebrities has been all the Indonesians media seems to talk about after the Police lifts the veil of such scandal. The recent arrest of Robbie Abbas a.k.a Obbie or R.A., the ringleader of a prostitution ring involving several celebrities, have confirmed the public secret that some celebrities participate in illegal prostitution service as side job. The so-called high class prostitution racket reportedly offered clients models, soap stars and other celebrities. The news spread like wild fire, it becomes trending topic in social media.

Many of us aware of the secretive world of high-class celebrity prostitutes when the work of Sinar Harapan journalist, Yuyu AN Krisna, uncovered the in-depth research into prostitution in Jakarta throughout the 1970s. Such illegal business is nothing new, yet it always gets the fuel from such coverage.

As always, the butt of the jokes always center on the actresses, instead of the regular clients. Circulated initials of the allegedly actresses taking part in the business have turned into a commodity for prank and insensitive humors. My colleague knit her eyebrows, a little annoyed that this humors although directed at the supposed actresses participating in the high class prostitution network, bring along the silent stamp that women always take the blame for the ancient trade.

I have to agree with her on this point. We do not take pleasures in such banal jokes. It's offending! It’s time to shift the focus on the clients instead of the supplier!

Starting in the garden, Eve is deemed responsible for the original sin and since that time women have been blamed for many of men's shortcomings and as a source of men's downfall. The cultural root of male dominance and supremacy is a universal occurrence, including Indonesia. It's irritating that the men (regular clients) always escape the mockery and targeted jest, not liable to become the laughingstock. They could just hide behind their anonymity, like a Godfather, fearless of the degraded public stamp on their infidelity!

C'mon, it takes two to tango! There's demand before there's a supply. Where demand exists, supply will emerge – and it is a fact that men’s demand for sex fuels prostitution. And yet again, the blame game centers on the sex workers. The law rarely touches the clients, especially those with power and wealth. What an irony!

Prostitution is the oldest profession in the world. It has existed thousands of years ago and perhaps it would never cease so long men glorify their libido. It is an ancient trade of profitable business. The victims of such cartel in prostitution network are helpless children and women who are forced intodepravity mostly due to economic reason.It cast an eerie and bleak reality.

With advanced development in technology, the industry has a “liberating” power for cash and sex work is “more and more like a normal service industry”. The two recent cases of sex service commercialized through social media, the first is the murder of sex worker in Tebet area, South Jakarta and now the rigged high class prostitution among our celebrities, have sent us a cardiac arrest symptom like. The private affairs of love which should be sanctified by the bond of marriage has now become a raw financial transaction. The carnal desire holds men above the bounds of morality and thus animal instinct takes over.

The crucial question is: can it be stopped? Well...reality has proved that thousands of years efforts to eradicate prostitution is in fact in futile. So long the demand exists, supply will remain staple.

Therefore, extreme approach in tackling the problem should be introduced instead of using the traditional ways of combating prostitution by involving criminal punishment that leads to cycle of sustained vulnerability for sex workers. Different actions to reduce demand and help women who are exploited should be taken into consideration. It’s about following the money and reducing the demand. It’s time to target MEN who buy sex instead of punishing the women who provide it. It’s time to criminalizing the customers.It is a criminal offense to buy sex!

These so called clients (men) are usually more affluent, have jobs, careers, and families and they’re definitely risking by being involved and fueling this primal industry. They help to make the industry flourish. Without them, this industry will diminish. Logically speaking, it’s much more effective to get them accountable for their role in this industry. It’s time to cut off the rope. The focus should be on the male. It’s time to take prostitution as a male violence against women and children, officially acknowledging it as a form of exploitation that is a barrier to gender equality.

Cut the demand! Expose the clients! Get them punished. They too should bear the consequences. They too should know how it feels to be a laughingstock! They should also be liable to be shamed but their illegal acts.