PENUTUPAN LOKALISASI KARANG DEMPEL DAN IMPLIKASI SOSIALNYA

Abstract

The government of Kupang Municipality has decided to close down the Karang Dempel brothel, the supposedly biggest prostitution premises of the East Nusa Tenggara Province. Being concomitant to the national policy as voiced by the Ministry of Social Affairs to wipe out prostitution from the country, the Mayor of Kupang Municipality issued the Decree No. 176/KEP/HK/2018 on the Closing Down of the Karang Dempel Brothel. This decision confronted two different camps: pro-prostitution and con-prostitution. The pro camp argues that extramarital sex is nothing but an economic transaction in which a public service is carried out with the body and not with the self and as such it should be equalized with other public services. It is an option when one is looking for a job and therefore parents should not be overprotective of their daughters. The con camp is of the opinion that the brothel is a place where drugs and venereal diseases circulate, and human trafficking may take place. It degrades human dignity and is contrary to human rights.  The closing is detrimental to the informal economic sectors but it has saved children from early exposure to sex that can threaten their future.