Condom Use Regulation Among Indonesian Sex Workers "Enormous Opportunity" to Curb HIV Spread, Opinion Piece Says

A West Jakarta, Indonesia, district government regulation that would require condom usage among commercial sex workers in the district's entertainment venues "represents an enormous opportunity for the government to take effective and meaningful steps" in curbing the spread of HIV in the country, Ben Harkness of Australian Volunteers International writes in a Jakarta Post opinion piece. The government currently is drafting the regulation, which would make "significant behavioural change possible" only if it allows for "increased discussion on condom use"; promotes a "multi-sectoral approach" to HIV/AIDS prevention in the commercial sex industry; and establishes penalties for establishments that do not enforce condom use among clients, according to Harkness. However, if the regulation contains "ambiguity and rhetoric or lacks the means for effective enforcement," then HIV infections in the country would "continue to climb," Harkness concludes (Harkness, Jakarta Post, 10/30).

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