Like most areas throughout Java, Indramayu has its own legend that local residents will gladly recount for any outsider. According to this legend, a local noble in Bagelen by the name of Wiralodra wanted to expand his area of control. To achieve this, Wiralodra disguised himself as a woman and, using the pseudonym Nyi Endang Darma Ayu, asked for the hand in marriage of the adipati or regent of Sumedang.
The buffalo hide she used, however, was magical and could stretch from Bagelen all the way to Sumedang. After the wedding ceremony, the adipati realised that his bride was really a man and that he had been tricked.
Once the bride price had been paid, however, it could not be reclaimed and so Wiralodra had succeeded. Many residents of Indramayu still believe the legend and women from the area have consequently become renowned for being particularly adept at using their feminine charms to trick men into surrendering their fortunes. Today, the Indramayu district is one of the largest feeder areas for prostitutes in Indonesia. For example, in Bongas, just one of the villages in Indramayu, there are 90 young women working as commercial sex workers CSWs.
Just under half of these women entered prostitution between the ages of 15β16, others were as young as Through these activities, YKB staff found that not only were there a high number of young women from Indramayu working as CSWs, but that these women knew very little about sexual health and were the least responsive to the information YKB provided. This finding has serious implications not only for these young women but also for the wider Indramayu community and its social fabric.
Among this population there is an estimated HIV prevalence rate of 3. A recent YKB survey conducted in massage parlours in West Jakarta also revealed a two per cent prevalence rate of syphilis and a 5.
