Closing Time at Kalijodo

A young woman stood up after a waitress gave her the code. Lena, as we will call her, approached Tempo, who had visited Wisma Adem in Kalijodo, North Jakarta, two weeks ago. She left the corner of the caf, which looked more like a showroom, where Lena and nine other women sat and waited for guests to arrive. "Come, let's go downstairs," she said.

After going down a flight of stairs, the 22-year-old woman from Wonosobo, Central Java, walked to a 6-square-meter room. There were 10 other such rooms on the lower floor. The area was quiet, much different from the noisy caf. There was a mattress and two Sutra condoms in the room. Next to the bed were a sink, a faucet and a small bucket of water. The room felt hot even though a fan was running.

February 23, 2016