Young women stood on the streets of the complex attempting to lure in possible guests. Pimps also greeted potential costumers, making no attempts to hide from journalists.
When one sex worker in a karaoke bar spotted journalists walking through Dolly, she reportedly ran outside shaking her fist and shouted, "Dolly will stay open! They can't just solve the prostitution problem by handing out money to prostitutes. The mayor says she wants the entire complex closed down by the end of Ramadan in late July.
The mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, announced the closure of the Dolly prostitution complex in a ceremony at the Islamic Center Building, about a mile away. Rismaharini is first female mayor of Surabaya, and has said she plans to shut down all brothels in the city. About local political figures attended the ceremony and signed a statement in support of closing the complex, including the Cabinet minister and the governor of East Java.
About 1, local Muslims from Surabaya, East Java, showed up to show support for the mayor's decision. The majority of Indonesia's million people are Muslims. Prostitution rings, however, operate legally and openly in all major cities. Some Islamic conservatives want to replace Indonesia's secular system with one ruled by Islamic law, the AP reports. Surabaya is the so-called "sex capital" of Indonesia, the Jakarta Post reports.
Mayor Rismaharini has been focused on changing this, saying it's "time to make the city more family friendly and more prosperous. There are four big localisation districts in Surabaya. I found there are children who come from this neighbourhood β they are not just involved in the profession but they aspire to become one because they come from this environment.
