Case chronology

The case started when the police received a report of a missing child. This report was
submitted by one of the victims’ parents who claimed that their child has not come home since
June of 2021.1 From then on, they did an investigation from those reports, and found two girls
with the initial of ZR and RCL, who were the victims of online prostitution. These two girls are
still 16 years old at the time of this case happening, which is in October 2021. 2 As these two
victims haven’t reached the age of 18 yet, they are still considered to be minors according to the
law. Since the two are minors, this case is not just a regular prostitution case, it is a case of child
prostitution.
The two girls started doing online prostitution because a few pimps tempted them with
the promise of money. They were told that they will get money if they would accept an order to
‘service’ a man. Because they are still 16 year old, they are still teenagers who are easily affected
by temptations in the form of things that might not be good for them. After hearing the offer of
the men, they finally caved in for the money.3
There are several people who were caught by the police as suspects who are suspected to
be involved with this case of child prostitution, either as the facilitator of the apartment, the pimp
who arranged clients for the two girls, or the men who bought the services of the two minors. 4
These people have the initials of DA (19), C (19), AS (19), FH (19), and AM (36). Further
investigations revealed that the two victims were exploited by AS, DA, and FH by providing
‘open BO’ services in a messaging app called MiChat. 5
Open BO or Open Booking Out are words that is used as a code in the world of
prostitution or sex work. This code is used for online prostitutions in which the party providing

1
https://metro.tempo.co/read/1517115/polisi-kembali-bongkar-prostitusi-remaja-di-kalibata-city-5-muncikari-
ditangkap
2
https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20211015090439-12-708113/kasus-berulang-prostitusi-anak-di-
apartemen-kalibata-city
3
https://news.detik.com/berita/d-5765836/abg-korban-prostitusi-di-kalibata-city-dipaksa-layani-puluhan-pria?
single=1
4
ibid.
5
https://www.merdeka.com/jakarta/bongkar-prostitusi-anak-di-apartemen-kalibata-city-polisi-tangkap-5-
tersangka.html
the services can be booked by anyone by paying certain amount of money. 6 This code was used
by the pimps to attract perverted men in buying the services of the two girls.
Before these two girls were found by the police, it is revealed that these two have
serviced dozens of men through sex work. They have done this type of work from September to
October.7 Since what they were doing was prostitution, as expected, the pimps would not let
them do their services without a price. Their services were given prices which range from Rp.
250.000 to Rp. 750.000. Though, the amount of money these two girls get by doing these
services is considerably less than what their facilitators get. If they served people with Rp.
250.000 as the price, they would get Rp. 50.000 each. Meanwhile, if they sell their bodies with
the price of Rp. 750.000, each of them would get plenty more, ranging from Rp. 150.000 to Rp.
200.000.8
In this country, prostitution is considered to be illegal, especially an act of prostitution
that involves minors. In the end, the people who were involved in exploiting this case of child
prostitution were suspected of violating Law No. 35 of 2002 concerning Child Protection or
Law No. 21 of 2007 concerning Human Trafficking. 9

6
https://surakarta.suara.com/read/2021/08/26/084226/viral-dengan-istilah-open-bo-ini-arti-dan-maksud-bahasa-
sandi-para-pekerja-prostitusi?page=all
7
https://www.kompas.tv/article/221708/lagi-polisi-ungkap-praktik-prostitusi-anak-di-apartemen-kalibata-city
8
https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/10/13/16264031/praktik-prostitusi-anak-di-kalibata-city-terbongkar-
korban-dijual-lewat
9
https://news.detik.com/berita/d-5765836/abg-korban-prostitusi-di-kalibata-city-dipaksa-layani-puluhan-pria?
single=1