Beyond Economic-Oriented Development: How to End Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Lombok Island, Down to Zero

Abstraksi

Indonesian government attempts to accelerate development in the outermost and border regions by fostering new centres for economic growth. For this reason, Lombok Island has been chosen as Special Economy Zone and tourism centre in Indonesia. However, rapid assessment shown that there are 272 children involved in CSEC in seven main locations, including Lombok Island. Building Special Economy Zone and tourism centre there can potentially increase the child se* industry. This is dangerous because of many negative impacts of forced prostitution to the children, including dropping out from school and long-term trauma. Ending CSEC of children is paramount for development of Indonesia. Economic-oriented development is not enough. We need to think about how to ensure no one left behind, including children, if we want to tackle inequality. Plan International Indonesia with Gagas (Galang Anak Semesta) are implementing a project called “Down to Zero”, which aims to end commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in Lombok Island. Gagas has identified and assisted 13 girls’ victim in 2016-2017 period, and 4 victims (2 boys and 2 girls) from January to May 2018 alone. Meanwhile, many more CSEC practices are still unreported. The paper submitted will discuss “how Down to Zero Project provide space for children to be liberated from CSEC and empowered as community members?” The study will be drawn from stories from Gagas and analysed using qualitative method. We will present the activities under the project that put girls and boys in the centre of activism, and the progress so far.