Dolly was nothing like how we pictured it to be. Before its shutdown, people used to say that the Surabayan red-light district was a beacon of sexual liberation in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. Dolly, which is comprised of one main lane that stems into countless other lanes, used to be jam-packed every night with head-pumping disco and dangdut music blaring from every corner.
The prostitutes were conspicuously displayed in their brothels like mannequins in storefront windows as far as the eye could see. Anyone could venture into Dolly for its sexual services without having to worry about being judged. The Surabaya city government officially shut down sexual practices in Dolly on June 18, Around 1, sex workers were evicted from Dolly Lane and the adjacent Jarak Street. These issues, along with other political and social implications of such an abrupt shutdown, still linger today.
There, we met with three prostitutes with very distinct backgrounds, and learned about how their lives were affected in the time since Dolly ceased to be the debauchery capital of Southeast Asia. It is during the day that the positive effects of the shutdown become apparent. Kids are now out playing in the open on Dolly Lane. Their parents no longer have to worry about the negative influence of the sex trade going on around them.
If the shutdown happens suddenly, what happens to the locals there who are also citizens of Surabaya? Not the prostitutes, not the pimps. But [this is about] the citizens of Surabaya who make a living in the area, such as clothing designers, laundry owners and parking attendants. Now that Dolly has become a ghost town , Wisnu said that people in the neighborhood can no longer rely on tourists for income.
The government was so keen to rid Dolly of prostitution that they neglected to consider the economic needs of the locals.
