From Trafficker to Intervener: Meet Nonot

It has been 22 years since Nonot Taryono, a resident of the village of Bongas, turned his back on the profession of trafficking young women for the prostitution networks from the district t of Bongas.

When we say trafficker, it is often the image of the gangster from Eastern European countries that comes to mind, with all his procession of violence, kidnapping and murder. In Indramayu, we discover a completely different reality.

Since prostitution has been openly practiced there for over 1000 years, there is a trivialization and acceptance of this way of life with all that comes with it that is beyond understanding for us Westerners.

Here, it is often the families and young girls who approach the traffickers so that they can find them work as prostitutes. The trafficker also recruits but the coercion comes from the family who sees an opportunity to make money from their daughters.

Like the majority of the inhabitants of the village of Bongas, Nonot became a trafficker out of necessity. It is a well-paid occupation because the trafficker receives very good commissions for services rendered.

Nonot, on the left with the cap. On his right, with a straw in his mouth, we find Sukim. Two former traffickers who became interveners with the NGO Kusuma Bongas.

Although problems with the police and the government prompted Nonot to consider abandoning human trafficking, it was especially his meeting with Mr. Yeremias Wutun, a social worker and founder of 3 NGOs fighting against the sex trafficking of minors, that represented a turning point.

Confronted by Mr. Wutun with the terrible consequences of his actions on young girls, Nonot and Sukim then agreed to change their lives and work for the NGO Kusuma Bongas and help young girls get out of prostitution, or even better, not to enter it.

Talitha Koumi is proud to be a partner of the NGO Kusuma Bongas in order to contribute to the fight against the sex trafficking of young girls in Indonesia.

By the way, Kusuma Bongas means Bongas flowers in Indonesian, the flowers being, you guessed it, the girls of this village.

Daniel Jean

Photojournalist

CEO of Talitha Koumi