The Indonesia archipelago consists of 17,000 islands, with Bali as its largest and most popular province. Yet, with three million visitors yearly generating at least US $5 billion in revenue, there is still an onslaught of issues locals face.
Indonesia’s problems abound:
- A high maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 177 per 100,000 births indicates a severe lack of high-quality maternal healthcare.
- A poverty rate of 10.1%.
- A higher than average rate of child sex trafficking.
- Baby ransoming.
- Natural disasters
The world over should be concerned with Bali’s problems.
But like many of the globe’s small yet thriving tourist destinations, Bali’s native population is victim to a culture where atrocities are kept secret and hidden. Outwardly, those in charge desire to appear pure and pristine.
Others suffer in silence.
Baby Ransoming A Horrific Bali Secret
In 2010, 36 babies were reportedly taken hostage by private midwives, clinics, and hospitals in Bali. But, as Arist Merdeka Sirait, Secretary-general of the National Commission for Child Protection pointed out:
“Those were just the cases that were reported to our commission so it’s not accurate national data. The real figure is likely to be much more than that.”
In that time, medical Balinese institutions and private individuals would refuse to hand over a mother’s newborn if the mother could not cover the medical bills for her delivery. These bills typically ranged from $70 to $700 for a Caesarian section. Meantime, some families earned only $8 a day.
The medical professionals and hospitals considered babies their “property,” sometimes even selling the child to unrecorded individuals — without the parents’ consent — whom parents later found difficult to track down, if at all.
Some mothers, hopeful of getting their child within a few days of birth, would camp out in the hospital. The staff allowed them to see their babies twice a day for about 20 minutes. The moms who didn’t camp out would travel miles via bike to arrive at birthing centers. And many of the babies, who were locked in a room all day, went on to die. Others were put up for adoption.
As a result, local birthing persons were terrified of having their babies at hospitals. Thankfully, more recently, a number of people have stepped in to reduce the incidents of baby ransoming by opening birthing sanctuaries that offer free prenatal care and delivery.
However, just as before, the data on how many babies are still ransomed each year is largely nonexistent or swept under the rug.
Child Sex Trafficking And Exploitation Are Major Issues
As for those babies lucky enough to escape, they face Indonesia’s high rates of sex trafficking which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic — going from 111 known victims in 2019, to 213 in 2020, and 256 in 2021.
Prior to COVID, foreign trafficking rings and lone tourists were behind the majority of these incidents. Now, some struggling migrants who became unemployed have added fuel to the hellfire that is sex trafficking.
Police and organizations such as Indonesia’s Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection are making attempts to reduce what’s going on, but the rate remains high. Plus, those found to be involved rarely get punished.
Back in 2019, only one of Bali’s five legal cases of human trafficking resulted in prosecution. Considering the country ranks among the highest rates of slavery at 1.2 million in 2018, and much of that figure is believed to correlate to trafficking, this low rate of prosecution is astounding (Global Slavery Index by Australian NGO Walk Free).
Child exploitation also went up from 111 victims in 2019, to 213 in 2020, and 256 in 2021. Both women and children who get exploited are threatened with harm to their families, and on top of this have little hope for justice if they escape… since many law officials have a victim-blaming mentality.
In addition, of the 15 maximum years an offender might receive for his crime, many serve a mere three years before they’re able to get out.
The legal aid for trafficking victims must go through hurdles such as:
- The difficulty to prove mobile-related forced prostitution,
- Which charges they can legally use, and
- A lack of witnesses and victims speaking out.
Maternal Health Is Heavily Unsupported
Maternal and newborn health is lacking in Indonesia, where a yearly average of 63% of women in poverty receive assistance from skilled health personnel (State of Health Inequality: Indonesia, 2017).
Paradoxically, Indonesia’s latest MMR is177 per 100,000 live births. If there is a solid number of deliveries from skilled birthing companions as indicated above, the prevailing high MMR implies an issue of quality care.
In a February 2021 study, researchers commented:
“The MMR indicates that there is still substantial room for improvement. Access to skilled attendants for ANC and delivery does not necessarily lead to a good health outcome unless the actual health care is of optimal quality [7,15]. The scope for improvement lies especially in the organization and management of the health care system.
Despite attempts to improve, access to reliable healthcare remains a challenge for expecting mothers, and those with the lowest socioeconomic status endure the ferocious brunt of it all.
Poor conditions at health facilities are another issue, and improvement is stagnated due to low priority by the government. Further, many health facilities lack trained personnel, and poor policies along with worse implementation.
Poverty And Environmental Disaster In Bali
The country’s extreme economic disparities widely affect health inequality in Indonesia. Again, COVID-19 was a pivotal factor in the increased poverty in recent years. March 2021 saw 10.14% or 27.54 million of the total population of 273.5 million, living in poverty.
Naturally, this figure contributes to many mothers’ inabilities to access the highest quality of prenatal care in the nation, have a safe delivery, and benefit from post-natal care. When they do manage, they then contend with the 23 in 1,000 chance that their baby will die in its first five years.
It starts in the home, and Balinese mothers barely have those. A whopping 70% of low-income families must build their own homes, unable to rely on the government or the help of private developers.
In Bali, the poverty rate in 82 of its 706 villages stands at over 35%. In such places, basic utilities like electricity are hard to come by, education is at a low, and the ongoing water crisis persists.
Not to mention, the entirety of Indonesia is a hotspot for volcanic eruptions (it has 76 active ones), earthquakes, droughts, and flooding. And climate change means there is a higher frequency of disasters to come.
This ongoing threat of environmental disasters, as well as the rising threat of climate change, works discriminately against the poor and people of color. How? Thanks to poor infrastructure, debilitated housing, and long distances from medical institutions, those considered to be of a ‘lower status’ end up suffering the most despite needing the most help.
From Then To Now — The Tourism Industry And Bali’s Fight
Without holding a critical focus on the sustainability of its growing tourism industry, the price of basic necessities in Bali has gone up over the years, and there’s little hope for rectification in the near future.
Those who’ve reached the end of their line have had to sell their home and land to make ends meet.
This comes amidst Bali’s worldwide popularity as an island city hotspot for visitors and immigrants alike. As of 2022, 30,000 expatriates live in Bali. Most of the people here, 90%, are Balinese. There are also Javanese, Madurese, and Baliaga living on the island.
Faith-wise, approximately 83.5% of the population are Hindu practitioners, while others follow Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam.
Balinese people have been under the rule of the Dutch, Japanese, British, and French. After a lengthy period of colonialism beginning in 1512, Bali gained its Independence from the Dutch in the 1940s, only to be hit by the deadly Mount Agung eruption of 1963.
After that incident, Bali saw their tourism industry increase but experienced yet more turmoil in the 2000s from militant Islamists. The majority of those who died were foreigners, so tourism significantly went down, and the economy with it.
In 2008, the island saw another upsurge in tourism. At first, this proved beneficial for the state. Over the years, however, over-tourism — a word used for when tourism becomes disruptive to local communities due to the immense numbers of foreigners coming in — became a significant problem in Bali.
Gender Discrimination In The Tourism Industry
Bali women’s livelihoods took the hardest hit from over-tourism.
Most businesses in Bali’s tourism industry are owned by non-Balinese. And they sidestepped the more sustainable cultural tourism in favor of mass tourism because of the profit realized from mass tourism.
Balinese women, restricted by cultural norms, are allowed only domestic jobs. Those who want to be entrepreneurs could — if only their husbands would let them. Many, due to their faith, are against the idea.
Elsewhere, Balinese women have been sexualized thanks to a history of being promoted as the island with “bare-chested women.” This reputation has put pressure on Balinese women to get into sex tourism to sustain their livelihoods.
Joged Bumbung, which is a folk dance formerly used in sacred folk performances, is now an erotic display fueled by tourist demand. Only tourists view these performances since the general Balinese community rejects this blatant exploitation of their culture.
Sex tourism in Bali is a contributing factor to human trafficking, including that of children.
Overall, the tourism industry in Bali consists of 54% women yet the women earn 10-15% less than the men. Plus, women are forced to take night shifts while men are given more options for working hours (Leonardus Aditya Krisnadi and Septiana Dwiputri Maharan).
Even those who do manage to be successful with entrepreneurship face hardship whenever there are drastic interruptions in visitors to the island. Some youth have (re)turned to farming post-COVID.
Balinese women endure severe oppression and very few people seem to take notice. Being metaphorically segregated from the Indonesian mainland, Bali’s rich culture has developed uniquely as its own, but so have its horrific problems.
Will you help?
How You Can Contribute To Solving Bali’s Problems
Addressing Bali and Indonesia’s widespread issues need not be intimidating when one collaborates with an experienced organization.
Global Fund For Girls works to ensure that birthing persons of Bali can get access to trained and compassionate health professionals so that they can have a more idealized pregnancy and post-delivery encounter, rather than face a horrific ordeal.
We further do extensive work around gender-based violence against girls. This includes advocacy against child sex trafficking and other issues impacting youth in crisis.