DENPASAR ~ Following an international conference on sex tourism and human trafficking in Bali earlier this month, legislators here voiced concerns that male prostitutes were not getting the legal protection they needed, an official said.

Head of special committee for human trafficking Anie Asmoro said it was not only women and children who needed the help of lawmakers, but male sex workers as well.

Asmoro said legislators discussed the issue on March 23 and 24 and were now creating new laws that would protect men in the same ways as women and children.

“There are many male prostitutes in Bali and we are drafting laws to include them as well as women and children,” she said.