I Kadek Wahyu Pujhana
* Corresponding Author
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Udayana
Indonesia

I KADEK WAHYU PUJHANA
Program Studi Sarjana Psikologi, Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Udayana
Banjar Kebon, Singapadu, Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali

[June 8, 2020]

Dear Buletin Psikologi Editorial Team,

We would like to submit an original research article entitled "The Dynamics of Intimacy in Prostitution" for consideration by Buletin Psikologi.

We confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere.

In this paper, we present our critical review on the dynamic of intimacy within the prostitution context formed by sex workers and customers. This is important because it will give an overview of the dynamics of intimacy in prostitution, and contribute to the psychological aspects, legal protection, and reproductive health in prostitution. Our critical review is derived from previous related articles. Even though most of the articles cited by our manuscript are empirical studies done overseas, but we believe that they give pivotal contribution to the future research in Indonesia, in which research in this area is considered taboo. Hence, it becomes a rare study in Indonesia.

We believe that this manuscript is suitable for publication by Buletin Psikologi, because this journal provides support in the development of scientific studies in the field of psychology in Indonesia. Buletin Psikologi is also very popular among students, because it continues to provide the development of psychology that also considers Indonesia's socio-cultural perspective.

Furthermore, sex workers are indeed dominantly studied in health aspects such as the use of condoms, the reproductive system, and sexually transmitted infections. However, the real problem in this work is not only related to physical health, but also psychological conflicts that must always be managed properly by sex workers. Our manuscript underpins the important of managing personal relationships among sex workers. We argue that, this puts sex workers into dilemma between providing satisfying sexual touches and controlling feeling toward customers. In order to show the dillema we incorporate two perspectives, which are intimacy and social embeddedness in our critical review. Therefore, it is important to have a new study that highlights the psychological aspects of sex workers.

In addition, it needs to be said that the type of article submitted is not made from undergraduate thesis.

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to me at wahyupujhana@gmail.com

Thank you for your consideration of this manuscript.

Sincerely,

I KADEK WAHYU PUJHANA

Made Diah Lestari
https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=NjwBHYwAAAAJ&hl=en

School of Psychology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University
Indonesia