Legal protection is urgently needed to protect domestic workers
Domestic workers are vulnerable to workplace violence and abuse. Indonesian domestic workers continue their fight to realize the domestic workers’ law.
For 13 months working as a domestic worker in Surabaya, East Java, Endah (not a real name) had to endure violence and abuse from her employer. Her abusive case has recently made headlines on Indonesian media, demonstrating high vulnerability of domestic workers. Behind closed doors, domestic workers are vulnerable to workplace violence and abuse. The array of abuse faced include physical, psychological and sexual abuse; food deprivation; forced confinement; and trafficking into forced labour.
A campaign on rights of domestic workers “Exclusion from national labour law and high level of informality continue to take a heavy toll on the working conditions of domestic workers,” said Irham Saifuddin, ILO’s programme officer, during the interactive discussion on domestic workers’ violence and abuse, conducted by the ILO’s partner JALA PRT, an alliance focuses on the protection of domestic workers.
It is a tremendous progress that we hope the bill can be finally deliberated. Domestic workers are considered as part of Indonesia’s socio-cultural history and we need to continue raising the awareness on the labour industrial aspects."
Willy Aditya, Deputy of Legislation Body of the Parliament
Presenting the representatives from the Indonesian parliament, legal aid organization, mass media organization women organisation and the ILO, the discussion aimed to examine efforts that should be taken to realize the deliberation of the Domestic Workers’ Bill in Indonesia. The country schedules to legalize the law this year after 17 years of waiting.
Willy Aditya, Deputy of Legislation Body of the Parliament, stated that after 17 years, the Domestic Workers’ Bill has finally become the priority of the parliament and would be submitted to the plenary session. “It is a tremendous progress that we hope the bill can be finally deliberated. Domestic workers are considered as part of Indonesia’s socio-cultural history and we need to continue raising the awareness on the labour industrial aspects,” he said.
Exclusion from national labour law and high level of informality continue to take a heavy toll on the working conditions of domestic workers."
The 2105 national data showed that due to lack of legal protection, 81 percent of Indonesian domestic workers worked seven days a week without weekly rest and 60 percent worked more than 40 hours per week. “Most of the domestic workers are also paid way below the minimum wage. The ILO report shows that only 11 per cent of domestic workers in the region enjoy the minimum wage to the same extent as other workers,” Irham added.
Commented the working conditions of domestic workers, Lita Anggraini, Chair of JALA PRT, stated that the country has not yet provided a safe and decent home for Indonesian domestic workers. She also regretted late responses in dealing with cases of domestic workers’ violence and abuse.
The cases of violence and abuse that we see are only the peak of the iceberg. Therefore, it is urgent for Indonesia to ratify the ILO Convention No. 189 and to deliberate the Domestic Workers’ Bill. We urgently need the presence of the nation in legally protect all the citizens of Indonesia, including domestic workers."
Lita Anggraini, Chair of JALA PRT
“The cases of violence and abuse that we see are only the peak of the iceberg. Therefore, it is urgent for Indonesia to ratify the ILO Convention No. 189 and to deliberate the Domestic Workers’ Bill. We urgently need the presence of the nation in legally protect all the citizens of Indonesia, including domestic workers,” she concluded.
To break the silence against this issue, Sonya Helen, a senior journalist, urged media organizations to actively involve in disseminating issues related to domestic workers by focusing on legal protection instruments and not only focusing on criminal cases. “We need to mobilize all measures and strategies, including supports from mass media, to push the parliament to finally deliberate the domestic workers’ law this year,” she emphasized.
The Philippines is the only country in Asia and the Pacific to have ratified the Domestic Workers Convention ten years on from its adoption. There are also some 38.3 million domestic workers over the age of 15 employed in Asia and the Pacific of whom 78.4 per cent are women. The region is also the largest employer of male domestic workers, accounting for 46.1 per cent of male domestic workers worldwide.
