Promoting rights of domestic workers to women community groups

Women community groups gathered to learn more about decent work for domestic workers Around 100 homemakers from women community groups in South Jakarta participated in the interactive screening and informative sessions of the ILO’s ‘We Have the Same Right’ Campaign, aimed to promote decent work for domestic workers. This interactive session was organized by the ILO in collaboration with Etnikom, a leading community organization in South Jakarta, on 15 March 2018.

Different from other activities that have been conducted by the ILO, this activity is designed to reach women at the community level. As the employers of domestic workers, we hope that these women can have a better understanding about the rights of domestic workers as workers so that decent work for domestic workers can start from their own homes."

Irfan Afandi, National Advocacy Specialist of the ILO’s Promoting Decent Work for Domestic Workers (PROMOTE) Project

“Different from other activities that have been conducted by the ILO, this activity is designed to reach women at the community level. As the employers of domestic workers, we hope that these women can have a better understanding about the rights of domestic workers as workers so that decent work for domestic workers can start from their own homes,” said Irfan Afandi, National Advocacy Specialist of the ILO’s Promoting Decent Work for Domestic Workers (PROMOTE) Project.

The ‘We Have the Same Right’ Campaign consists of seven short videos, showing important roles of domestic workers in people’s lives, plights, journeys and hopes of the domestic workers. The Campaign focuses on labour rights of domestic workers that are often forgotten such as, among others, domestic workers’ rights to have one-day off/leaves, to have working contract, to be protected by national health system, minimum working age for domestic workers and to have safe and healthy working conditions.

The activity also presented a local celebrity, an artist and singer named Super Emak (Super Mom in English) who had an experience working as a domestic worker for six years in Surabaya, East Java. Sharing her life experience, she encourage the participating women to not use the term maid or assistant.

They are not maid or assistant. They are workers just like other workers. Thus, please pay their salary on time, they deserve to have a weekly rest or leave, they also have the right to good working conditions."

Super Emak, Indonesian performer, presenter and artist

“They are not maid or assistant. They are workers just like other workers. Thus, please pay their salary on time, they deserve to have a weekly rest or leave, they also have the right to good working conditions,” told Super Emak during the informative session. Meanwhile, Irfan explained about the global movement starting in 2011 to recognize domestic workers as workers as stated in the ILO Convention No. 189.

During the interactive discussions, the participating women groups were actively raising questions related to labour laws on domestic workers, wage standard for domestic workers, health protection, skills standard, occupational safety and health in the household and so forth. Some participants also emphasized the importance of skills development for domestic workers that would benefit both workers and employers.

By having an artist like Super Emak who can reach to the participating women with her own experience and with her entertaining and enlightened approach, it is hoped that the ILO’s campaign would be more effective."

Gita Lingga, the ILO’s communication officer

Srikanti, one of the participants was excited to be part of the activity. “I bring a lot of new information and knowledge to my home. I learnt that domestic workers are workers and their contributions to the household are valuable,” she said; while the other participant suggested the ILO to develop links for domestic workers to service providers.

The first of its kinds, Gita Lingga, the ILO’s communication officer, said that this initiative had combined educational and informational sessions with entertainment as ways to persuasively convey the messages about decent work for domestic workers more effectively. “By having an artist like Super Emak who can reach to the participating women with her own experience and with her entertaining and enlightened approach, it is hoped that the ILO’s campaign would be more effective,” she said.

The ILO-PROMOTE project has been running in Indonesia for four years since 2013 and would come to an end in March 2018.