Yvette TanAnd
Faisal Irfani,BBC Indonesian
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Indonesia’s parliament has passed a law aimed at protecting the rights of domestic workers, more than 20 years after it was introduced.
The country is home to some 4.2 million domestic workers, almost 90% of whom are women. Previously, they were not legally considered workers.
They will now be entitled to health insurance, rest days and a pension. Employment agencies will also no longer be allowed to deduct wages and it will be illegal to hire children under 18 as domestic workers.
Some cried when they learned the law had passed, with one worker saying it was the culmination of a “22-year struggle to gain protection.”
The Domestic Workers Protection Act was first introduced in 2004, but has repeatedly encountered obstacles. Discussions on the bill were stalled for years before being resumed in Parliament in 2020.
Regulators will now have a year to draft detailed implementation policies.
Despite their crucial role in the economy, millions of Indonesian domestic workers are not protected by local labor laws. Many were employed informally without any legal contract. Some work long hours for low pay and others enter the profession as young as 12 years old.
“It feels like a dream,” Ajeng Astuti, one of the domestic workers, told BBC Indonesia. “This is our 22-year struggle as marginalized women to gain protection.”
Jumiyem, a domestic worker from Yogyakarta, said: “We were looking forward to this. [law]and now we can feel it.”
Some rights groups welcomed the law, but warned that more remained to be done, adding that “the fight is not over.”
Lita Anggraini, from rights group Jala PRT, told the AFP news agency that a public education campaign would be needed to make employers aware of their responsibilities.
The group reported more than 3,300 cases of violence against domestic workers between 2021 and 2024, including cases of physical and psychological violence.
