INDONESIA: Law Awaited to Protect Child Domestic Workers

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Richel Dursin

JAKARTA , Apr 11 2006 (IPS) - ”Every time my employer wanted to wake me up from sleep she would kick me,” said 17-year-old Sayuti, speaking of relations between herself and her actress employer.

She expected to be woken up at any time of the night, but the method remained the same – a well-aimed kick in the back.

”When I got sick, she told me to buy my own medicines,” the high-school dropout from East Java said, recounting a familiar tale of maltreatment and abuse among ‘pembantu’ (helpers) as child domestic workers are called.

A survey conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in 2003, indicated that there could be as many as 2.6 million child domestic workers in Indonesia.

They are exploited and abused because they are not covered by Indonesian labour laws and do not have legal rights and benefits, such as minimum wage, rest, vacation, and limits on hours of work, which are provided to workers in the formal sector.

Long working hours stretching well into the night, seven days a week, and isolation from their families are their lot. In some instances, they are physically, psychologically and sexually abused.

”My boss was cruel. She always shouted abuses at me and sometimes didn’t give me food,” said 16-year-old Siti from West Java province. Her recruiter said she would do household chores and would be paid Rp 300,000 (33 US dollars) a month. But she ended up taking care of two children as well and getting paid Rp 200,000 (22 dollars) a month.

”I worked from 4 am up to 10 pm. I did everything, from washing and ironing clothes to babysitting. I became a slave,” said Siti, who escaped one day when her employer and children were asleep.

Child rights activists have long been demanding legislation to protect juvenile domestic workers and the ministry of women empowerment has partially met those demands by launching, on Mar. 29, a set of policy guidelines to deal with the problem.

”The formulation of the guidelines is one step forward in protecting child domestic workers,” minister for women empowerment, Meutia Hatta Swasono, explained to IPS.

Considering that the government has, until now, sidestepped the problem and does not even have accurate figures on how many children are affected, the move has been widely welcomed.

”It is difficult to find out how many children below 15 years old are employed as domestic workers because they are hidden from public view and they come and go,” Swasono said.

Alan Boulton, ILO Indonesia director, deplores the fact that child domestic employment was not included as one of the priority areas to be addressed by the government under the national plan of action for the elimination of worst forms of child labour.

The objectives of the first phase of the plan, from 2003 to 2007, include eliminating the worst forms of child labour in five areas: children involved in the sale, production and trafficking of illegal drugs; children trafficked for prostitution; and children involved in offshore fishing, mining and footwear production.

But Boulton said he would have liked to see domestic labour by children below the age of 15 eliminated and better working conditions ensured for child domestic workers aged 15-18 years, included in the plan.

The minimum age of employment in Indonesia is 15, but many girls begin to work at young ages. Getrudis, who has eight siblings, started working as a domestic worker in Surabaya when she was fourteen. ”I wanted to continue my studies, but my parents could not afford to send me to school,” said Getrudis, whose parents are farmers in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Children from poor families in rural areas are usually recruited to work as domestic workers in large cities, particularly Jakarta. In many instances, they are deceived with false promises of high income, limited job responsibilities and opportunities to attend vocational courses.

Ivonne, who began working at the age of thirteen, was recruited on the basis that her employer would send her to school in exchange for her domestic service. ”My boss kept on promising me that he would send me to school, but he lied,” said Ivonne, who worked for a year without compensation.

”Children below 15 years old should not be working. They should be in school,” said ILO Indonesia deputy director Peter Rademaker.

Indonesia has ratified ILO conventions on minimum age for employment, but the law is not strictly enforced in the country. The convention states that the minimum age for admission to employment ”shall not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15 years”.

The convention further states that national laws ”may also permit the employment or work of persons who are at least 15 years of age, but have not yet completed their compulsory schooling”, provided the work ”is not likely to be harmful to their health or development”, and does not prejudice their attendance at school or participation in vocational training programmes.

Prominent child rights activist Seto Mulyadi said girls typically become domestic workers after finishing primary school, around the age of twelve or thirteen, due to poverty. Domestic worker supplier agencies often fake the ages of girls, he said.

Generally, child domestic workers are made to do the same amount of work as adult domestic workers would do, which is beyond their physical capability and stamina.

”The children should be studying and playing, but due to hardship, they are forced to make a living,” Swasono said, adding that working long hours with no time for rest and recreation, or for socialising with friends affects a child’s mental, physical, social and emotional development.

Copies of the new guidelines, jointly launched with the ILO, have been distributed to labour agencies, child domestic workers and non-governmental organisations.

The guidelines stipulate that employers treat child domestic workers fairly and humanely, pay them justly and on time, and allocate time for them to pray. They also encourage employers to provide opportunities for domestic workers to attend non-formal schooling and give them a weekly day off.

Labour agencies are, under the guidelines, required to provide training for domestic workers before they are employed and formulate codes of conduct and monitor the work and living conditions of child domestic workers. Further, police are expected to keep an eye on supplier agencies and employers.

”We hope that the guidelines will contribute towards encouraging good practices by employers and the establishment of an appropriate legal and policy framework at the national, provincial and local levels to protect child domestic workers,” Boulton said..

While activists and child domestic workers commended the formulation of policy guidelines, they stressed that the principles are only effective on paper.

”Considering the fact that Indonesians do not enjoy reading serious articles, nobody would be interested in the guidelines,” said television celebrity Dewi Hughes, spokesperson for the government campaign against human trafficking.

Hughes suggested that the ministry publish a comic book out of the guidelines and distribute the comics in shopping malls.

”We are not completely satisfied with the establishment of guidelines. What we want is access to free education,” said Farida Susanti, 17-year-old domestic worker from Sumatra province. ”If only we have a choice and could go to school, we would not be working as slaves,” Susanti said.