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Most domestic worker abuse cases aren't taken seriously, activist says
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Domestic workers stage a rally in front of the House of Representatives' gate, recently, demanding the House endorse a long-awaited bill on protecting their profession's rights. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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t least 80 percent of domestic worker mistreatment cases reported to law enforcement in Jakarta this year do not enter legal processing as they are discontinued by police, the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT) has said.
In a report submitted to the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), Jala PRT revealed that from 217 cases of mistreatment against housemaids up to mid-September, only seven cases had successfully begun legal processing until reaching court, while the 210 other cases remained unsolved.
The 217 cases included 41 cases of multiple rights violations, namely a combination of physical, mental, economic and sexual abuse; 102 cases of physical abuse such as beating, isolation and trafficking; and also 74 cases of wages being unpaid including bonuses, Jala PRT national coordinator Lita Anggraini said.
"We have tried to resolve the issue together and report the cases to the police, however, because they [the police] believe we don't have enough evidence [most of the time], they don't initiate investigations into the cases, where about 80 percent have been dropped," Lita said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Komnas Perempuan commissioner Magdalena Sitorus said the nation’s laws had yet given sufficient protection for domestic workers' rights.
Therefore, Magdalena said, the country should accommodate domestic workers' pleas for protection by taking proactive measures to legislate the domestic worker protection draft bill and ratify ILO Convention No. 189 on decent work for domestic workers. (dmr)
