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Activists stage hunger strike over lack of progress on domestic workers bill
The hunger strike will be held in six cities across the country, including Medan, North Sumatra; Semarang, Central Java; Makassar, South Sulawesi; and Yogyakarta.
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Protesters hold a hunger strike to urge the House of Representatives to pass the domestic worker protection bill in front of the legislative complex at Senayan, South Jakarta on Aug. 14, 2023. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
M
embers of civil society groups staged a hunger strike on Monday in an effort to persuade lawmakers to resume deliberations and immediately pass the long-awaited domestic workers protection bill.
Protesters would refuse to eat and drink from Monday until the House of Representatives passed the bill into law, said Lita Anggraini, an activist with the National Network on Domestic Worker Advocacy (Jala PRT). The hunger strike will be held in six cities across the country, including Medan, North Sumatra; Semarang, Central Java; Makassar, South Sulawesi; and Yogyakarta.
“The empty plates during our protests symbolize domestic workers, who must hold their hunger due to long working hours,” Lita said in a statement on Monday.
Lawmakers are currently in recess. The House is scheduled to begin a new sitting session on Wednesday.
The legislative body approved the domestic workers protection bill as a House initiative in March, bringing the long-gestating bill closer to passage. With the bill now listed as a House initiative, the House and the government must discuss it before it can be passed into law.
Read also: Domestic worker protection bill approved as House initiative
First proposed in 2004 to address issues of discrimination, abuse and degrading treatment of domestic workers, the bill has been added to and then removed from the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) at least three times over nearly two decades.
