The convention, which was adopted on June 21, stipulated a clear framework that is expected to address gender-based violence and requires every ratifying state to implement measures to prevent and eradicate violence and harassment, as well as to ensure access to treatment for victims. Indonesia has not ratified the convention.

"If we see it in the cultural context of Indonesia, [we] actually can't accept this convention because it's very tough, especially for business. If the convention is applied at the company level, there should be clear standards, so that [workers] won't turn any small problems into violence and harassment cases," said Gustav Evert Matulessy, manpower division member of Apindo, addressing the question in the discussion held in Jakarta on Thursday.

The convention has defined violence and harassment in the world of work as "a range of unacceptable behaviors and practices, or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence or repeated, that aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment".

"It has to be clear at the outset that there is a clear expectation for countries who ratify this instrument, and even those who haven't ratified, who have their legal definition to incorporate the [convention's] definition in the national law," ILO senior adviser Tim De Meyer said during the discussion.

The contested definition of violence and harassment was among the reasons behind the House of Representatives' failure to pass the long-awaited sexual violence bill, despite it having been initiated in 2016, with the conservative Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction and other factions of the public objecting to the definition and scope of sexual violence, which they deemed to incorporate a liberal perspective that is not in line with the values of Pancasila state ideology, religious norms and Eastern culture.

The bill lists nine types of sexual violence: verbal sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, forced use of contraception, rape, forced marriage, forced abortion, forced prostitution, sexual slavery and torture using sexual abuse. It also aims to ensure victims receive restitution ranging from physical and psychological therapy to pecuniary compensation.

Experts and activists have lambasted the sluggish progress of the bill's deliberations amid a growing number of reported cases.

According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), complaints of harassment at work have increased over the years, from nearly 350,000 cases filed with the commission in 2017 to more than 400,000 cases in 2018. However, this number might only show the tip of the iceberg, activists say.

One of the latest cases that captured media attention was that of teacher Baiq Nuril, who was found guilty by the Supreme Court of violating the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of Rp 500 million (US$34,644) for circulating a recording of a reportedly lewd phone call between her and Muslim, then the principal of the school that employed her.

Nuril was later granted amnesty by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, but the case sparked an outcry from experts and activists, as well as victims and their families.

De Meyer of ILO referred to Nuril's case as a "copybook example" that the legislation, although not wrong, was incomplete.

"Technically this is not wrong. The question is it's not appropriate to achieve this sort of outcome that you need to have and that this is not just a case of sharing indecent material as it was the intention to begin with, but that this is a broader case of starting to tackle an issue in the society that can't be tackled if the person who, in this case, is willing to take the lead is punished for taking the lead and raising awareness about an issue that's very important. It's a question of refining the legislation," he told reporters on the sidelines of the discussion.

Law alone would not be enough, De Meyer argued, adding that mindset changes and company policies would play as important a role, including the provision of complaint and investigation procedures, as well as dispute resolution mechanisms at the workplace level as required by the convention to encourage victims to speak up.

"The government is very responsive to what clearly lives in Indonesia's society. These are issues that resonate with the people," he said. "There are many aspects where the government wants to be really well-prepared so we hope that the ratification will not be too long in coming."

To push the government to ratify the new ILO convention, Sulistri, chairwoman of the Food, Beverage, Tourism, Restaurant and Hotel Trade Union Federation, said that about 20 unions and civil society organizations had formed an alliance to prepare for an advocacy program in the next three months.

She said that many victims were reluctant to report their cases in their workplaces because of a victim-blaming culture in Indonesia and fears that they would be harassed again, hence policies at the company level were needed.

"I believe that the number of cases will decrease once the convention is ratified and is implemented well because the government will have to create comprehensive regulations, including in preventing such cases through character building and the provision of mechanisms to file reports. At the company level, there should at least be company policies and, even better, a collective labor agreement," Sulistri said.

The head of the manpower regulation committee of Apindo, Myra Hanartani, said that ratification of the convention would require thorough consideration and preparation as it could create complications for employers. She cited, for example, an article in the convention that required member states to recognize the effects of domestic violence and if possible, mitigate its impact in the world of work.

"What we also want to quite criticize is that the sexist and discriminative actions are the results of our education since we were young. Workers, when they enter the labor market, say at 18 years old, they'll already
have those behaviors. So what is needed is to start with the education because the labor market is the downstream. We need to slowly, thoroughly review whether we could implement this instrument," she told The Jakarta Post.

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