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Resty Woro Yuniar

Indonesia’s new legislation to protect domestic helpers has been hailed by rights groups as the beginning of a “new chapter” for millions – though they warn that the road to change remains long and winding.
On April 21, Indonesia’s House of Representatives passed the domestic worker protection bill into law, 22 years since it was first proposed.
The legislation “provides legal certainty, protects workers from various forms of unfair treatment, and encourages improvements in the skills and welfare of domestic workers”, law minister Supratman Andi Agtas told lawmakers last week.
Domestic workers now have 14 rights, including access to social security, universal healthcare and mandatory vocational training. The scope of their jobs is also limited to 10 chores – such as cooking, washing and ironing clothes, cleaning the house and the garden, and looking after children, the sick, the elderly or people with disabilities as well as other chores agreed with employers.
Placement companies must now be registered and barred from deducting workers’ wages.

“The Domestic Workers Protection Law represents a new chapter in our efforts to change a system that has historically put domestic workers at a disadvantage,” said Lita Anggraini, coordinator at the National Advocacy Network for Domestic Workers (Jala PRT). Jala PRT was the first civil group to propose the bill to the parliament in 2004.
Certain protections – such as minimum wage – are still not granted to domestic workers, though. While they are now guaranteed salaries and religious holiday bonuses, their pay remains dependent on what had been agreed with their employer.
“It would certainly be difficult for employers to pay minimum wages, given that employers of domestic workers in Indonesia range from the upper to the lower classes, including labourers on minimum wage themselves,” she said.
“However, domestic workers’ wages, as per the law, are not below the poverty line. This is a challenge, but at least we now have legal protection against arbitrary wages.”

Though a local law, the legislation is expected to boost Indonesia’s efforts to protect its domestic workers in markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. “The new law gives us bargaining power for demanding that the destination country protect Indonesian migrant domestic workers,” Lita said.
In the past, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs often “complained” that lack of domestic legal framework had made it difficult to negotiate for better protection for Indonesian migrant domestic workers abroad, she said.
Harsh conditions
Just two days after the law passed, two helpers in south Jakarta jumped from a four-storey boarding house. The 15-year-old died while the 30-year-old is still in hospital with broken arms.
The women reportedly lived on the top floor of the building, whose access points were barred and locked by the owner, raising suspicion that they were trying to escape from the harsh living conditions.
Jakarta police spokesman Budi Hermanto told reporters on Monday that they were investigating allegations of “confinement, human trafficking and child exploitation”. Nine people have been summoned for questioning, including the employer, agent and the survivor.


“This incident reflects the true extent of employers’ mistreatment of domestic workers in Indonesia. There have been numerous cases like this,” said Vivi Widyawati, research coordinator with women workers’ rights group Perempuan Mahardhika.
“Therefore, the first to receive public awareness and oversight, now that the Domestic Workers Protection Law is in place, are employers.”
Under the new law, neighbourhood chiefs or village officials are empowered to check on domestic workers’ welfare and safety and report any mistreatment to law enforcement. But some still believed that domestic workers’ welfare and safety are private matters “that shouldn’t be interfered with”, Lita said.
“That’s a separate challenge, because this is a new task for neighbourhood associations. They might be reluctant to do it, and not all residents want to be controlled by the neighbourhood chiefs,” she said, urging the government to launch large-scale public education campaigns.
The roughly 8 million Indonesian domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to violence and exploitation as they work in “a private setting which places huge powers on their employers”, according to Lita.

Last year, there were 1,184 cases of violence against domestic workers across Indonesia, according to Jala PRT. Between 2021 and 2024, the group recorded 3,308 cases of violence against domestic workers.
Most of the cases were “multilayered violence” – covering physical, mental, sexual and financial abuse, Lita said.
Real changes would not happen instantly, Vivi said, as it could take years to change deeply ingrained cultural attitudes.
“In Indonesia, domestic work is still considered a trivial job … for those who are uneducated. Some of them are related to their employers, or come from the same villages as their employers. They are called ‘pembantu’ [helper] or ‘assistant’, instead of workers protected by the law,” she said.
“To achieve faster change, the government must be aggressive in conducting outreach to employers and all members of society, as well as continuous monitoring to ensure that this law is complied with.”


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While the new law is a start, real changes will not happen instantly because of ingrained beliefs, women activists say


While the new law is a start, real changes will not happen instantly because of ingrained beliefs, women activists say.


Foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong

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Poverty

Rights groups hail Indonesia’s ‘new chapter’ for domestic workers, warn of long road ahead

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}While the new law is a start, real changes will not happen instantly because of ingrained beliefs, women activists say

While the new law is a start, real changes will not happen instantly because of ingrained beliefs, women activists say