Domestic helpers: Maids to order?<\/p>\n
Slavery was abolished years ago, but the plight of some
\nhousemaids today shows that inhumane attitudes never die. The
\nrecent self-immolation by a housemaid who endured ill-treatment
\nfrom her employers in Jakarta has brought attention once again to
\nthe problem of domestic helpers denied their basic rights. The
\nJakarta Post reporters Ida Indawati Khouw and Maria
\nEndah Hulupi take a look at the lives of domestic helpers.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When broken down to an hourly rate, housemaid
\n\"Iyun\" earns from Rp 300 to Rp 500 per hour.<\/p>\n
The 30 year old works for a merchandise supplier at a housing
\ncomplex in Bekasi, east of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Her workday starts at 4 a.m. and sometimes last until 2 a.m.
\nthe following morning. She does not only have to do household
\nchores in the seven-bedroom, two-story home, but also must help
\nwith the family's business.<\/p>\n
\"The really long working hours usually occur when I must help
\nmy boss prepare the merchandise -- like cosmetics and clothes --
\nincluding wrapping them and putting on the price tags before they
\ngo to market,\" Iyun said hesitantly in a telephone interview. She
\nwas too afraid to leave the house in case her employer found out.<\/p>\n
\"The earliest I get to bed is 10 p.m.\"<\/p>\n
The widow from Sukabumi, West Java, has never thought that the
\nadditional work she does should be reflected in her monthly Rp
\n250,000 wage.<\/p>\n
At the end of her day, she retires to a 12-square-meter room
\nwhich she shares with her daughter, 11, who also works in the
\nhouse, though Iyun has \"never had the courage\" to ask that her
\ndaughter be paid for her work.<\/p>\n
\"I usually sleep on the floor because there's only one
\nmattress and that is used by my daughter,\" she said. \"Thank God
\nthat I never have had a serious illness.\"<\/p>\n
Iyun's story is true of many domestic helpers in the capital
\nand around Indonesia. Although they may not have to endure the
\nterrible abuse of Jumiati, who lies in a hospital bed with self-
\ninflicted burns after she could no longer take the blows of her
\nemployers in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, they often have no
\nlegal protection, no clearly defined working hours, low wages and
\npoor nutrition and health care.<\/p>\n
A 1999 survey by the Yogyakarta-based Tjoet Nyak Dien
\nAssociation, which focuses on women's rights advocacy, of 150
\nhousemaids in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Surabaya showed that on
\naverage housemaids worked for seven to nine hours per day, but
\nsome worked for 10 hours or more per day.<\/p>\n
Their average income in Surabaya was Rp 175,150, Jakarta Rp
\n115,600 and in Yogyakarta Rp 86,400. Only 42 percent of those
\nsurveyed were elementary school graduates.<\/p>\n
A full 60 percent of housemaids reported experiencing verbal
\nabuse and 15 percent of them physical abuse.<\/p>\n
An expert on social psychology at the University of Indonesia,
\nDradjat S. Soemantri, said the situation was rooted in the
\ntradition that working as a housemaid was considered a matter of
\ndevotion, like servants of the past, and that the housemaids were
\nconsidered \"family members\".<\/p>\n
\"The condition has now changed in that the era demands more
\nprofessionalism, thus housemaids now are really searching for
\njobs, not to devote themselves. The abuse occurs because
\nemployers still want to preserve the old tradition, and also
\nbecause life in big cities conditions people to be suspicious and
\nprejudiced,\" Dradjat said.<\/p>\n
Single working woman Elizabeth said she wanted to provide jobs
\nfor the \"unskilled\" even though she could take care of the work
\naround her home herself.<\/p>\n
\"I have a kind middle-aged servant, whom I treat like my own
\nrelative. She helps me with cooking and other nonstrenuous
\nchores,\" Elizabeth said.<\/p>\n
\"I help finance one of her children's education in her
\nhometown of Cilacap and encourage her to save some money from her
\nRp 200,000 monthly salary.\"<\/p>\n
Ignoring rights<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organization activists consider the argument
\nthat domestic helpers are \"family\" to be merely a patronizing
\nexcuse to deny the workers their basic rights, such as proper
\nwages, working hours and holidays.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia still perpetuates feudalism under the structure of
\ncapitalism, in which the poor belong to the lower class of
\nsociety. In this situation, the relationship between housemaids
\nand employers is not a professional one but tends to become
\nsomething like slavery,\" said Hening Tyas Sutji from Gema
\nPerempuan, an organization that campaigns for housemaids' rights.<\/p>\n
Hening said there was no appreciation for the profession
\nbecause household chores were considered menial and unskilled
\nlabor.<\/p>\n
\"Their fate relies more on the kindness of the employers.
\nMoreover, as the relationship is regarded as an emotional one
\nregulations are consequently considered unnecessary,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Gema Perempuan, along with other NGOs focusing on women's
\nissues, is now trying to draft a new bylaw on housemaids to
\nregulate their working hours and standard wages, protect their
\nright to organize and ensure their other basic rights as human
\nbeings.<\/p>\n
The 1993 bylaw on housemaids currently in effect is considered
\nto be focused on the responsibilities of housemaid placement
\nagencies, and does not cover the rights of housemaids in the
\nworkplace.<\/p>\n
\"We realize that the struggle will take a very long time,\"
\nHening said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/domestic-helpers-maids-to-order-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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