On protecting women workers<\/p>\n
Your editorial Protect all women workers (Aug. 12, 2000)
\nsharply criticizes a campaign to stop sending women workers to
\nSaudi Arabia, which was prompted by 22 NGOs and supported by the
\nFirst Lady. Most of those women work as domestic staff. The most
\nimportant criticism launched in the editorial is that legal
\nprotection should also apply to pembantu (domestic staff) in our
\nown country. I have some comments on this.<\/p>\n
First, the fact that issues on domestic staff were excluded
\nfrom the campaign perhaps can be best understood as a political
\nbias rather than an accidentally neglected topic. The activists
\nare accustomed to a metropolis circumstance where domestic help
\nis a very ordinary phenomenon. That is why we have never heard of
\nan NGO speaking out on the fate of local domestic staff, let
\nalone staging a protest on their behalf, as it could have a
\nboomerang effect on the activists.<\/p>\n
I am not accusing the activists of being bad employers. My
\npoint is that those activists are paying no attention to the
\nproblems of local domestic workers.<\/p>\n
Second, the editorial argues that all Indonesian domestic
\nworkers wherever they work need legal protection. The question
\nis: Who is going to protect them? And the editorial seems to
\nplace the responsibility on the state.<\/p>\n
In my opinion, the protection should come from the workers
\nthemselves, by setting up a union and using it as a vehicle to
\nestablish legal protection and to defend themselves from their
\nemployers' misconducts. It is regrettable that the editorial
\nfailed to raise such a point.<\/p>\n
SAMUEL GULTOM<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-protecting-women-workers-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }