Better protection for women workers sought
JAKARTA (JP): Ten activists from a women's group held a peaceful demonstration outside the office of State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi, demanding better work conditions for Indonesian women working overseas.
Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity) activists presented a petition issued by 10 other non-governmental organizations and individuals, said its director of advocacy Yunianti Nurzaifah.
The demonstrators carried banners and posters stating "No to prostitution", "Labor laws work against women's rights" and "Indonesian women workers bring money to the country".
Yunianti said the group demanded a full investigation into reports that Indonesian women had been forced into prostitution or worked illegally abroad.
She called for an independent fact-finding team to provide a transparent report to the public. The activists also called on the government to launch a campaign to eradicate the brokering of illegal workers and prostitution in Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Their protests coincide with International Women's Day, which falls on March 8. The day is supported by the United Nations, to bridge national, ethnic, cultural, economic and political divides among women of all nations, said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a message to commemorate the day.
An estimated 1.25 million Indonesian women are currently working overseas, mainly as housemaids, said Yunianti, whose group handles an average of 20 mistreatment cases a month. The mistreatments cited include fraud, rapes, forced pregnancies during marriage to the women's foreign husbands, late pay checks and deaths during employment.
The illegal workers, frequent victims of fraud by employment brokers, were either aware, forced or cheated into prostitution, Yunianti said.
She said that her group would work with the government, researchers, the Indonesian Commission on Human Rights and non- governmental organizations to form a forum to address women's rights in the workplace.
The Ministry of Manpower stipulates that overseas, Indonesian workers, expected to number 2.5 million by the year 2000, must have specific skills in jobs, including nursing, construction and tourism. Skilled workers may demand a minimum pay of US$500 (Rp 1.2 million).
A former illegal worker, Misdah from Sambas, West Kalimantan, recounted yesterday of her plight when she was deported from Malaysia after working for a Chinese family. She took a freighter from Malaysia to Tanjung Balai in Medan, North Sumatra.
Misdah, 27, said she obtained illegal work permits from a Chinese broker, whose identity and company name she does not know. Misdah said there were 50 workers who received permits from the same broker.
Another worker, Sofiyah, 34, of Salatiga, Central Java, had worked in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for one and a half years, from 1989 to 1990, as a seamstress at a family-owned boutique.
She returned to Indonesia earlier than the specified time of her two-year contract because of the Gulf War and currently helps her family.
During her contract, she and three other Indonesian women worked from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. without a break, while also experiencing difficulties maintaining contact with their families because of lack of access to a post office box.
Sofiyah, a 1986 graduate of education from the State Institute for Islamic Studies, Salatiga, also spoke of late pay checks.
Mien Sugandhi was unavailable yesterday for comment, but fourth-secretary Wiek Wibadswo said on her behalf that the grievances would be reviewed for further consideration. (01)