Domestic helpers: Essential, but paid poorly
Domestic helpers: Essential, but paid poorly
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Ani, 29, a stand guide at a shopping center in Central Jakarta
and her husband Irfan, 31, an employee at a private bank in South
Jakarta, can't imagine living without their maid even for a day.
"Both of us have to leave early in the morning and come home
around eight in the evening. We leave all the household chores to
our maid," Ani told The Jakarta Post.
Besides doing the laundry and cooking, their domestic helper,
according to Ani, still takes care of their two children. For all
the work, Ani said, she pays her Rp 300,000 per month.
"Our combined salaries are only around Rp 4 million. We have
to make our monthly payments on the house, buy milk for our
children, and pay the maid's salary. We simply can't afford to
hire a nanny for our children," she said.
Tens of thousands of families living in the outlying areas of
Greater Jakarta such as Cibubur, Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok are
in a similar situation as Ani and Irfan.
According to the latest data issued by the National Statistics
Agency (BPS), most families living in Jakarta have an income of
less than Rp 2 million per month.
A recent study by German sociologist Hans Dieter Evers
concludes that productivity in big cities in third world
countries, including Jakarta, would reduce by half if their
non-formal workers, including maids, left their jobs.
Despite their important role in modern life in Jakarta, many
people still see their maids as slaves, often mistreating them
without any reason.
Ida Ruwaida Noor, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia
says several cases of violence toward maids have made headlines
in the media, including Sri Maryati, 18, who was beaten and
locked up in a toilet in Bekasi in March 2004; Yuli, 19, who was
physically abused for months in East Jakarta, and Sari, who was
not fed for days in Bekasi. These incidents, she says, are
believed to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Ida said more common exploitation seen in most families in
Jakarta was requiring their maids to work long hours -- between
15 to 18 hours per day -- without adequate rest or holidays as
well as subjecting them to verbal abuse.
Data from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham)
shows that about 8,583 cases of domestic violence, mostly
relating to maids, were reported from 2001 to 2004.
Lusy, 40, a housewife living in an elite housing complex in
South Jakarta, says that she pays her maid enough. "She should
work hard for that. Sometimes, she just doesn't understand my
instructions and does something wrong so I scold her to teach her
a lesson."
Ida says unlike in more advanced countries, where maids are
treated with respect and get a much higher salary, maids in
Indonesia are often at the mercy of their employers.
"Each ethnic group in Indonesia used to have slaves or
domestic helpers at the bottom of the social strata. This
produces a mind-set that puts maids at the lowest level of the
social structure. They also have low bargaining power as
employers think that they can get another maid easily," said Ida.
A son of a maid, who lives with an employer in Central
Jakarta, says that he never mentions the profession of his mother
to his friends at school to avoid embarrassment.
"I just say that my mother is a farmer in the countryside, and
I stay here with my relatives. I have a friend who was humiliated
after he revealed that his mother was a maid," he said, asking to
remain anonymous.
Maids abused and raped in the last two years
No. Name Age Year Area Case
1. Sri Maryati 18 2004 Bekasi death caused by
months of abuse
2. Yuli 19 2003 East Jakarta Serious injuries
due to beating
3. Sari 18 2003 Bekasi Serious injuries
due to beating
4. Solikhah 23 2003 Central Jakarta rape and abuse
5. Suprianti 20 2003 Central Jakarta rape and abuse
6. Suparni 23 2003 Tangerang rape and abuse
From various sources