Housemaids deserve humane treatment: NGO

Housemaids deserve humane treatment: NGO

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Concerned non governmental organizations have called on families
employing domestic housemaids to start treating them as
individuals with equal rights, in a bid to curb the rampant abuse
and discrimination against them.

Activists from the Legal Aid Institute for Health (LBH
Kesehatan), the Women's Association for Legal Aid (LBH APIK) and
Yogyakarta-based Tjoet Njak Dien school for domestic helpers said
on Thursday that although housemaids played an important role in
the day-to-day life of families, most of them were still living
in dire conditions.

"Most housemaids in Jakarta are underpaid and working
overtime. They work up to 15 hours a day and are paid between Rp
100,000 (US$11) and Rp 150,000 per month, far below the regional
minimum wage," August Pasaribu of the LBH Kesehatan told a
seminar on the eradication of violence against housemaids here.

The minimum wage in Jakarta is Rp 631,000 (US$75.1) and will
increase by 6.3 percent starting Jan. 1, 2004, to Rp 671,550.

Fellow activist Vony Reyneta of the LBH Apik said that
housemaids were also prone to abuse by their employers.

"There are many cases where housemaids were intentionally
beaten up and even raped," she said.

The activists regretted that the public remained largely
unaware of housemaids' rights, compared to other workers.

"The city in fact has a bylaw to regulate contracts between
employers and housemaids. However, the city administration has
not done enough to make it public," August said, referring to
bylaw No. 6/1993 on domestic help.

The activists also agreed that housemaids must be granted the
right to set up a union because this would boost their standing
if a dispute arose with their employer.

The City Manpower and Transmigration Agency recorded a total
of 978,821 housemaids in the capital. Most of them come from
several regencies such as Indramayu, Subang and Cirebon in West
Java and Tegal and Brebes in Central Java.

Approaching the Idul Fitri holiday, when most domestic helpers
return to their hometowns, there will be a surge in the demand
for seasonal maids among families in the capital.