Yearning for a Safe Space for Female Workers

What female workers yearn for today is the most fundamental right as a human being. Jakarta (ANTARA) - That night, less than a week after Kartini Day and fewer than five days before International Labour Day, a major tragedy seemed to pierce the hearts of all Indonesian women. On Monday (27/4), the train accident occurred. The Argo Bromo train, speeding from Gambir Station in Jakarta to Pasar Turi in Surabaya, collided with the stationary Jakarta-Cikarang Commuter Line train at Bekasi Timur Station. As of Wednesday (29/4) at 11:00 WIB, the death toll from the accident stood at 16 people, all of whom were women. In the rearmost carriage, mothers, female employees, and even informal female workers were crammed together, enduring fatigue on their journey home, before it all turned into rubble surrounded by their belongings. Cooler bags containing breast milk, lanyards with names and company logos, scattered bag contents, and mobile phones that kept ringing with unanswered messages, waiting to be properly handled. The women-only carriage, which should have been a safe space for urban Kartinis, in an instant, became the most vulnerable spot during the accident. In the same week, news about a childcare facility (daycare) in Yogyakarta also tugged at the hearts of other women. A place trusted by young mothers who still have to work to leave their children to play and learn turned into an unimaginable nightmare. Both tragedies simultaneously seem to serve as a warning that there is still much homework to be done to support the welfare of working women.