Dan Eaton, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is ignoring the widespread physical and sexual abuse of hundreds of thousands of young girls working as maids in homes around the country, an international human rights watchdog said on Monday.
Human Rights Watch said in a 74-page report that children interviewed had described being denied food and wages and were beaten and raped by their employers.
The New York-based group said it also interviewed 19 Indonesian officials, most of whom acknowledged abuse existed but were quick to argue it was limited to a few cases and did not require fundamental changes to the government's approach.
"Out of 44 girls interviewed, all of them are talking about the long hours of work and not being paid decent wages. More than half of them had suffered some form of physical and sexual abuse," Sahr MuhammedAlly, the author of the report, told Reuters in an interview. "The Indonesian government has left child domestic workers at the complete mercy of their employers," MuhammedAlly said.
The report, titled "Always on Call: Abuse and Exploitation of Child Domestic Workers", said the attitude of authorities contrasted sharply with vocal official condemnation of the often poor treatment of adult Indonesian labourers working abroad in Malaysia, Singapore and the Middle East.
Investigations rare
It said 640,000 girls between the ages of 12 and 18 years were working as "helpers" in Indonesian households, out of a total 2.6 million domestic workers. The legal minimum working age in Indonesia is 15 years.
"Many Indonesians believe that working as a domestic is a safe option out of poverty for children," a statement issued with the report said.
"But Human Rights Watch interviewed children who described being denied food, being beaten and raped, and refused wages. Indonesian authorities rarely investigate or prosecute abuses, and many deny that such abuse occurs." The report said only one of the 44 domestic child workers interviewed was allowed to attend formal school by her employer.
"The Indonesian government must no longer turn a blind eye to such abuse," MuhammedAlly said.
The report urged the government to amend labour laws to afford domestic workers basic labour rights such as an eight-hour work day, days off and the minimum wage. The report also said the minimum working age should be enforced as well as the right to education.
But it acknowledged that the practice of using young domestic helpers, the vast majority of whom are girls, would be hard to eradicate and therefore the government must focus on the worst forms of abuse.
"We are not going to change what happens overnight, but the government can take steps to enact core labour standards for domestic workers," MuhammedAlly said.