Dozens of housemaids staged a protest at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, demanding the government to pass a bill on the profession.

The protesters also brought giant effigies of an iron and a duster.

Written across the iron was: "Iron - housemaids' working tool, not a tool to torture housemaids."

The protesters, members of the National Advocacy Network of Housemaids (JALA), had joined forces with the Action Committee of Housemaids to observe what they called "National Housemaids' Day".

The National Housemaids' Day was initiated in 2007 to commemorate the death of Sunarsih, a 14-year-old housemaid tortured and killed by her employer in Surabaya, East Java, on Feb. 14, 2001.

"The process to legalize the bill started in 2004, but not once has the bill ever been discussed," said Lita Anggraeni, JALA's coordinator, as quoted by Antara.

She said that housemaids, both domestic and migrant, were more prone to human rights violations. Today was the sixth observance of National Housemaids' Day. (tas)