Dyah Ayu Pitaloka, Malang – Demand for underage domestic workers is high in Malang, East Java because they can be paid less than adults, and employers do not fear getting caught.

The government classifies child domestic labor as one of the "worst forms of child labor" according to Indonesia's National Action Plan Against Child Labor.

Child domestic workers are paid between Rp 300,000 and Rp 500,000 ($26-$43) per month, according to a Malang Community and Development Studies Institute (LPKP) survey from October to December 2011.

The survey found child domestic workers isolated and barred from socializing. Young girls often worked long hours, sometimes without rest days or holidays. Child domestics were also at risk of mental, physical and sexual abuse.

"Child laborers are vulnerable to violence, especially when they are isolated in the house. Cases of abuse often emerge only after the child got out of the house or after they quit the job," Anwar Solihin, head of LPKP's advocacy division in Malang, said on Tuesday.

Domestic work is illegal under age 15, and domestic workers ages 15 through 17 are prohibited from hazardous activities, according to Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection guidelines.

Nonetheless, ILO studies have demonstrated that approximately 35 percent of Indonesia's domestic workers are under the age of 18. "Based on the information we gathered, several elite residential areas in Malang hire more child domestic workers under the age of 17. But access to them is difficult because they are often closed in and isolated," Anwar said.

The LKPK is urging the government to enforce existing laws protecting child domestics, and to further expand laws on child labor generally.

"We are also providing skills training for child domestics and giving their families capital to stop the children becoming domestic helpers," Anwar said.