Editorial
In Indonesia, there are over 4 million women and girls as young as the age of ten being used as domestic workers. A domestic worker is a person like a maid, who do household chores such as cleaning, washing dishes and gardening. In Indonesia, its a different story. The women are physically, sexually, and psychologically abused by their employers. They work 14-18 hour days, 7 days a week with no days off, no breaks, and no vacation time. For all that work, they get little to no pay. So far, the government has done nothing to help stop this ever growing issue, and has failed consistently to reign in recruitment agencies for the women. The children who work are cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and taking care of babies. The minimum age for full time child workers is 15, but these children are as young as the age of 10.
"Indonesia's child domestic workers work longer and harder than many adults, but the government excludes them from laws that protect the rest of the workforce," said Bede Sheppard, Asia researcher in the Children's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. Employers often recruit a child rather than an adult in order to get someone who will work for less, who will complain less, who is easier to order around, and who has fewer social connections. This is a huge problem, and now the women and children are also being shipped to Malaysia, Singapore, and the Middle East, as well as staying in Indonesia to be domestic workers. Because the government won't take control of this issue, it is now up to us to step in.
There are 3.3 billion women on earth, and approximately 84% of them will be abused in their lifetime. Approximately 700,000 children under the age of 18 are domestic workers in Indonesia. "Every day my employer was angry and she would kick me and pinch me. Almost every day. When I mopped the floor, I did not use a mop for mopping, just my hands and a rag, and then my employer kicked me to go deeper under the bed. She would pinch me on my shoulders," says 13 year old Kemela. We can start to take control o this issue by creating organizations like the Women for Women International (WfWI), which helps women understand their rights and fight for them. As a community, we can help raise awareness for women and help them get their rights back and decrease the number of women being abused and mistreated.
In Indonesia, there are over 4 million women and girls as young as the age of ten being used as domestic workers. A domestic worker is a person like a maid, who do household chores such as cleaning, washing dishes and gardening. In Indonesia, its a different story. The women are physically, sexually, and psychologically abused by their employers. They work 14-18 hour days, 7 days a week with no days off, no breaks, and no vacation time. For all that work, they get little to no pay. So far, the government has done nothing to help stop this ever growing issue, and has failed consistently to reign in recruitment agencies for the women. The children who work are cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and taking care of babies. The minimum age for full time child workers is 15, but these children are as young as the age of 10.
"Indonesia's child domestic workers work longer and harder than many adults, but the government excludes them from laws that protect the rest of the workforce," said Bede Sheppard, Asia researcher in the Children's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. Employers often recruit a child rather than an adult in order to get someone who will work for less, who will complain less, who is easier to order around, and who has fewer social connections. This is a huge problem, and now the women and children are also being shipped to Malaysia, Singapore, and the Middle East, as well as staying in Indonesia to be domestic workers. Because the government won't take control of this issue, it is now up to us to step in.
There are 3.3 billion women on earth, and approximately 84% of them will be abused in their lifetime. Approximately 700,000 children under the age of 18 are domestic workers in Indonesia. "Every day my employer was angry and she would kick me and pinch me. Almost every day. When I mopped the floor, I did not use a mop for mopping, just my hands and a rag, and then my employer kicked me to go deeper under the bed. She would pinch me on my shoulders," says 13 year old Kemela. We can start to take control o this issue by creating organizations like the Women for Women International (WfWI), which helps women understand their rights and fight for them. As a community, we can help raise awareness for women and help them get their rights back and decrease the number of women being abused and mistreated.