By Margret K. Parker

 Indonesian women have very few rights in the work place & in their homes.  As working women they receive much lower pay than men.  They don’t receive many of the extra benefits that men are offered such as tax deduction & medical insurance.  They constantly suffer from physical & sexual abuse in their homes & in general, where no laws can really protect them.

 Companies would hire women to work in their factories just because they knew they didn’t have to pay them as much as men nor treat them the same as men.  The law says women are allowed a 3-month maternity leave BUT most often the companies just end up firing or replacing these women.

 Labor laws in Indonesia mandate that women receive 2 days for menstrual leave per month, BUT most often that leave is not allowed by the companies.  They face harassment quite often from the other male workers & owners of the factories.  These Indonesian women are just constantly discriminated against in the workplace as well as in their own homes.  Abuse seems to follow them everywhere.

 They aren’t many laws in Indonesia at all that really help women against physical or sexual abuse.  For the most part, violence against women in Indonesia is just poorly documented.  The government feels it’s not their business to interfere in a domestic violence situation because it’s a “private matter.”  So if a women is abused by her husband then it’s her own problem, according to the Indonesian government.

 Another reason why rape & abuse are not reported in Indonesia is because of the “social stigma attached to victims.”  If a woman wants to prosecute her rapist then she has to 1.) have physical evidence from a rape kit from a hospital examination then 2.) she has to have a witness of the rape, which is very unlikely.

 So basically there are laws put in place by the government which are said to protect women in the workplace & in the home (or just in general) BUT its obvious they are not enforced properly or at all.  Luckily, there are people today who are willing & wanting to help women live a better & safer life in Indonesia.

 There are a few organizations in Indonesia helping women today get the human rights they deserve.  Organizations such as the Puan Amal Hayati & Amnesty International.  These organizations are known in Asia as NGOs or Non-Governmental Organizations.  These NGOs help women overcome physical, emotional, & sexual abuse...as well as help them deal with injustice in the workplace.

 Puan Amal Hayati, an Islamic NGO, helps to stop violence against women, raise awareness of abuse, & provide hope & shelter for women who have been abused or raped.  Puan Amal Hayati helps women realize that the injustice they suffer at home & financially by their husbands is considered violence against women.  So they help women to get back on their feet by establishing women crisis centers for abuse victims.

 The goal at these centers is, of course, to assist traumatized women by providing them shelter, security, medical support, legal help, & counseling.  They also sometimes use a religious approach to reach out to law enforcements, religious leaders, community leaders, & the government, itself, about gender inequality.  Puan Amal Hayati now runs 5 women crisis centers in Indonesia.

 Since domestic workers are constantly having their human rights violated, Amnesty International helps these women by urging the Indonesian government to have: ◦ reasonable limitation of working hours ◦ clearly defined weekly rest & leave periods ◦ ensure remuneration adequate to secure life w/ dignity ◦ clear standards for nightly work & overtime ◦ standards on termination of employment ◦ having access to courts

 Without proper legal protection, these women domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitation & abuse at their workplace.  An example of their vulnerability is that they often work long hours with no rest & don’t get paid as much as men for their hard work.  However, Amnesty International also took necessary steps on the government to protect women & domestic workers in Indonesia since they are considered extremely vulnerable to violence against them.

 So with the help of Puan Amal Hayati & Amnesty International, women in Indonesia are starting to... ◦ get the help they deserve with shelters that provide emotional, physical, & sexual abuse ◦ justice for exploitation & abuse in the workplace, ◦ as well as having their human rights respected, instead violated.