JAKARTA: Labour and women’s rights groups have called on President Prabowo Subianto to stick to his pledge to accelerate the passing of a long-awaited domestic workers protection bill, which has been on and off the table for more than 20 years
The passage of the bill should no longer face substantive obstacles, according to a coalition of civil society groups advocating for the stalled bill, as deliberations had been ongoing at the House of Representatives for years.
National Advocacy Network for Domestic Workers (Jala PRT) coordinator Lita Anggraini said delays to the bill were partly caused by repeated reviews of articles that had already been deemed appropriate by civil groups, which unnecessarily prolonged deliberations.
“During the 2019-2024 period, the bill was already awaiting plenary approval, but there have still been attempts to delay it in the current term,” Lita said.
“There is no longer any reason to postpone the passage of this bill.” Eva Kusuma Sundari, director of women’s empowerment group Sarinah Institute, highlighted the importance of strong political will from the House of Representatives leadership in pushing the bill. Without it, the bill risked being overtaken by other draft laws also awaiting deliberation this year, added Eva, who once served as a House lawmaker until 2019.
The coalition is planning to send a letter on March 8, which coincides with International Women’s Day, to urge House Speaker Puan Maharani of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and President Prabowo to expedite the bill’s passage.
The letter will be signed by prominent figures, including former first lady Sinta Nuriyah Wahid and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Deputy Speaker Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hemas, the wife of Yogyakarta’s Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.
Should their demands be ignored, the coalition of labor and women’s groups is also planning to stage protests in front of the Senayan Legislative Complex and the Presidential Palace, both in Central Jakarta.
Separately, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) also called on the government and the legislature to honour their commitment to pass the bill, citing rising violence cases against domestic and care workers, most of whom are women.
Komnas Perempuan commissioner Irwan Setiawan said in a statement on Thursday (Feb 12) that the absence of legal protection for domestic and care workers had led to “systemic violence and human rights violations” against them.
The coalition and Komnas Perempuan pointed to a pledge made by Prabowo before thousands of workers during the International Workers’ Day, “May Day”, rally last year, in which he promised to push the legislature to pass the domestic worker protection bill within three months.
A House-initiated bill that is currently being discussed at the House Legislation Body (Baleg), the domestic worker protection bill was included in the 2026 National Legislation Programme (Prolegnas) priority list passed in a plenary session in December 2025.
However, as of Friday afternoon, the domestic workers bill could not be found in the list of priority bills to be deliberated this year on the House’s official website.
Baleg chair Bob Hasan of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party said upcoming deliberations would focus on whether the future law should stipulate the establishment of a new body to help settle disputes among domestic workers, employers and labour agencies.
“We will summon Manpower Minister Yassierli to discuss the formation of the body,” he said on Friday, stopping short of specifying a timeline for further deliberations.
During a meeting on Jan 14, Bob welcomed a proposal from the Indonesian Women’s Congress (Kowani), which represents domestic employers, to establish a dispute settlement body to mediate conflicts without resorting to legal proceedings.
The Gerindra politician said the proposal would require input from the Manpower Ministry. However, Bob acknowledged that drafting additional provisions would take a lot of time, particularly as Baleg sought to accommodate input from all stakeholders, including workers and employers.
“This will need considerable time,” Bob said at the time.
“The reason the domestic workers bill has repeatedly gone back and forth is because we need to balance all stakeholders’ input.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
