More domestic workers in the country will suffer mistreatment unless the government and the House of Representatives counterparts pass a law on domestic workers protection, activists say. Many female domestic workers, including women and girls, were living and working under poor conditions, where they were being exploited economically and suffering physical, psychological and sexual violence [...]

On 15 February 2011 the death of 14-year old domestic worker Sunarsih ten years ago in Indonesia will be commemorated by women workers, migrant and local domestic workers, women’s rights advocates and labour support groups all over Asia. Committee for Asian Women (CAW) joins JALA PRT, TUNAS MULIA and all domestic workers organisations in Indonesia [...]

The rising number of abuse cases of Indonesian migrant workers has sparked heated debate over whether the government should stop exporting housemaids. However, job seekers here are apparently still looking for the silver lining in every dark cloud of working overseas. Nuryati, a lecturer at Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University’s School of Law in Serang, Banten, [...]

A court in the Saudi city of Medina has sentenced a woman to three years in jail for the severe physical abuse of her Indonesian maid. Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, 23, was admitted to hospital in November with broken bones and burns to her face and body. The case received worldwide attention, and prompted the [...]

The National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi today suggested to the government to bring domestic workers under the purview of a proposed law for protection of women against sexual harassment at workplace.   Voicing concern over the exclusion of domestic workers from the purview of the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace [...]

Domestic workers took out a rally in Bangalore on Jan. 4  demanding dignity and recognition for their work. The rally organised by Karnataka Domestic Workers’ Movement was to underline their long-pending demands, including a day’s holiday in a week. Demands Their other demands, submitted in a memorandum to Labour Minister B.N. Bache Gowda, included recognition of [...]

Recent revelations of domestic worker abuse may be grotesque and horrifying, but they are only the most visible aspect of the many difficulties faced by these predominantly female workers, activists say. Reports from the Middle East include young girls being burned with hot irons and cut with scissors, or even having two dozen nails driven [...]

The recent tragedies surrounding two Indonesian maids in Saudi Arabia has once again turned the spotlight toward migrant abuse, calling attention to the lack of labour protections for an increasingly transnaitional workforce in the Middle East. In just the span of a few weeks, separate incidents involving domestic workers from Asia have spurred a global [...]

Jakarta. Sumiati binti Salan Mustapa arrived in Saudi Arabia four months ago in search of a better life. Instead, the domestic worker is now in critical condition in the hospital, her body covered with injuries allegedly inflicted by her employers, including serious cuts around her lips and mouth. Sumiati, 23, has been treated at King [...]

Amnesty International urged on Oct 27 the Saudi Arabian King to halt the execution of a young Sri Lankan woman who has lost her appeal against a death sentence for a murder committed when she says she was 17 years old. Rizana Nafeek, who was arrested in May 2005 on charges of killing an infant in [...]