The Initiative Of The PPRT Bill Is The Participation Of The DPR With Vulnerable Groups

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JAKARTA - The Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers (RUU PPRT) has been officially enacted as a DPR Initiative Bill. The DPR's move forward is considered as a form of alignment with the people's representative institution to vulnerable groups.

The ratification of the PPRT Bill as the DPR Initiative Bill was held in a plenary session of the DPR on March 21. The council's decision-making against the PPRT Bill was chaired directly by the Chairman of the DPR RI, Puan Maharani.

The DPR under the leadership of Puan Maharani is also considered to have taken steps forward considering that the PPRTa Bill has been fought for by a number of groups for almost two decades.

"The stipulation of the PPRT Bill as an initiative of the DPR under the leadership of Puan Maharani is good news amidst the increasing number of cases of violence and harassment experienced by domestic workers, the majority of whom are women," said researcher at the Center for Political Research, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Luky Sandra Amalia, Tuesday, May 16.

To note, the PPRT Bill has been submitted since 2004 and is included in the National Legislation Program for every period of service of the DPR. Amalia assessed that Puan's leadership as Chair of the DPR has had a considerable effect on the progress of the PPRT Bill, which can be seen by the ratification of the PPRT Bill as a DPR Initiative Bill in the DPR term led by Puan.

"After being neglected for almost four times the DPR's term of office chaired by men, finally the DPR for the 2019-2024 period under the leadership of a woman, Puan Maharani, again showed her alignment to protect vulnerable groups," he said.

"Those are household workers and migrant workers through this PPRT Bill," added Amalia.

The author of the book 'Evaluation of the Direct Presidential Election in Indonesia' said that domestic workers or Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) need a special legal umbrella that protects their rights. This is because, said Amalia, domestic workers in the domestic sector have never been considered as part of a group of workers.

"Specific legal umbrellas for domestic workers not only protect their rights as workers, but can also manage safe and not detrimental employment relationships when they are dealing with employers," he said.

Amalia added that the PPRT Bill also guarantees a sense of security and protection from the state for migrant workers abroad. Moreover, PMI in the domestic sector often experiences violence and sexual harassment because of the absence of a legal umbrella from Indonesia itself.

"Therefore, the DPR must immediately follow up on this initiative bill. We all hope that this bill does not stop as an initiative of the DPR, but must continue to be fought for until the DPR ratifies this bill as a PPRT Law," said Amalia.

According to the PhD student at the University of Sydney, ideally the DPR ratified the PPRT Bill this year. This is because next year is a political year so that the focus of DPR members can shift to other things.

"The PPRT Bill's journey may not be easy, there will be a lot of obstacles, but that doesn't mean it's impossible," said the female activist from the Sarinah Institute.

Therefore, Amalia invites all parties to continue to oversee the discussion of the PPRT Bill. Especially women activists, household worker activists and migrant workers.

"Together with the Chairperson and member of the women's House of Representatives, we must continue to oversee the implementation of this PPRT Bill, while the chairman of the DPR is a woman," said Amalia.

He said good cooperation and synergy from all stakeholders would produce positive results. Amalia reminded that the same thing had been proven in the ratification of Law No. 12 of 2022 concerning the Crime of Sexual Violence (UU TPKS) which also occurred in the era of Puan's leadership as Chair of the DPR.

"Good collaboration between women activists and women chairmen and members of the women's House of Representatives is a good strategy to fight for the interests of female workers who are vulnerable to being victims of violence," he explained.

"And don't forget, a similar collaboration has succeeded in urging the TPKS Bill to become the TPKS Law after almost 10 years of delay," added Amalia.

Previously, the DPR officially ratified the PPRT Bill as an Initiative of the DPR. The chairman of the DPR, Puan Maharani, who led the ratification of the bill, also received appreciation from a number of circles, including from domestic activists and representatives who participated in monitoring the ratification of the PPRT Bill as a DPR Initiative Bill.

"Thank you Mrs. Puan, Mrs. Puan's life, Mrs. Puan's life," shouted the representatives of activists and domestic workers, shortly after the PPRT Bill was knocked as the DPR Initiative Bill, Tuesday (21/3).

Puan also had a dialogue with PRT representatives at the DPR Building and promised to provide time to have a special discussion with them. The first woman to serve as chairman of the DPR also asked that the PRT representative group and activists continue to synergize so that the PPRT Bill can be immediately realized into law.

"Next time we meet, I will hear how the input is. The important thing is that we work together. Anyway, nothing is detrimental, everything must be useful," said Puan.

The DPR itself has made two clusters related to the substance of the PPRT Bill. The Working Committee (Panja) of the PPRT Bill classifies the first cluster of the PPRT Bill based on socio-cultural, and the second cluster based on professional work.

Through the PPRT Bill, the DPR hopes to create guarantees from the state for domestic workers. In addition, the PPRT Bill is expected to provide justice for household workers who work in the domestic sector. DPR also hopes that the PPRT Bill will become a bridge for domestic workers who experience discrimination, violence, and slavery. Although there is already a Ministerial Regulation regarding the protection of domestic violence, the DPR considers that the legal umbrella is not strong enough to provide protection to PRT. Meanwhile, the Government has pocketed 367 List of Problem Inventory (DIM) for the PPRT Bill. A number of substances in the DIM of the PPRT Bill that the Government will send to the DPR include the PRT work agreement and protection to prevent violence for PRT.