Delayed, PPRT Bill Will Be Discussed Again After DPR Recess

Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian Parliament, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, stated that the Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers (RUU PPRT) was discussed again after the recess period was over.

"Recess ends March 13, 2023, we will schedule a meeting of the leadership and deliberative bodies," Dasco said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, February 27.

The agenda, he said, was to discuss various matters that were still hanging or had not been completed during the previous session.

"We will discuss it and we will follow up according to the existing mechanism," he said.

Previously, member of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) Theresia Iswarini said the ratification of the Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers (RUU PPRT) into law would strengthen Indonesia's image in international eyes in the protection of domestic workers (PRT).

She said the PPRT Bill had an urgency to be passed into law in order to provide support, as well as protect women who mostly work in the realm of domestic work from violence.

"The PPRT Bill is an effort to support other women to be free from violence, are under protection, and remain prosperous," she said.

Theresia hopes that the PPRT Bill can be passed into law soon because it has been 19 years since the bill was submitted to the DPR RI. She warned that delaying the ratification of the PPRT Bill could result in continued casualties in the domestic sector.

"One female domestic worker (PRT) who suffers torture and violence is an example that our policymakers must consider because they are human," she said.