Indonesian protesters begin hunger strike as bill to protect domestic workers stalls in parliament

abcnews.go.com:

Indonesian domestic workers and activists have begun a hunger strike to protest against the parliament's delay in passing a bill to protect domestic workers

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian domestic workers and activists began a hunger strike on Monday to protest against the parliament's delay in passing a bill to protect domestic workers.

Sunrise-to-sunset fasting protests were happening simultaneously in the capital, Jakarta, and other major cities and will be held every day until the bill is passed, said Lita Anggraini of the National Advocacy Network for Domestic Workers.

“The hunger strike reflects the situation of many domestic workers in this country who don't have protection from the government,” Anggraini said. “We call on lawmakers to immediately pass the domestic worker protection bill into law. The more delays, the more workers who will experience violence and discrimination.”

In Jakarta, about 40 fasting activists from the Domestic Workers Alliance sat under tents in front of the parliament compound. They held clocks, baby pacifiers, napkins and other cleaning equipment, as well as chains they said symbolized the challenges that domestic servants face in Indonesia.

Lawmakers first proposed a bill to protect domestic workers in 2004 to address issues of discrimination, abuse and humiliation. Since then it has been updated and removed from the legislative priority list at least three times.

The legislature in 2020 agreed to endorse the bill in a plenary session, but house leadership declined to approve the endorsement citing “administrative reasons."

In January, President Joko Widodo appealed to lawmakers to speed up deliberations on the bill as he pledged to provide better protections for the country’s 4.2