About the movement
Learn more about the inspiration behind the merangkul movement as well as the goals, and why it is critical to speak up about the struggles of Indonesian domestic workers.
Resources are available in Bahasa Indonesia, English, and Arabic.
You can reach us at [email protected] or DM us on Instagram @_merangkul (we'd love to hear from you!)
Background
Her name is Sartini, she went to Yogyakarta with her 18-months-old son to find a job and to seek a better life opportunity for both of them. In 2016, they began to work for an employer in Yogyakarta.
Unfortunately, unlike what they have expected life would be like, Sartini and her son began to be subjected to torture by their employer.
To name a few of the tortures, their employer put the 18-months-old son into a refrigerator and a washing machine, as a form of punishment, and the employer has also attached an iron arrow to his limbs until his body blistered and injured.
Sartini herself was bound to her feet and hands and hung upside down, and the tortures went ongoing for the next 9 months before she could finally escape and run to look for help.
The story of Sartini is only one of many stories experienced by hundreds of thousands of Indonesian domestic workers in Indonesia and abroad.
Rape, torture, child labor, forced labor, deprivation of rights, murders, these things have been a part of their working experience as Indonesian domestic workers.
Touched by what Sartini and her son have come through, and the stories of other fellow workers,
Merangkul was then initiated by young students who care about the status quo and the living conditions of these people and started a movement that focuses on advocating, vocalizing, lobbying, and demanding the security, justice, protection, and recognition of the rights of Indonesian domestic workers
The logo that represents our movement — merangkul, to embrace. It’s about people opening their hand, their arm, and their heart to recognize the struggle of Indonesian domestic workers and to embrace those who are victims of domestic violence
We campaign our movement on social media because we believe it is effective to achieve a large audience. We’re hoping that the more people learn about the movement, the more people understand about domestic workers’ rights and why we have to speak up for them.
We also provide resources in form of articles and videos that are available in Bahasa Indonesia, English, and Arabic. The resources will include helpful informations for both worker and employer as well as public in general.
Framework
We are committed to do our actions including future works and projects based on what we think is right, in this manner, we can make sure that the movement is inclusive and open to anyone.
Hence, our movement will be oriented and determined by the following items, but not limited to:
| Human Rights | Children's Rights |
| Women's Rights | Labor Rights |
Human RIghts
No single action that we have campaigned as a movement was taken without reflecting on human rights, it is pivotal to understand that actions that have been taken and that will be taken are respecting human rights.
Our movement encourages and promotes access to fundamental human rights that have been violated from a lot too many of our fellow domestic workers such as one’s right to liberty and freedom, to bodily integrity, to be free from torture and slavery, and to life.
Children's Rights
More than one hundred thousand of Indonesian domestic workers are children under the age 18 years old. Whereas 90% of whom between the age of 10 years and 17 years work 7 days a week.
None of these statistic should be overlooked, this is why our movement also lobbies the elimination of forced labour amongst children. We are sure that if we let this to continue happening, we are putting children at vulnerability.
Women's Rights
As of 2015, there are 292 female workers for every 100 male workers. That’s a pretty big difference and we are certain that the number must have increased throughout the year.
Women are not only most likely subjected to violence, discrimination, and harassment, they also have special needs in a certain situation.
Merangkul aims to promote workers’ right to maternity and menstruation leave as well as supporting the protection of female domestic workers from discrimination and harassment as recommended by the International Labour Organization under its convention no. 189 of 2011.
Labor Rights
Domestic workers are workers. Perhaps that’s one thing that seems to be forgotten by many of us of Indonesian society. We tend to see them as people who work “for” us rather than people who work “with” us.
Our movement is the movement of domestic workers — driven by youth — thus it is our ultimate goal to vocalize for our fellow workers, to raise awareness of our society, and to advocate the RUU Perlindungan PRT (National bill for the protection of domestic workers) into realization.
Bahasa Indonesia
English
العربية
ways to help
Our movement is not going anywhere unless you get involved.
We’ve rounded up a few ways to help below:
PRT =
PembantuPekerja Rumah Tangga. The very first thing that you can do is to humanize domestic workers by refering to them as "pekerja" and not "pembantu".Make sure to have read about workers' rights (informations available under section "research/resources") before working with one.
Educate yourself. We have provided a lot of resources available in English, Indonesian, and Arabic, or you can reach us on Instagram and email.
Spread awareness! You can do it by reposting contents available on our Instagram @_merangkul and sharing it to people you think might need to hear about it!
Demand the government to pass the national bill for the protection of Indonesian domestic workers (RUU PPRT). Help us by signing the petition below.
Start talking to the workers who work at your house. They will certainly appreciate the small conversations that you've built with them!
Collab with us. Whether you are an environmental movement, children organization, charity, magazine, no matter what — just write to us and we'll figure out what will work best!
If your worker makes a mistake, never use violence.
If you are in danger or you know someone who is, please head to our Emergency Contact for help and support.
emergency support
Note: If you need some extra advice or want to talk things through, or you are in a state of emergency, or you know someone who is, please do not hesitate to contact the sites and organizations listed on this page:
Important: Some of the contacts listed are local women and children organization. We have provided a special section under "PRT Nasional" for organizations and emergency supports specifically for domestic workers and migrants.
All contacts can only be reached in Indonesian. Head to "National" for support in English.
National
sumatera
Java and Bali
Nusa Tenggara
borneo
sulawesi
Maluku and Papua
Tentang Gerakan Merangkul
Pelajari lebih lanjut tentang gerakan kami, inspirasi dibelakangnya, tujuan gerakan kami, bagaimana cara bergabung, dan mengapa sangat penting bagi kita untuk berbicara mengenai isu pekerja rumah tangga (PRT).
Artikel tersedia dalam Bahasa Indonesia, English, dan Bahasa Arab.
Kontak kami di Instagram @_merangkul atau email kami di [email protected]