• Home
  • About RSIS
    • Introduction
    • Building the Foundations
    • Welcome Message
    • Board of Governors
    • Staff Profiles
      • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
      • Dean’s Office
      • Management
      • Distinguished Fellows
      • Faculty and Research
      • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
      • Visiting Fellows
      • Adjunct Fellows
      • Administrative Staff
    • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
    • RSIS Endowment Fund
    • Endowed Professorships
    • Career Opportunities
    • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
    • Research Centres
      • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
      • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
      • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
      • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
      • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
    • Research Programmes
      • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
      • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
    • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
    • [email protected] Newsletter
    • Other Research
      • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
    • Graduate Programmes Office
    • Overview
    • MSc (Asian Studies)
    • MSc (International Political Economy)
    • MSc (International Relations)
    • MSc (Strategic Studies)
    • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
    • PhD Programme
    • Exchange Partners and Programmes
    • How to Apply
    • Financial Assistance
    • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
    • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
    • Alumni
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
    • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
    • SRP Executive Programme
    • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
    • RSIS Publications
      • Annual Reviews
      • Books
      • Bulletins and Newsletters
      • Commentaries
      • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
      • Commemorative / Event Reports
      • IDSS Paper
      • Interreligious Relations
      • Monographs
      • NTS Insight
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • RSIS Publications for the Year
    • Glossary of Abbreviations
    • External Publications
      • Authored Books
      • Journal Articles
      • Edited Books
      • Chapters in Edited Books
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • Op-Eds
      • External Publications for the Year
    • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
    • Great Powers
    • Sustainable Security
    • Other Resource Pages
    • Media Highlights
    • News Releases
    • Speeches
    • Vidcast Channel
    • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsis.sg
Linkedin
instagram instagram rsis.sg
RSS
  • Home
  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
        • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
        • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
      • RSIS Endowment Fund
      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
      • Research Centres
        • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
        • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      • Research Programmes
        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
      • [email protected] Newsletter
      • Other Research
        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      • Graduate Programmes Office
      • Overview
      • MSc (Asian Studies)
      • MSc (International Political Economy)
      • MSc (International Relations)
      • MSc (Strategic Studies)
      • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
      • PhD Programme
      • Exchange Partners and Programmes
      • How to Apply
      • Financial Assistance
      • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
      • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
      • Alumni
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
      • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
      • SRP Executive Programme
      • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
      • RSIS Publications
        • Annual Reviews
        • Books
        • Bulletins and Newsletters
        • Commentaries
        • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
        • Commemorative / Event Reports
        • IDSS Paper
        • Interreligious Relations
        • Monographs
        • NTS Insight
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • RSIS Publications for the Year
      • Glossary of Abbreviations
      • External Publications
        • Authored Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Edited Books
        • Chapters in Edited Books
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • Op-Eds
        • External Publications for the Year
      • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
      • Great Powers
      • Sustainable Security
      • Other Resource Pages
      • Media Highlights
      • News Releases
      • Speeches
      • Vidcast Channel
      • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
  • instagram instagram rsis.sg
Connect

Getting to RSIS

Map

Address

Nanyang Technological University
Block S4, Level B3,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798

View location on Google maps Click here for directions to RSIS

Get in Touch

    Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
    RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
    instagram instagram rsis.sg
      RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    RSIS Intranet

    S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
    Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University

    Skip to content

     
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • CO15088 | Indonesia’s Foreign Domestic Workers: Dilemma of Not Working Overseas
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • Commentaries
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • IDSS Paper
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers
    • RSIS Publications for the Year

    CO15088 | Indonesia’s Foreign Domestic Workers: Dilemma of Not Working Overseas
    Tamara Nair

    10 April 2015

    download pdf
    RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due credit to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected].

    Synopsis

    While the United Nations takes stock of how far women have come in getting women’s rights acknowledged as human rights, Indonesia wants to stop sending women out of the country as foreign domestic workers (FDWs).This will throw a wrench in their financial empowerment.

    Commentary

    DURING A recent visit to Malaysia, Indonesian president Joko Widodo expressed shame when discussing the issue of Indonesian women working overseas as foreign domestic workers (FDWs). In an effort to preserve the dignity of the nation, the President announced plans to stop sending women to work as domestic helpers overseas. In doing so, he failed to realise the greater consequences of legitimate employment opportunities for women being cut.

    The growing gender challenges of development and economic growth aside, women also face numerous cultural hurdles in establishing economic security. There is a need for more income generating opportunities provided for women in order for them to live stable, secure and indeed, dignified lives. Instead of ‘band-aid’ solutions, policies should be aimed at greater regulation and protection of FDWs. It is in fact by empowering its women that Indonesia will find greater dignity.

    Creating jobs equals creating dignified lives

    There is ample evidence from cases in Asia and elsewhere that higher female incomes most often go towards the betterment of the family. This includes increased household food security, and greater spending on education and healthcare. For these women, financial independence puts food on the table, sends their children to school and takes care of their families’ health and welfare. Higher incomes for women can also help to narrow the gaps in resource distribution between genders, which in fact can have positive impacts on the community as well. However, given prevalent gender inequity, income disparities between men and women remain high. This creates a culture of dependence for women.

    Women who are economically insecure often encounter many obstacles. Many women tolerate years of physical and psychological abuse because they do not have the financial means to make a life for themselves. Increasing levels of economic security for women should be a key concern for the government given the various setbacks that arise as a result of their financial dependence.

    Beyond issues of shame or dignity

    Being engaged in gainful employment sets poor and dependent women in a higher playing field, allowing them to negotiate for the lives they wish to lead. It gives them a legitimate ‘space’ to freely leave the home and return without compromising their roles as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. In the eyes of many conservative families, looking after children or a home or the elderly is a ‘decent’ job through which their womenfolk are permitted to enter the workforce. Many women, with their limited education and skills, find the skill set for domestic work within their capabilities.

    Indonesia does not want to be seen as a net exporter of its people. However, it is high time that leaders realise that FDWs provide a valuable service in receiving countries. Politically speaking, such a move to curb FDWs may assuage the middle and upper classes who do not want the country to be seen as ‘lowly’ but it does little to alleviate the plight of women who see being FDWs as a chance to get out of the cycle of poverty.

    Despite Indonesia being one of the top three countries in the world supplying domestic workers, it is unlikely to be a matter of dignity for the poor and disenfranchised Indonesian women. For them, it is a job that empowers them financially. In spite of having to face uncertainties in receiving countries, being away from all that is familiar, and facing possibilities of ill treatment women still leave to work overseas. The industry is thriving and until other employment opportunities for these women open up, it will continue to flourish.

    Better regulating, not banning

    Indonesia has a large population of FDWs in the ASEAN region and beyond. These women contribute significantly through their remittances to their country’s economy with almost all their pay sent home to families. Stopping this will just push them into more fraught ways of earning an income. It also makes them more vulnerable to being trafficked.

    Migrant worker numbers in ASEAN countries are growing. As such, greater regulation and monitoring seems to be the order of the day. FDWs need to be made more aware of their rights and there should be help centres and agencies set up to make sure that there is easy access to assistance if needed, including easy communication with their families back home.

    The provision of such assistance needs to be decentralised and located at village levels and in small townships across the country. Expanding the geography of receiving countries, for a job that is in demand, can also play a part in protecting these women. Countries with stronger labour laws that protect the rights of the worker and with good diplomatic ties with Indonesia should be seen as potential receiving countries.

    Empowerment as development

    The creation of jobs domestically to absorb additional numbers of unskilled females may seem a good idea but the total number of this group will increase if they are no longer allowed to travel out of the country to work. Moreover, the Indonesian Manpower Minister’s claim to only send ‘well-equipped and skilled workers abroad’ will already exclude a large number of women.

    As part of the wider objective of building an ASEAN community that is centred on its people, a better option for Indonesia is to raise its game in empowering women through greater access to education and safeguarding their rights and interests. Skills training, increased literacy and political participation, as well as equal opportunities should be available for women and should be part of the plan to maintain Indonesia’s development trajectory and its dignity as an influential entity in the region.

    About the Author

    Tamara Nair is Research Fellow with the Centre for Non Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

    Categories: Commentaries / Country and Region Studies / International Political Economy / International Politics and Security / East Asia and Asia Pacific / Middle East and North Africa (MENA) / South Asia / Southeast Asia and ASEAN

    Last updated on 10/04/2015

    RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due credit to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected].

    Synopsis

    While the United Nations takes stock of how far women have come in getting women’s rights acknowledged as human rights, Indonesia wants to stop sending women out of the country as foreign domestic workers (FDWs).This will throw a wrench in their financial empowerment.

    Commentary

    DURING A recent visit to Malaysia, Indonesian president Joko Widodo expressed shame when discussing the issue of Indonesian women working overseas as foreign domestic workers (FDWs). In an effort to preserve the dignity of the nation, the President announced plans to stop sending women to work as domestic helpers overseas. In doing so, he failed to realise the greater consequences of legitimate employment opportunities for women being cut.

    The growing gender challenges of development and economic growth aside, women also face numerous cultural hurdles in establishing economic security. There is a need for more income generating opportunities provided for women in order for them to live stable, secure and indeed, dignified lives. Instead of ‘band-aid’ solutions, policies should be aimed at greater regulation and protection of FDWs. It is in fact by empowering its women that Indonesia will find greater dignity.

    Creating jobs equals creating dignified lives

    There is ample evidence from cases in Asia and elsewhere that higher female incomes most often go towards the betterment of the family. This includes increased household food security, and greater spending on education and healthcare. For these women, financial independence puts food on the table, sends their children to school and takes care of their families’ health and welfare. Higher incomes for women can also help to narrow the gaps in resource distribution between genders, which in fact can have positive impacts on the community as well. However, given prevalent gender inequity, income disparities between men and women remain high. This creates a culture of dependence for women.

    Women who are economically insecure often encounter many obstacles. Many women tolerate years of physical and psychological abuse because they do not have the financial means to make a life for themselves. Increasing levels of economic security for women should be a key concern for the government given the various setbacks that arise as a result of their financial dependence.

    Beyond issues of shame or dignity

    Being engaged in gainful employment sets poor and dependent women in a higher playing field, allowing them to negotiate for the lives they wish to lead. It gives them a legitimate ‘space’ to freely leave the home and return without compromising their roles as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. In the eyes of many conservative families, looking after children or a home or the elderly is a ‘decent’ job through which their womenfolk are permitted to enter the workforce. Many women, with their limited education and skills, find the skill set for domestic work within their capabilities.

    Indonesia does not want to be seen as a net exporter of its people. However, it is high time that leaders realise that FDWs provide a valuable service in receiving countries. Politically speaking, such a move to curb FDWs may assuage the middle and upper classes who do not want the country to be seen as ‘lowly’ but it does little to alleviate the plight of women who see being FDWs as a chance to get out of the cycle of poverty.

    Despite Indonesia being one of the top three countries in the world supplying domestic workers, it is unlikely to be a matter of dignity for the poor and disenfranchised Indonesian women. For them, it is a job that empowers them financially. In spite of having to face uncertainties in receiving countries, being away from all that is familiar, and facing possibilities of ill treatment women still leave to work overseas. The industry is thriving and until other employment opportunities for these women open up, it will continue to flourish.

    Better regulating, not banning

    Indonesia has a large population of FDWs in the ASEAN region and beyond. These women contribute significantly through their remittances to their country’s economy with almost all their pay sent home to families. Stopping this will just push them into more fraught ways of earning an income. It also makes them more vulnerable to being trafficked.

    Migrant worker numbers in ASEAN countries are growing. As such, greater regulation and monitoring seems to be the order of the day. FDWs need to be made more aware of their rights and there should be help centres and agencies set up to make sure that there is easy access to assistance if needed, including easy communication with their families back home.

    The provision of such assistance needs to be decentralised and located at village levels and in small townships across the country. Expanding the geography of receiving countries, for a job that is in demand, can also play a part in protecting these women. Countries with stronger labour laws that protect the rights of the worker and with good diplomatic ties with Indonesia should be seen as potential receiving countries.

    Empowerment as development

    The creation of jobs domestically to absorb additional numbers of unskilled females may seem a good idea but the total number of this group will increase if they are no longer allowed to travel out of the country to work. Moreover, the Indonesian Manpower Minister’s claim to only send ‘well-equipped and skilled workers abroad’ will already exclude a large number of women.

    As part of the wider objective of building an ASEAN community that is centred on its people, a better option for Indonesia is to raise its game in empowering women through greater access to education and safeguarding their rights and interests. Skills training, increased literacy and political participation, as well as equal opportunities should be available for women and should be part of the plan to maintain Indonesia’s development trajectory and its dignity as an influential entity in the region.

    About the Author

    Tamara Nair is Research Fellow with the Centre for Non Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

    Categories: Commentaries / Country and Region Studies / International Political Economy / International Politics and Security

    Last updated on 10/04/2015

    Back to top

    Terms of Use | Privacy Statement
    Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
    This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
    OK
    Latest Book
    CO15088 | Indonesia’s Foreign Domestic Workers: Dilemma of Not Working Overseas

    Synopsis

    While the United Nations takes stock of how far women have come in getting women’s rights acknowledged as human rights, Indonesia wants to stop sending ...
    more info