PPRT Bill to Provide Legal Certainty to Workers, Says Komnas HAM

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The domestic workers' protection bill (PPRT bill) seeks to provide legal certainty to several parties, especially domestic workers and employers, according to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

"If we read its substance, it (the bill) gives certainty to several parties, especially domestic workers and their employers," Komnas HAM's coordinator for human rights advancement sub-commission Anis Hidayah said when contacted on Saturday.

She further explained that the bill will provide legal certainty to parties who are related to it, meaning that the rights of both workers and their employers will be guaranteed by the bill.

Hidayah said that the guarantee for both parties would indirectly reduce the potential for the violation of domestic workers’ human rights.

Domestic workers have experienced human rights violations because of the lack of a legal basis that protects them.

However, even if the bill is ratified, it will not immediately ensure against such human rights violations, she said.

"Gradually, it will create a more conducive situation for domestic workers," she added.

She cited the example of the migrant workers' protection law and said that even though it has been in place for five years, problems related to migrant workers are still surfacing. Similarly, although there is a legal basis regarding sexual violence, sexual violence cases are still being detected.

According to her, the presence of a law on domestic workers' protection can offer a legal mechanism that domestic workers can turn to when their rights are violated.

"Thus, when they face problems, there is a mechanism that is regulated by law and not only rely on criminal code (KUHP)," she said.

Komnas HAM itself is participating in the ratification of the PPRT bill by carrying out a study. Its recommendations have been submitted to the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Minister of Manpower.

The commission is also encouraging advocacy so that the process of the ratification of the bill in the DPR can run as expected, Hidayah said.

ANTARA

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