A hunger strike by domestic workers at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta ended in violence. Police confiscated their property and beat the protesters. The action has been held since August 14, 2023 until the Domestic Workers Protection Bill is passed.

During the action on August 16, 2023, the police beat and confiscated the protesters' equipment. The head coordinator of JALA PRT, Lita Anggraini, was suddenly hit during an argument with the police at the House of Representatives Building, Jakarta.

A female police officer named Ponco stated that in welcoming Independence Day, no protest should take place.

"We are celebrating independence, so we must not organize protests," said Ponco.

Lita Anggraini stated that this protest was carried out because it was celebrating the independence of domestic workers, "Same, because today we are celebrating the independence of domestic workers, so we carried out the protest."

Ponco and dozens of other police officers then closed in around the protesters who were carrying small red and white flags with the words pass the PPRT bill. The police told the protesters to go home because they were disrupting the independence day celebrations and jamming traffic.

"Today many domestic workers have been victimized, ma'am," said Jihan Faathiah, an protestor from Perempuan Mahardhika.

Then the next second, the police told the protesters to go home. The protesters refused, and one of the police men was in civilian clothes. Then, they hit the protest signs and hit Lita Anggraini on the head.

"The police hit my head, yes, watch out, don't do violence," Lita Anggraini shouted.

The police kept telling the protesters to go home. However, the protesters refused and remained in front of the DPR RI Building. At that time, President Jokowi was reading out his State of the Nation Address.

The protesters hoped to meet President Jokowi. They asked the President to urge the DPR leadership to immediately pass the Domestic Workers Protection Bill. This bill has been pending for 19 years.

Domestic Workers (DWs) are staging a hunger strike starting on Monday, August 14, 2023 in front of the House of Representatives Building, Jakarta. This protest will be carried out until the PPRT Bill is passed into law.

The protest was held in 6 cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Medan, Tangerang, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Makassar. Not only domestic workers, community leaders and civil society networks also joined these protests.

The situation of domestic workers and labor today is not good, following several bad practices in the legislative process carried out by the Government. Among them, not listening to waves of criticism and resistance by continuing to force the enactment of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation.

The same thing is felt by Domestic Workers who have been waiting for about 19 years. The urge is for the Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers (RUU PPRT) to become a DPR Initiative Bill.

Since it was drafted in 2001, the PPRT Bill was submitted to the DPR in 2004. After the stipulation process in Baleg on July 1, 2022, KSP formed the PPRT Law Task Force 2002. On January 18, 2023, President Joko Widodo delivered a statement to accelerate the discussion and ratification of the PPRT Bill. March 21, 2023, the Chairperson of the House of Representatives established the PPRT Bill as a House Initiative Bill. The government has sent a Presidential Letter on April 5 and DIM of the PPRT Bill on May 16, 2023 to the DPR. However, during the May - July 2023 session, the PPRT Bill was never discussed and passed.

19 years is not a short time for domestic workers to wait for a legal umbrella to protect them. For 19 years, the PPRT Bill has been held hostage, just as domestic workers are held hostage in modern slavery and human trafficking. During this time, the omission of suffering and violence experienced by domestic workers by the DPR has become a collective memory that must be heard by the legislators that the ratification of the PPRT Bill must be done immediately.

Among the victims of human trafficking, there are also domestic workers. However, the emergency situation of violence and human trafficking in Indonesia is not accompanied by the seriousness of the DPR to follow up on the discussion of the PPRT Bill.