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More than half of the girls Human Rights Watch interviewed suffered some form
of sexual, physical, or psychological abuse. Domestic workers, especially those
who live on the premises where they work, are highly vulnerable to physical
violence and sexual abuse. Under ILO’s Worst Form of Child Labor
Recommendation, any work that “exposes children to physical, psychological or
sexual abuse” falls under the international prohibition on hazardous or harmful
child labor.148
Sexual Abuse and Harassment

Domestic workers are extremely vulnerable to sexual assault and abuse because
they are hidden from public scrutiny and thus are less able to seek help or have
others intervene on their behalf. Moreover, live-in domestic workers may not
have safe living quarters with a lock on the door, leaving them without protection.
Dian began working for her cousin when she was thirteen years old. Her salary, 1
million rupiah (U.S.$111.11) a year, was paid directly to her mother. She told us:
We lived in a very small house. The husband slept in the warung [restaurant] and
I slept with the female employer. It happened three months after I started
working. One day, the husband was sick so the female employer went to the
store to get medication. It was 4:00 a.m. and I was still sleeping. He came into the
room. I was forced to have sex with him. He threatened me. He said he would hit
me if I told anyone. He told me that he would throw me out and my mother would
get no money. He would come to me three times a week whenever his wife was
not home. This happened for three years. I was scared, but I wanted to support
my mother. I had no choice. I wrote my experience in my diary and one day the
wife found the diary. She was angry at me and called me a whore. The husband
and wife quarreled. The wife shouted at me. She thought I was a flirt, a
provocateur. I was desperate. I did not know what to do. The next day I was
thrown out.149
For some employers, there is an assumption that sexual availability is an inherent
aspect of being a domestic worker. Suriyah, who at the time of the incident was
fourteen, was harassed by her employer’s son. She told us, “When I was washing
clothes, the employer’s son touched my bottom. I got angry and said, ‘Please don’
t treat me like that.’ He laughed and said, ‘You are only a domestic. Why should
you be so clean and pure?’ I was very upset. I left that job.”150 Similarly, Vina
recalled that when she was fourteen, her employer would say “dirty things,”
calling her “a cunt,” and repeatedly invited her “for a walk and [to] rent a room.”
151
Children told us that they were sexually assaulted and inappropriately touched by
male employers or male visitors of their employers.

Hasana began working as a domestic when she was twelve years old. When she
was thirteen, her employer’s male relative molested her. She said. “One day
when the employers were out, I was in the home alone when a male relative came
to see them. He came close to me and grabbed my breast. I screamed. I ran away
from him and locked the door so he would not come after me. He came to the
door and warned me not to tell anyone or he would do more than touch me. I was
traumatized.”152
Salma began working when she was fifteen years old: “One day, during Ramadan,
when his [the employer] wife was visiting her family I was home alone. After
breaking my fast I was in my room, and the employer came into my room. He
kissed me and touched my breasts. He told me to be quiet or he would tell
everyone. I was afraid. I did not know what to do. After he left, I took a shower. I
felt dirty. I was crying. I decided to leave that night.” 153
When Vina was fifteen she was assaulted by her employer’s brother. “During
Ramadan, he touched my bottom. My room did not have a door. One night he
came in and grabbed my breasts. I was shocked. I ran out of the room and slept
with the employer’s niece. I told the niece what happened—she said that he is a
bad man and that I should stay away from him. I felt scared whenever he came to
visit. I would hide.” 154   When child domestic workers do protest sexual abuse,
they risk losing their jobs and incomes. Vina told us that when she was fourteen,
she was assaulted by her employer. She recalled, “I woke up and saw the male
employer stroking me—he stroked my arm and then touched my breasts. I
jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. I wanted to report to the female employer,
but then she would throw me out. I tried to avoid the man.” 155
Indonesian NGOs working with child domestic workers in Jakarta, Medan,
Semarang, and Surabaya told Human Rights Watch of similar cases in which male
employers inappropriately touched, hugged, squeezed, and asked domestic
workers to massage them when the female employer was not at home.156 An
NGO in Jakarta told us of a case in 2004 in which the male employer of a fifteen-
year-old domestic worker asked her to fetch a towel while he stood naked in front
of her. Another time, he entered her room, touched her breasts, and tried to kiss
her.157 According to an NGO in Surabaya, which specifically works with women
who are sexually abused, “Sexual abuse against domestic workers is common.
This work is hidden and makes [the] girls vulnerable. They are at the mercy of
their employers and have nowhere to go.”158
International law obligates Indonesia to protect domestic workers from gender-
based violence and to protect girls in hidden work situations where they are
particularly at risk. The Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention obligates member
states such as Indonesia to implement programs of action to eliminate as a
priority the worst forms of child labor, including, “the special situation of girls.”
159 The Worst Forms of Child Labor Recommendation in particular urges states to
give “special attention” to “the problem of hidden work situations, in which girls
are at special risk.”160 The Convention on the Rights of the Child obligates state
parties to protect children from sexual abuse