Indonesian Female Workers, Between Opportunities and Challenges

Industry is the most crucial part in the economic system in Indonesia, with manufacturing contributing 18.94 percent to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2023. Progress in the industrial sector cannot be separated from the role of female workers, especially in the manufacturing, labor-intensive, agricultural, and fisheries sectors.

The percentage of women’s involvement in the manufacturing sector is 42.3 percent (BPS, 2023), and their role is much more dominant in the plantation and labor-intensive sectors at around 80 percent (VOA Indonesia, 2020). According to the results of the Rumah KitaB assessment in the Berdaya program in North Jakarta in 2021, the role of women in the manufacturing industry sector is also around 40 percent, and around 65 percent in the fisheries industry sector, especially in processing catches.

The important role of female workers in industry sectors is not comparable to the opportunity to access strategic positions such as supervisors, managers, or policy makers. Their positions are more as factory workers who are bound by short-term contracts. While male workers have more open opportunities to fill strategic positions, as supervisors, managers, and company leaders.

Women’s leadership in the industrial space has not been implemented well. Traditional views, beliefs, and religions have formed discriminatory gender norms, such as discrimination in employment opportunities, wage differences, and the granting of leave rights that are equal to men without considering their biological roles.

The results of the Rumah KitaB Research (2023) on Working Women in Jakarta, Bekasi, Depok, and Bandung, have shown that women’s working period is only about five years. After they have a family, they voluntarily (some are forced) decide to stop working, arguing that they are not the main breadwinners.

Equal participation of women with men in employment does not necessarily put them in a good bargaining position. For example, in the garment and footwear sector in Jakarta, Bekasi, and Bandung, women’s income is lower with shorter work contracts, so they are more accepted to work than men. This shows that women’s job opportunities are more open in the manufacturing sector, not meaning that women are more valued in the industrial sector but rather it is a gender discriminatory practice by some business actors.

In the education industry sector in Jakarta, Bekasi, and Bandung, most of the honorary teachers and lecturers are filled by women, with incomes of around one-fifth of the Provincial Minimum Wage standard, such as DKI Jakarta and West Java. While they are the backbone of the world of education, both in the private and state sectors.

The important role of women in various industrial sectors above is also not supported by proper reproductive health protection. The National Commission on Violence Against Women’s records in 2024 showed that there were 2,702 cases of violence against women in the manufacturing industry, including sexual, physical, psychological, and economic violence.

On paper, the record of violence against women is still low, based on the results of the assistance of PATBM Kalibaru North Jakarta, the potential for reports of violence against women in Jakarta only shows around 5-10 percent of the actual facts. Various cases handled did not reach the stage of submitting a report to the DKI Jakarta PPPA Service, or the National Commission on Violence Against Women.

Bias in Legal  Interpretation

Sisil (not her real name), 38 years old, a single mom with 2 children, said, “I once experienced sexual assault. At that time I was called to my manager’s office, there I was approached and kissed forcibly but I rebelled and could only cry. I was humiliated because I was a widow.”

Kadmi (PATBM Kalibaru North Jakarta), said “They are ashamed to process cases of (sexual) violence, their families cover them up”. Some RT/RW administrators, and company leaders, in Jakarta and Bekasi only want to reconcile, because it is considered a normal problem, and do not want to extend the problem to the legal realm.

Sugeng Martono, a lawyer in Bekasi, said “The main problem with legal assistance for sexual violence is the issue of witnesses. If there are no witnesses or even only one witness, the complaint cannot be processed legally by the police.”

Sisil’s experience above cannot be reported to the police, and the perpetrator can still roam free. According to Sisil, investigators will not possibly side with her, because there were no witnesses at the time of the incident. According to her, she is still luckier than her co-workers who were forced to have sex.

Sisil’s case is like an iceberg phenomenon, many victims are reluctant to tell their stories, they are worried about discriminatory social views against sexual victims in their extended family and community. Usually, survivors of sexual violence can only tell their stories after several years of the incident, due to depression, fear, and the victim’s mental breakdown, especially having to see the perpetrator every time they come to work.

In terms of legal infrastructure, protection for women in Indonesia has improved, with the presence of the Sexual Violence Crime Law 12/2022, but still facing implementation in the field, especially regarding the perspective and interpretation of society, weak law enforcement, and the absence of siding with victims, is still a serious job.[]