Selected Speaker for IDF 2019: Purnama Sari Pelupessy Promotes Improving Freelance Workers’ Safety and Security for Domestic Services

The development of employment opportunities in the “economy gig” must be balanced with the protection of its workers. This was conveyed by a Selected Speaker for IDF 2019, Purnama Sari Pelupessy, specifically to protect female workers. Economy gig is a company’s preferential trend to hiring freelance and contracted workers instead of permanent ones.

“The most recent economy gig is application-based work. So, because it uses digital technology, it becomes more flexible. In this case, despite digitally-based, the human factor should remain the primary issue,” said Purnama, the Director of Sang Akar Institute. She does many types of research on education, technology, women, and workforce in Indonesia.

Purnama mentioned that in Indonesia, application-based domestic services include GoMaid, Mbakmu, OKHOME, TukangBersih, GoClean, and GoMassage.  The emergence of domestic services has caused women to take part in these jobs. Therefore, work in digital platform services also absorbs and increase women’s employment participation rate. 

“On one hand, the economy gig trend unlocks vast employment opportunities, including for women, and this is also related to taking advantage of the demographic bonus. But on the other hand, there is a challenge on workers’ safety and security, especially those working in domestic services,” explained Purnama.

Harassment Taking Place

Purnama called out a number of cases in her research, proving that the potential of economy gig in creating employment opportunities needs to be matched with efforts to improve safety. These efforts must be done by all stakeholders, including the government and industry.

In her research presented in IDF 2019, Purnama gave examples of some harassment that has been suffered by workers when providing services. There were cases where clients offered some money so that workers would sleep with them, accompany them to nightclubs, and take a shower with them. Also, some clients showed their genitals and asked workers to hold them.   

“Last March, there was also a rape against an application-based female therapist in Bandung. From this case, I see that the flexibility in economy gig brings forth vulnerability to the safety and security of workers in the domestic service sector,” she said. 

Efforts to Improve the Safety of Female Workers

Purnama appreciates a number of application-based companies making efforts to improve the safety of their workers, including launching #mulairespek as a form of campaigning GoLife to stand up against sexual harassment.

Also, some companies have created a safety mechanism. The warning of firmly taking action on all violations, including sexual harassment, according to laws (UU) and regulations, is shown on the front page of the service to be selected before clients confirm their order.

This warning, according to Purnama, becomes the “outer-most layer” protection intended to remind clients to understand the limitations of the service based on the SOP established by the company. However, this warning is easily breached if not accompanied by Law and sanctions.

“That is why it is important to ratify the Bill on Sexual Violence Prevention (RUU PKS). Digital technology will not be used optimally if there is no intervention by the state,” said Purnama.

Besides RUU PKS, ratification also needs to be done on the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 190 on Terminating Violence and Harassment in the Workplace. In ratifying RUU PKS and the Convention, the government and the House of Representatives are two key stakeholders to prepare a policy that protects female freelance workers in domestic online services.

The next step is the need to provide an emergency button for therapists on the order page. This button is the primary protection tool for therapists. This tool will send an SOS signal to the nearest police to immediately come to the location. This emergency button can only be accessed by therapists when they are doing their jobs. So what if the sexual violence occurs after the therapist has completed the service?

“This must be fixed up to the point that the button still works until workers truly feel safe,” continued Purnama.

In addition to fixing the emergency button, supervision through digital recording for verbal and written conversations should be done to document the proof that working relationships occur professionally. Written records can be in the form of signature on a digital notice regarding consequences if a client conducts sexual violence. The perpetrator’s identity must also be distributed to all therapist for further prevention.

Because eliminating sexual violence is our mutual task, the government or private sector can recruit volunteers to establish a quick response unit in every region. Also, prevention can be done with technology, such as an emergency warning application from mobile devices: EyeWatch or Protective Fashion Object (PFO). This technology can be used for clients. If they mention words containing elements of verbal abuse and have violent tendencies, the application can change the Save Our Soul (SOS) to Catch Me Immediately (CMI) signal detection function. To fund this technology, the government can enforce the digital service tax or use Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

“Furthermore, all industrial actors must make humans as the center of the work process. Technology helps, but will not mean anything if not intended to protect and be useful for humans,” closed Purnama. 

Purnama’s research elaborates on the policy recommendation to reduce obstacles to obtain good jobs for vulnerable groups. This discussion is highlighted in Subtheme-3: Creating Inclusive Employment Opportunities. Purnama conveyed her presentation on July 23, in the Co-Creating Inclusive Employment Opportunities session, which is a part of the main theme of IDF 2019 entitled “Mission Possible: Seizing the Opportunities for Future Work to Drive Inclusive Growth.”