Labour rights movement Tenaganita today launched a 24-hour hotline for domestic workers and the public to report abuse cases, promising immediate police intervention.

Its director Irene Fernandez said callers should provide information on the location, address, perpetrator, nationality of the worker and the kind of violence or abuse they have observed.

"We will decide whether the situation is critical. If it is, we will immediately inform the nearest police control room to rescue the worker," she said at the launching ceremony of the DW (Domestic Worker) Action Line in Kuala Lumpur.

"The action line is a community service to enable domestic workers free themselves from abuse and violence, and for the public to help those who are being abused," she added.

An estimated 260,000 domestic workers are currently employed in Malaysia, with 230,000 of them from Indonesia.

Recognition needed

Fernandez said domestic worker abuse cases would also be monitored through the hotline to facilitate ongoing policy and regulatory reforms aimed at protecting and professionalising the sector.

"There must first be recognition of a domestic worker as a worker. Employers' failure to understand and accept them as workers is the main cause for abuse, especially the demand to work continuously without any break.

"Instead, they are treated as servants when they should be treated as humans first. Employers restrict their movements and deprive them of health information, days off, decent wages and a proper working environment," she added.

Information on the hotline, she said, would be passed on through recruitment agencies and pre-departure programmes at the sending country.

"Unfortunately till today, there is no orientation or re-orientation programmes for domestic workers in Malaysia, but this must change because we are a multi-racial society and the domestic workers need to be exposed to the different languages and cultures."

However, Tenaganita was unable to provide the number of abuse cases involving domestic workers.

Based on the statistics offered by Halimah Kawaluddin, of the Bukit Aman special investigations unit, there were not many reports of domestic workers abuse cases in the last three years.

"A total of 39 cases were reported in 2002 followed by 40 cases in 2003. For this year, we have recorded 24 cases until April, mainly due to the extensive media coverage of Nirmala Bonet 's case," she said.

"If there are many more abuse cases out there, these would have been exposed, especially after the media highlighted most of the worse cases," she told reporters at the launch.

Halimah ( pix ), representing Federal CID director Musa Hassan who is currently overseas, said the public can also use the Malaysian Control Centre hotline to report these abuse cases.

Negotiations underway

Negotiations are also taking place between Malaysia and Indonesia on a memorandum of understanding for domestic workers.

Indonesian Embassy's Minister Counsellor for Consular Affaires, Soepeno Sahid, said the MoU for domestic workers from Indonesia still had a long way to go.

"We received the draft a few days ago and discussions will be held with the Human Resources Ministry here," he said.

"(But) it will take time for it to be signed as there are many stages to go through, including the longest period at the Attorney-General's Chambers," he said.

Among the terms Indonesia wants in the MoU are a weekly off day, fixed work time and comprehensive insurance coverage.

He said the main constraint, however, was that both countries still regarded the domestic worker sector as an informal sector.

"The Employment Act here does not recognise a domestic worker as a worker but both Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to review the laws."

"Those from the Philippines have the best deal as domestic workers with standardised contracts."

He said there were also bound to be problems in the implementation of the DW Action Line.

"Firstly, a domestic worker may not be able to access a phone because all employers bar them from using the phone.

"Then you have problem of domestic workers, most of whom come from remote villages in Indonesia, who have never seen or used a phone before," he explained.

Soepeno, however, conceded that besides public intervention, recruitment agencies and pre-departure programmes would be most effective in disseminating the information to all incoming domestic workers.

The launch was witnessed by officials from the Bangladesh High Commission, Indonesian Embassy, Canadian High Commission, US Embassy and German Embassy.

Also present were several domestic workers, including Nirmala whose severe physical abuse at the hands of her employer hogged local and Indonesian news headlines for weeks. The employer has since been charged in court.

The DW Action Line is: 012- 3350512, 012-3395350 (both 24-hours) and 03- 26973671 (10am-6pm), while the Malaysian Control Centre hotline is 03-22656555.