Upon hearing the news of the murder of an Indonesian housemaid and of another who was severely tortured, both in Saudi Arabia, the nation went through somewhat predictable motions. The government lodged protests with the Saudi ambassador and the public went into a frenzied outrage - fueled by a barrage of media reports about the ordeal that many poor Indonesian women working overseas go through.
Typically, all of the responses demanded the same thing: better deals and better protection for these women working abroad. No one — not the government, not the politicians and not even the activists in advocacy groups that help these women — are suggesting that the practice of sending housemaids be stopped completely.
The stakes are just too high, in terms of employment opportunities and the billions of dollars of foreign exchange earnings these housemaids send home. The nation has just too much to lose from phasing out what is essentially a 21st century version of the slave trade. More...
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