Indonesian civil servant sanctioned for belittling domestic workers in viral FB post

A photo posted on the Facebook account of an Indonesian civil servant with the caption, “Today’s activity: reunion lunch, unlike you, a babu (a demeaning Indonesian term to describe domestic workers) whose only job is to scrub the toilet.”
A photo posted on the Facebook account of an Indonesian civil servant with the caption, “Today’s activity: reunion lunch, unlike you, a babu (a demeaning Indonesian term to describe domestic workers) whose only job is to scrub the toilet.”

On top of the abuse many of them suffer at the hands of employers both domestically and abroad, Indonesian domestic workers are often treated as second class citizens undeserving of respect by their peers. But those attitudes are changing, as shown by this case of a civil servant whose belittlement of domestic workers caused so much outrage online that she was officially sanctioned.

A few weeks ago, a civil servant working in Tangerang, Banten, identified by her initials AF, posted a photo on Facebook of a reunion lunch she had with some colleagues. Accompanying the photo, AF wrote, “Today’s activity: reunion lunch, unlike you, a babu (a demeaning Indonesian term to describe domestic workers) whose only job is to scrub the toilet.” 

AF’s post quickly went viral as netizens slammed her for her insensitivity towards domestic workers. She was later reported to the police for spreading hate speech online, after which she claimed that her Facebook account was hacked.

But it seems some people — most crucially, her bosses — didn’t buy her excuse. Today, the Tangerang city administration told the media that AF has been sanctioned with a move to a lower level office.

“We have moved her to the sub-district level. She used to be at the inspectorate at the city level but you have to be clean to be there,” Tangerang Regional Secretary Dadi Budaeri told Detik today.

Dadi said AF’s relocation did not necessarily mean a demotion, but AF may face further sanctions depending on how the police investigation into her hate speech case goes.

In the latest update by the police about her case last week, police said that they were interviewing witnesses and looking into AF’s claim that her Facebook was hacked.

There have been many viral stories about domestic workers receiving dehumanizing treatment in the past, such as one from last year in which an Instagram influencer said she fired her domestic worker for eating at the family dining table.

More on this topic

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https://www.facebook.com/Coconuts/posts/1208633945867239



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