Now we are more confident in going out and providing our assistance directly to the women migrant workers. We know what to do now and the steps that we must follow.
SAPA Institute is an independent institute that focuses on women’s issues related to sexual and reproductive health rights, financial independence, and violence against women. Established in 2005, SAPA has been working to provide education and conduct advocacy in villages across West Java since 2007. One of these villages is Cipaku, where SAPA first formed its community called Bale Istri (Wives Association).
Sugih, a long-time team member of SAPA, said that Bale Istri was established to address the high number of gender-based violence. It grew as a community and was received well, and eventually the organization formed a similar community for teenagers, Bale Remaja, and for men, Bale Laki Laki. The aim was to encourage men to be allies to women. There are now 10 Bale Istri, seven Bale Remaja, and three Bale Laki Laki.
SAPA was one of the CSOs supporting UN Women and the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection to disseminate information on the Guidelines on the Protection of Women Migrant Workers during COVID-19 and the Protocol for Handling Gender-Based Violence and Trafficking During COVID-19. In the beginning, they had to overcome a few challenges, mainly technical.
“It was just a bit hard because these ex-migrant workers didn’t really understand gadgets or using the internet. We have tried to hold onsite meetings, but it was difficult since we often didn’t know what to do,” Sugih stated.
This was when the guidelines and protocol came in handy for SAPA. Aside from disseminating information on the guidelines and protocol, SAPA also used the guidelines to update their SOPs. Hence, volunteers like Sugih were more confident and felt safe when they were out to provide services on education and advocacy that they had been doing before the pandemic.
Their work during the health crisis is essential. The pandemic has intensified financial and social stresses across the villages, and poverty and debts made many women more vulnerable to being taken advantage of and being recruited as migrant workers.
“The recruiters usually would come in after the women were desperate having not been able to pay their loans,” Sugih said. “They would tell [these women] all kinds of things that are too good to be true, like they’re going to get a high salary and they can live comfortably overseas. And some even had their relatives persuading them to join them overseas, promising that they would be safe. It was hard, we have tried to stop them, but sometimes we were too late.”
Before the pandemic, SAPA routinely held meetings for their communities – twice a week for Bale Istri. The social restrictions during the pandemic made them unable to conduct any training or continue their programs. If they were able to conduct a meeting, it was attended by 15 to 20 at the most and they needed a big enough space to ensure proper physical distance. Thanks to the updated SOPs, however, now SAPA had a guidance they could adhere to when providing their services and carrying on with their regularly scheduled meetings.
The updated SOPs have also helped SAPA volunteers provide assistance especially to women migrant workers with difficult cases. When a problem arises, the volunteers assisting the women migrant workers would know what to do. Furthermore, the SOPs have incorporated COVID-19 prevention measures to minimize the risk of infections when providing assistance.
“Our community is spread out in a number of areas, so we had to ensure that all areas can follow the flow of this updated SOPs,” Sugih said, “Alhamdulillah, thanks to the SOPs, now we are more confident in going out and providing our assistance directly to the women migrant workers.
We know what to do now, and the steps that we must follow.”
For Sugih and the rest of her team in SAPA Institute, the journey ahead of them remains long as they continue to work to protect women migrant workers’ rights. But she believes that as they continue to sow the seeds of good work in the lives of the communities, change is going to happen, and the fruit of their hard work will not come for nothing.***
Women at the Forefront
Inspirational stories and experiences from the Women and Girls at the Center of COVID-19 Prevention Programme in Indonesia
Copyright © 2021 UN Women.
Perempuan di Garda Terdepan: Kisah Sugih Hartini dari Sapa Institute
Sekarang kami lebih percaya diri untuk turun langsung dan memberikan bantuan kepada para pekerja migran perempuan. Kami tahu apa yang harus dilakukan sekarang, dan langkah-langkah apa saja yang harus kami ikuti
SAPA Institute adalah sebuah lembaga independen yang berfokus pada isu-isu perempuan, khususnya terkait hak kesehatan seksual dan reproduksi, kemandirian ekonomi, serta kekerasan terhadap perempuan. Berdiri sejak tahun 2005, SAPA telah memberikan edukasi dan melakukan advokasi ke berbagai desa di Jawa Barat sejak 2007. Salah satu desa pertamanya adalah Cipaku, tempat SAPA membentuk komunitas bernama Bale Istri.
Sugih, salah satu anggota SAPA yang telah bekerja sejak lama, menjelaskan bahwa Bale Istri dibentuk karena tingginya angka kekerasan berbasis gender. Komunitas ini berkembang dengan baik dan diterima masyarakat, sehingga SAPA kemudian membentuk Bale Remaja untuk para remaja dan Bale Laki-laki untuk para pria, dengan tujuan mendorong laki-laki menjadi sekutu perempuan. Kini terdapat 10 Bale Istri, tujuh Bale Remaja, dan tiga Bale Laki-laki.
SAPA menjadi salah satu organisasi masyarakat sipil yang mendukung UN Women dan Kementerian Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak dalam menyebarluaskan Pedoman Perlindungan Pekerja Migran Perempuan selama COVID-19 dan Protokol Penanganan Kekerasan Berbasis Gender dan Perdagangan Orang selama COVID-19. Di awal, mereka menghadapi beberapa kendala, terutama teknis.
“Agak sulit karena para mantan pekerja migran banyak yang tidak begitu paham menggunakan gawai atau internet. Kami mencoba mengadakan pertemuan tatap muka, tetapi sering kali tidak memungkinkan,” kata Sugih.
Di sinilah pedoman dan protokol tersebut sangat membantu SAPA. Selain menyebarkan informasi, SAPA juga memperbarui SOP internal mereka berdasarkan pedoman tersebut. Hal ini membuat para relawan seperti Sugih lebih percaya diri dan merasa aman ketika memberikan layanan edukasi dan advokasi seperti sebelum pandemi.
Pandemi memperburuk tekanan ekonomi dan sosial di desa-desa. Kemiskinan dan utang membuat banyak perempuan semakin rentan dimanfaatkan dan direkrut menjadi pekerja migran.
“Para perekrut biasanya datang ketika perempuan sudah putus asa karena tidak bisa membayar utang,” ujar Sugih. “Mereka menjanjikan hal-hal yang terlalu indah untuk dipercaya—gaji besar, hidup nyaman di luar negeri. Bahkan ada kerabat yang ikut membujuk dengan janji keselamatan. Kami berusaha mencegahnya, tapi kadang kami terlambat.”
Sebelum pandemi, SAPA rutin menggelar pertemuan, misalnya Bale Istri yang bertemu dua kali seminggu. Pembatasan sosial membuat mereka tidak bisa melanjutkan pelatihan atau program. Jika pun berhasil mengadakan pertemuan, pesertanya hanya 15–20 orang dengan jarak fisik yang ketat. Berkat SOP yang diperbarui, SAPA kini memiliki panduan jelas untuk tetap melayani komunitasnya.
SOP tersebut juga membantu relawan memberikan pendampingan pada pekerja migran perempuan yang menghadapi kasus sulit. Ketika masalah muncul, relawan tahu langkah apa yang harus diambil. SOP itu juga memasukkan prosedur pencegahan COVID-19 untuk meminimalkan risiko penularan saat memberikan layanan.
“Komunitas kami tersebar di banyak wilayah, jadi kami harus memastikan semuanya bisa mengikuti alur SOP,” kata Sugih. “Alhamdulillah, berkat SOP ini, kami lebih percaya diri saat turun langsung memberikan bantuan kepada pekerja migran perempuan. Kami tahu apa yang harus dilakukan, dan langkah-langkah apa yang harus diikuti.”
Bagi Sugih dan tim SAPA lainnya, perjalanan mereka masih panjang dalam melindungi hak-hak pekerja migran perempuan. Namun ia percaya bahwa dengan terus menanam kebaikan dan bekerja untuk masyarakat, perubahan pasti akan datang. Buah dari kerja keras mereka tidak akan sia-sia.***
