Legal Protection for Female Migrant Workers from the Threat of Modern Slavery

Abstract

Indonesian female migrant workers often occupy a highly vulnerable position within the vortex of transnational crime, trapped in modern slavery practices hidden behind the domestic work sector. This vulnerability is triggered by the shackles of structural poverty, administrative manipulation in the form of withholding identity documents, and debt bondage imposed by human trafficking syndicates. This article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Human Trafficking (TPPO) in providing real protection for female migrant workers. Through a normative legal research method with a statute approach and a conceptual approach, this study finds that although Indonesia’s regulations have shifted toward full state protection, implementation in practice is still hindered by sectoral ego between institutions, weak local government supervision, and difficulties in proving transnational criminal acts across jurisdictions. The analysis shows that an aggressive legal reconstruction strategy is needed, including strengthening protection functions at the village government level, using the TPPO Law to financially cripple rogue recruitment corporations, and firm bilateral diplomacy through the implementation of a moratorium on sending workers to countries that do not have adequate human rights protection instruments. In conclusion, migrant worker protection must be reconstructed through a multi-layered defense system from upstream to downstream, prioritizing human dignity over foreign exchange earnings, in order to break the chain of modern slavery that destroys the future of Indonesian women.