‘We need to fight back’: Erwiana Sulistyaningsih campaigns for domestic workers’ rights at home and abroad
After suffering horrific abuse at the hands of her former employer, the 26-year-old Indonesian says governments must do more to protect women who go overseas to find work
She was wheelchair-bound and covered in bruises and lacerations when tortured former domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih had to await her recovery in a hospital back home in Indonesia some four years ago.
But through the dark times, it was also where she found her activist’s spirit, following the gruesome assault against her that captured global attention.
She revealed to the Post on Friday how she had taken the fight back home over the past few years, and had been fighting for the rights of other domestic workers, while also helping their families.
“Before when I was sick in hospital, the members always accompanied me, telling me I could get justice,” she recalled, of what happened after the assault on her between 2013 and 2014.
She was referring to members of the Keluarga Besar Buruh Migran Indonesia – or Association of Returned Migrants and Families in English.
I will continue to fight for better conditions for Hong Kong’s domestic helpers, vows Erwiana Sulistyaningsih after court victory
After her discharge from hospital, she joined the group and had been assisting helpers back home, who were sent not just to Hong Kong, but all over the world.
She said she provided help to those who had been deported or had suffered from illness.
