Feminization of migration: Redistribution of village government powers and resources to protect women migrant workers

Abstract

Law Number 18 of 2017 has significantly expanded the role of village govern-ments in protecting migrant workers, specifically by focusing on the social andeconomic empowerment of Indonesian migrant workers. Within TulungagungDistrict, two villages—Sukorejo Wetan and Tanen—have already establishedTask Forces for the Prevention and Handling of Violence Against Women Mi-grant Workers and Laws on the Elimination of Human Trafficking. This re-search, conducted in these villages, aims to achieve three objectives. Firstly, itseeks to identify the actors involved in protecting women migrant workers andunderstand the relationships between them. Secondly, it aims to describe theaccessibility and role of migrant and post-migrant women’s groups in protect-ing women migrant workers. Finally, it aims to explore the existence of pro-feminist policies in this context. Using a feminist research methodology, thestudy employs qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews and documentstudies. The findings highlight an asymmetric collaboration between civil so-ciety groups and the village government, with civil society dominating theformation and implementation of activities by the Officer Unit (Satgas). Thisasymmetry is intertwined with the absence of resource redistribution from thevillage government, particularly in terms of budget allocation.